VOA慢速英語:Words and Their Stories: Dog Talk

By Jill Moss

16 February, 2013

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

Photo: AP A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is groomed prior to competing in the Oklahoma City Summer Classic Dog Show

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

A junkyard is not a fun place for a dog. Many dogs in the United States sleep in safe little houses near their owners' home. These doghouses provide shelter. Yet they can be cold and lonely in the winter.

Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse. She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes. However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

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This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

這里是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

美國人使用很多和狗相關(guān)的詞匯。在美國，人們喜歡狗，也善待它們。他們帶狗散步，讓它們到戶外活動，并給它們提供優(yōu)質(zhì)食物與醫(yī)療。然而，無人照顧的流浪狗生活就大不一樣了。to lead a dog's life就描述了生活不盡如意的一類人。

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

有人說，我 們生活在一個競爭激烈的世界(dog-eat-dog world)。很多人競爭同一樣?xùn)|西，例如好工作。他們稱，一個人想要成功就得拼命工作(work like a dog)。如此艱辛的工作使人疲憊不堪(dog-tired)。同時 ，如果他們病得厲害(sick as a dog)，情況會更糟。

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

盡管 如此，人們常說every dog has its day，意思是說人一生中總有出頭之日。想要成功，人們往往需要學(xué)習(xí)新的技能。然而，有人說，you can never teach an old dog new tricks，以此比喻年長的人不喜歡學(xué)習(xí)新事物，不會改變他們做事的方式。

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

有些人被以一些不好的方式來與狗比較。不友好或冷漠的人們可以用meaner than a junkyard dog來形容。Junkyard dogs生活在垃圾場。兇狠的狗通常用來看護這類場所。有人試圖進入這類場所時，它們便狂吠或攻擊。然而，有些人看上去兇狠極具威脅，實際沒那么嚴(yán)重。我 們就說his bark is worse than his bite.

A junkyard is not a fun place for a dog. Many dogs in the United States sleep in safe little houses near their owners' home. These doghouses provide shelter. Yet they can be cold and lonely in the winter.

垃圾場對狗來說可不是個好玩的地方。美國的很多狗都睡在主人家附近安全的小狗屋里，這些狗屋給他們提供庇護。然而冬天它們在狗屋里就又冷又孤單。

Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse. She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes. However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.

夫妻 之間彼此生氣時就會用到doghouse這個字眼。例如，妻子可能因為丈夫回家太晚或忘記他們的結(jié)婚紀(jì)念日而生氣。她可能會告訴丈夫，他被打入冷宮了 (in the doghouse)。在丈夫道歉前她都不會好好對他。然而，丈夫可能會決定最好還是順其自然，不要再制造更多矛盾。也就是to let sleeping dogs lie。

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

狗一類的詞匯還用來形容天氣。The dog days of summer是指一年中最熱的三伏天。下雨可以降溫，但我們可不希望下傾盆大雨(to rain cats and dogs)。

● 不要看現(xiàn)在的寵物狗嬌寵高貴，但還是有為數(shù)眾多無人照看的流浪狗過著極其悲慘的生活。這一現(xiàn)象也衍生出短語“to lead a dog’s life”，形容人過著貧困潦倒、慘不忍睹的生活。例如：Tom’s been leading a dog’s life since he got divorced. (湯姆自離婚后一直過著混沌潦倒的日子。)

● 狗向來被認(rèn)為是溫順友好的動物。正因為如此，“dog eat dog”才顯得更加殘酷。一個能讓 “狗吃狗”的世界，可想而知是一個競爭多么激烈、殘酷無情的世界。“dog-eat-dog world”就是形容冷酷無情的競爭世界。

● 漢語中形容一個人努力工作，多數(shù)用牛、馬來比喻，英文則用狗來表示。短語“work like a dog”指一個人努力、賣命地工作。

●“dog-tired”這個詞相當(dāng)形象地把筋疲力盡、累到快要趴下的神態(tài)勾勒了出來。想象一下狗在疲勞的時候伸舌頭、趴癱在地上的可愛模樣，“dog-tired”形容的情景躍然紙上。

● 養(yǎng)狗的朋友都知道，狗一旦吃錯了東西，反應(yīng)是很激烈的。短語“sick as a dog”正是從這個典故發(fā)展而來，表示病得很嚴(yán)重。這里所指的“病”，傾向于進食引起的病癥，如胃痛、嘔吐等等。

● “Every dog has its days.”這句諺語如今愈來愈為人所知，“每個人都有屬于自己的運氣/每個人都有時來運轉(zhuǎn)的一天”。這種樂觀積極的心態(tài)正是現(xiàn)代社會生活中最需要的。

● “You can’t/can never teach an old dog a new trick.”可意譯為“老古董學(xué)不會新東西”。“an old dog”這里是指不愿改變想法的、守舊的人。細心的讀者朋友會發(fā)現(xiàn)，《瘋狂英語口語版》2009年3月號的“生活聊吧”欄目中出現(xiàn)過一句“You can’t teach an old dude a new trick.”表達的是同樣的意思。

● 前面說過，許多無人照看的狗的生存環(huán)境很惡劣。比如“junkyard dogs”，就是生活在垃圾里的狗。他們通常神情兇狠，一旦發(fā)現(xiàn)有人接近自己的領(lǐng)地，便會警惕十足。假想一下，如果一個人比這種狗還兇狠殘酷，那他的冷 漠、難以接近，估計也已經(jīng)登峰造極了。“meaner than a junkyard dog”就用來形容殘酷、冷漠的人。

● 我們俗語常說的“刀子嘴、豆腐心”在英語中也可用“His bark is worse than his bite.(他雖叫得兇，但不咬人。)”來表示。

● 我們經(jīng)常在歐美電影或電視劇上看到，寵物狗通常都在院子的一角有專屬于自己的天地——狗屋(doghouse)。不過當(dāng)“doghouse”被引入夫妻關(guān) 系中，就沒那么美妙了。假如你妻子告訴你“You’re in the doghouse!”那你就應(yīng)該好好想清楚自己究竟做錯了什么事，得遭遇如此“冷遇”了。

● “let sleeping dogs lie”顧名思義，就是不要去吵醒睡著的狗。把睡著的狗吵醒，后果可是相當(dāng)嚴(yán)重，因此這個短語即可引申為 “不要自找麻煩、自討苦吃”的意思。

●如果你還不知道“三伏天”英語要怎么說，那么從現(xiàn)在起要記牢“the dog days of summer”這個短語啦!他正是指一年中最熱的時候。

●“rain cats and dogs”作“下傾盆大雨”解，許多人都不陌生。不過說起其出處，卻是眾口不一。其中最靠譜的一種說法，即“雷電大作的聲音與貓狗打架的聲音相似”。