美國(guó)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)：953 caught in the middle

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人們常常抱怨不想去上班，可對(duì)于我的一個(gè)朋友來(lái)說(shuō)，她現(xiàn)在是更愿意去工作。她女兒最近整天都吵著要買一部智能手機(jī)做生日禮物，但是她丈夫堅(jiān)決不同意。她丈夫覺(jué)得女兒還太小，很多事情還負(fù)不起責(zé)任。我朋友同意我丈夫的觀點(diǎn)，可是也知道她女兒的很多朋友都用起了智能手機(jī)，所以不想讓女兒覺(jué)得自己被拉下了。她這被夾在中間的狀態(tài)，讓我想到一句習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)，那就是：caught in the middle.

Caught是catch的被動(dòng)式，被抓住的意思；而middle, 中間。Caught in the middle, 被夾在中間，就是左右為難的意思。我朋友現(xiàn)在就處于左右為難的境地，she is caught in the middle regarding whether to buy her daughter a smart phone. 對(duì)于要不要給她女兒買智能手機(jī)這個(gè)問(wèn)題，我朋友左右為難。不過(guò)她的處境跟下面的例子里的人比起來(lái)不足一提？他有什么困擾呢？ 我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)看:

例句-1：Ever since my mother came to live with us, life has been difficult. She and my wife don't get along. If one wants one thing, the other is complaining about it. It's a constant battle. And I don't like being caught in the middle. They should settle their differences without expecting me to get involved.

這段話是說(shuō)：自從我媽媽開(kāi)始來(lái)跟我們一起住之后，日子就不好過(guò)了。我媽媽跟我妻子真是合不來(lái)。其中一個(gè)人想要點(diǎn)什么，另一個(gè)人就會(huì)開(kāi)始抱怨。這是個(gè)持續(xù)戰(zhàn)。我真是左右為難。他們應(yīng)該自己解決他們之間的問(wèn)題。

這可真夠?yàn)殡y的。婆媳關(guān)系一般都很難處理，而丈夫夾在中間，向著哪邊都不好。Her husband gets caught in the middle whenever there's a conflict between his mom and his wife. 一旦他的媽媽和妻子起了沖突，作為丈夫他真是左右為難。

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工作中有個(gè)好老板是福氣。如果你的老板待人和氣而又鼓勵(lì)創(chuàng)新 ，你工作起來(lái)一定會(huì)干勁十足?？墒窍旅孢@個(gè)例子里的人就不那么幸運(yùn)了。他碰到了什么樣的問(wèn)題呢？我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)看:

例句-2：My boss isn't making my job very easy. He assumes that I'll always be supportive of his decisions. The problem is that I think some of his ideas aren't good for the company. As a result, I find myself torn between wanting to be loyal and wanting to be honest. How can I overcome feeling caught in the middle?

這段話是說(shuō)：由于我的老板，我的工作并不十分愉快。他認(rèn)為我會(huì)支持贊成他所有的決定。問(wèn)題是我認(rèn)為他的有些想法對(duì)公司并不好。所有，我經(jīng)常在忠誠(chéng)和誠(chéng)實(shí)之間左右為難。我怎么處理這種夾在中間的局面呢？

我也有過(guò)類似的經(jīng)歷！原來(lái)大學(xué)的時(shí)候我曾經(jīng)去做過(guò)家教，可是那個(gè)家里的爸爸說(shuō)一套，而媽媽又有另一套，弄的我不知道怎么才好。The parents of the child I'm tutoring have opposite views of what I should teach. I'm totally caught in the middle.