舌尖上的美國(53):地道口語(1)

1.情人眼裏出西施。

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder表示“情人眼裏出西施”，其中beholder意爲“目睹者”。

eg:It's beyond me that Mary would like to marry James. There is an ugly scar on his face.我真想不到瑪麗竟然會想嫁給詹姆斯。他臉上有道難看的疤。

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Don't be so shallow.情人眼裏出西施。你不要這麼膚淺。

2.這是有史以來最好的事情。

大家是不是想到了This is the best thing in the history呢？更地道的表達其實是This is the best thing since sliced bread，這裏的sliced bread指“切片面包”

1928年，美國開始銷售切片面包機，極大地方便了人們的生活。麪包是西方人的大愛，他們常會閉上眼睛，一邊咽口水一邊想：世界上還有比剛出爐的切片面包更好的東西嗎？the best thing since sliced bread就引申爲“有史以來最好的事情”。

3.天下沒有免費的午餐。

當別人在爲一點兒小便宜而高興時，你就可以告訴他：There is no such thing as a free lunch.

eg：I hear bread is free now in that supermarket. Let's go and get some!我聽說那個超市的麪包現在免費，咱們快去拿點兒！

There is no such thing as a free lunch. It's just a trick.天下沒有免費的午餐。這只是一個伎倆罷了。

4.你真走運！

大家一定想到了You are very lucky，然而更地道的說法則是：God is shining on you.

eg：You know what, I just won a lottery prize.你知道嗎？我剛買彩票中獎了。

Oh，God is shining on you!天哪，你太幸運了！

5.熟能生巧。

這句話可以說成Practice makes perfect.

eg：My oral English is so poor that I'm nervous when talking with foreigners.我英語口語太差了，所以跟外國人談話時會緊張。

鼓勵別人要不斷地嘗試和努力時，美國人也常說If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.