如此“穿着打扮”你懂它们的真实含义吗？

      你有没有留意过和穿着相关的英语表达？让我们看看是否可以即席(off the cuff)说出一些即席的意思是不预先做任何准备，cuff原意是“袖口”。
  人们穿着短裤以遮掩身体下部。我们有时形容紧张不安的人说“裤裆里有蚂蚁(ants in their pants)”。例如：
  I have ants in my pants for the coming exam on Tuesday.
  想到周二就要考试，我真是坐立不安。
  有的时候你在做某件事的时候没有明确的指导，也缺乏足够的知识，只能靠直觉，这时就可以说fly by the seat of one's pants，例如：
  When Jones started up business in the town, he didn't know anybody, so he had to fly by the seat of his pants.
  当琼斯在这个镇子开始做生意时，他一个人都不认识，所以只好全靠自己摸索。
  有时，人们可能会被caught with their pants down，按字面解释就是一个人在裤子掉下来的时候被人抓到，那样的情景，该是多么的尴尬啊。作为习语，它的意思就是“当一个人正在做坏事、做可耻的事情的时候被人发现了”。例如：
  A famous singer was caught with his pants down when he was having sex with a prostitute in the back of his car last night.
  昨天晚上，一个著名歌手跟妓女在汽车后座发生性关系时被人当场抓住。
  此外，每一个家庭都有当家人。有时妻子会吩咐丈夫怎么做，我们就说，她在这个家里当家做主(wears the pants in the family)。例如：
  It's obvious that it is your wife who wears the pants in your family.
  看得出来，你们家你老婆当家。
  裤子通常都有装东西的口袋，形容一个人花钱如流水可以说“就像口袋上烧了个洞(burn a hole in your pocket)”。在汉语中，我们也常用诸如“有点钱就烧得难受”、“烧包”来形容这样的人，看来英语跟中文是有很多异曲同工之处的。例如：
  I am sure he'll spend his wages in a few days because the money is burning a hole in his pocket.
  我肯定不出几天他就会将工资全部花光，因为他是个有钱留不住的人。
  如果你一发工资就花掉了一大部分，那接下来的日子你就不得不勒紧腰带(tighten your belt)过日子了。我总是羡慕那些节省、不大手大脚的人，我真的take my hat off to them(佩服他们)。然而，当涉及到自己的钱，我总是立马(at the drop of a hat)花个精光。
  靴子是一种沉重结实的鞋。自负的人(People who are too big for their boots)把自己想得比实际重要。例如：
  Since he was made team captain, he's been ordering us all around and generally getting much too big for his boots.
  自从他当了队长，就对我们指手画脚，完全是自命不凡，不知道轻重。
  其实真正重要的人是难以替代的，你很难fill their shoes(取代他们)。
  我叔叔就是这样一个人，他经营一家大公司。他总是衣着考究，西装革履。不了解他的人认为他太古板严厉。他们认为他爱摆架子(a real stuffed shirt)。但我知道他十分直爽坦率(wears his heart on his sleeve)，他会直接表明他的感受。而且，他知道如何keep his shirt on(保持冷静)，从不生气或兴奋过头。
  My boss is a stuffed shirt: all he talks about is how important his ancestors are, how he was number one in his class at his university, and the wonderful things he thinks he's done for our company.
  我的老板老是爱摆架子，吹嘘自己。他一开口就是说他的祖先的地位有多么重要，他在大学念书时又如何成为他们班里的第一名，还自称对我们公司作出了多大的贡献等等。
  此外，我叔叔在生意场上从未失手过(lost his shirt)，他说这是因为他总是rolls up his sleeves(卷起袖子做好大干一场的准备)。他常常对问题有特殊的方案或解决方法，在需要时用得上。他像个魔术师。我们说他有制胜法宝(a card up his sleeve)。
  关于上面短语的用法，再来看几个例子吧！
  Did you hear what happened to Joe? He's lost his shirt, the poor guy -- invested all his money in a fancy restaurant and it just went out of business.
  你有没有听到关于乔的事？这回，他可真是丢掉了一切，真可怜。他把所有的钱都投资在一家豪华的餐馆里。而这家餐馆不久前倒闭了。
  Well, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work on these reports.
  嗯，我已经准备好开始写这些报告了。
  Although the situation seemed unfavourable to him, he looked perfectly self-assured. He must have a card up his sleeve.
  虽然形势看来对他不利，但他看上去胸有成竹。他手中一定有王牌。

《如此“穿着打扮”你懂它们的真实含义吗？》永久阅读地址: http://91kudian.com/yingyu/4220/