今天我們要給大家介紹兩個(gè)以"嘴巴"這個(gè)字為主的習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)- mouth。大家可能還記得上次我們講過,to bad-mouth and to shoot one's mouth off. To bad-mouth就是說別人壞話; to shoot one's mouth off是指一個(gè)人在某種場(chǎng)合滔滔不絕地說一些不適時(shí)宜或者不該講的話。今天我們要講的第一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)是:Motor mouth. Motor就是發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)?,F(xiàn)在,你可以猜到什么是motor mouth了。Motor mouth就是那種滔滔不絕,除了喘氣之外,說話沒完的人。這種人的嘴巴就像一部機(jī)器,或汽車一樣,發(fā)動(dòng)了以后就好象停不下來了。不過,雖然這樣的人有時(shí)會(huì)使得親戚朋友感到難受,但是,除了這個(gè)不太好的習(xí)慣以外,他們也可能是很好相處的人。下面這個(gè)例子就是在說一個(gè)說話沒完的人。
例句-1: Dick is a nice guy. But he's such a motor mouth that people avoid talking to him. He just can't stop talking, and nobody else has a chance to get a word in the conversation.
這個(gè)人說:迪克是一個(gè)很好的人。但是,他一說話就沒個(gè)完,人們都怕跟他說話。他說話的時(shí)候就是停不下來,在談話的過程中,沒有任何人插得進(jìn)嘴。
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這種說話不停,不讓別人有機(jī)會(huì)發(fā)表觀點(diǎn)的人往往是很讓人討厭的,至少,這些人缺乏禮貌,不尊重周圍的人。下面是一個(gè)人的親身體驗(yàn)。
例句-2: The Rosens' friend David is a real motor mouth. I never go to any event when he's invited. He talks on forever, jumping from topic to topic like he knows everything. But for some reason the Rosens seem to like him.
這句話的意思是:羅森家的朋友戴維德真是一個(gè)說話沒完的人。不管什么活動(dòng),只要他們請(qǐng)戴維德,我絕不參加。他每次都說個(gè)沒完,從一個(gè)主題跳到另一個(gè)主題,好像他什么都知道。不過,羅森夫婦不知為什么似乎很喜歡他。
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滔滔不絕,說話像機(jī)器那樣的人固然不討人喜歡,但是,更嚴(yán)重的是有的人老是在不合時(shí)宜的情況下說不恰當(dāng)?shù)脑?。美?guó)人說這種人有毛病,而且還有一個(gè)特殊的說法。這就是我們要講的第二個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)。Foot in mouth disease. Foot就是一只腳,disease就是病。Foot in mouth disease從字面上來解釋,它的意思就是,把腳放在嘴巴里的病。當(dāng)一個(gè)小娃娃把自己的小腳放到嘴巴里去的時(shí)候,人們會(huì)覺得很好玩。但是,要是一個(gè)大人想這么做的話,他就會(huì)顯得很傻,很愚蠢,就像你意識(shí)到自己說錯(cuò)了話一樣。下面是一個(gè)典型的出言不當(dāng)?shù)睦印?/p>
例句-3: Well, Pete did it again! He asked Mister Jones what his wife was doing these days. I guess he'd forgotten Missus Jones died last fall. Poor Pete: I have never seen a worse case of foot in mouth disease.
這個(gè)人說:"得!比德又犯了同樣的毛病 。他問瓊斯先生他的太太最近在干什么。我想他把瓊斯太太去年秋天去世的事給忘了??闪娴谋鹊隆N覐膩頉]有見過比這樣出語(yǔ)不當(dāng)更嚴(yán)重的了。"
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從某種程度上來說,每個(gè)人都有說錯(cuò)話的可能。下面我們要舉的例子也很有趣。一個(gè)丈夫由于對(duì)妻子不忠誠(chéng)而鬧得家庭不和,他正在設(shè)法彌補(bǔ)跟妻子的關(guān)系。下面是他們的一個(gè)朋友在跟自己的太太說話:
例句-4: David is trying very hard to make up with his wife. But his sister said at the party last night that she would never live under the same roof with her husband if he had an affair like David. She has a real case of foot in mouth disease!
這個(gè)人對(duì)自己的妻子說:戴維德正在努力和他太太彌補(bǔ)關(guān)系。但是,他的妹妹昨晚在聚會(huì)上說,要是她的丈夫像戴維德那樣有外遇的話,她是絕對(duì)不會(huì)再跟她的丈夫住在一起的。她真是有毛病,說話說得那么不恰當(dāng)。