To put on the dog就是“擺排場給別人看”。大概一百多年以前,一些有錢的人往往花很多錢去買一只稀有品種的小狗來顯示自己很有錢。一些闊太太們經(jīng)常在接待客人的時候把一只小狗抱在腿上來炫耀自己的闊氣。當(dāng)時耶魯大學(xué)的學(xué)生就創(chuàng)造了to put on the dog這一說法來嘲笑那些暴發(fā)戶。我們來舉一個例子:
Joe Doak is sure putting on the dog since his rich aunt died and left him 10 million dollars. He's bought the biggest house in town and a Mercedes 600, and talks about buying some riding horses.
喬多克自從他姨媽去世、留給他一千萬美元遺產(chǎn)以后,他可真是擺闊氣。他買了城里最大的一棟房子,還有一輛奔馳600型號的汽車。他還說要買幾匹馬玩呢。
但是有錢的人也不都是那樣揮霍的。下面就是一個例子:
I had this friend in the army who was the son of one of the richest men in the country. But what I like about him was that he never put on the dog to show off his money.
我在部隊服役的時候有個朋友,他爸爸是美國最有錢的人之一。我很喜歡這個朋友,因為他從來也不炫耀自己多么有錢。