日積月累學口語:和喵星族學英文表達

Cats hide their claws.
“貓藏利爪而不露”，意思是，告誡那些與人交往毫無戒備之心的人，意思與“知人知面不知心”差不多。

The cat shuts its eyes when stealing cream.
這一句是嘲笑那些掩耳盜鈴者。（貓咪喜歡偷奶油嗎？這好像是老鼠喜歡做的事情哦。）

The cat did it.
做錯了事情，用“這是貓乾的”來推卸責任。可能是因爲貓咪喜歡到處亂跑吧，難免會造成一點小亂子啦！

When the cat's away, the mice will play.
貓是老鼠的天敵。沒有貓，老鼠就會肆意妄爲。在中世紀的歐洲，基督教徒曾認定貓是魔鬼附身的動物，數以萬計的貓因此被處死。不料，貓的厄運招致老鼠的猖獗。很快，鼠害成災，黑死病一波接一波的橫掃歐洲大陸。這段慘痛的歷史教訓充分證明“狸貓不在，老鼠鬧債”——When the cat's away, the mice will play.

類似諺語也出現在其他歐洲語言中。在法國，人們說“只要貓上了房，老鼠就在地上忙”——When the cat runs on the roofs, the mice dance on the floors.

德國人則說“家裏沒了貓，老鼠伸懶腰”——Cat outside the house, response for the mouse.

A cat may look at a king.

“貓也可以傲視國王”，意思是，“既然貓都可以傲視國王，那麼人人平等更是理所當然，小小老百姓也應該有說話的權利。”這一成語來源於德國。據說16世紀巴伐利亞國王馬克西米利安一世曾造訪一家木雕作坊。作坊主的貓一直懶洋洋地臥在桌上看着這個國王，臉上滿是猜疑的神情。這隻貓能肯定想不到，一句諺語會因它而生——“貓也能傲視皇帝”（Darf doch die Katze den Kaiser ansehen. "Even a cat may look at an Emperor."）。到了法國，這句話成了“狗也能傲視主教”（Un chien regarde bien un eveque. "Even a dog may look at a bishop."）

A cat has nine lives.

英語國家的人相信，貓這種動物命大，福大，造化大。2001年，美洲動物醫療協會雜誌刊登過一份研究報告，研究人員調查了132起貓從高空墜地的事件，墜地的平均高度是六層樓，結果百分之九十的貓墜地後都存活下來了。它們在空中靈活地翻轉身體，四肢着地，爪子上的肉墊大大緩解了墜地時的衝力。古人對此肯定也有所瞭解，認爲“貓有九條命”（A cat has nine lives.）。下面這段故事講一條名叫“船長”的小獵狗如何命大，就以“貓有九條命”做對照：

Mischief was Captain's middle name. One time, I remember he decided to take a look at the roof of the conservatory. Portly little Captain found his way out on to the roof much to Mr Woolley's dismay. He then followed in the Captain's foot-step, or should I say paw prints, in order to rescue his poor hound. Unfortunately Mr Woolley slipped and spent the next a few days unconscious in hospital. But Captain was fine. Talk about a cat's nine lives!

He's like a cat; fling him which way you will. He'll light on his legs.

貓之所以摔不死，是因爲它們高超的着地本領。過去形容一個人大難不死或逢凶化吉，就說“他像一隻貓，不管怎麼扔，都會以腿着地”（He's like a cat; fling him which way you will. He'll light on his legs.）。

There are more ways of killing a cat than by choking it with cream.

“殺貓的方法很多，不必非用奶油嗆死它”，有點類似於中國的“不要非在一棵樹上吊死”。