英语俚语天天说 第34期:徒劳无益,白费力气的追求wild goose chase

 　　释义：

　　Wild: 狂热的，野生的；goose：鹅；chase： 追逐，追赶；

　　字面来看，wild goose chase是野生的鹅的追逐，那实际是什么意思呢？

　　In English: Pursuing something that seems to be pointless or unattainable.意思就是说：追逐一些无意义或者很难办到的事情；

　　来源：

　　It's believed that this phrase's origin is rooted in some type of 16th century horse racing¹.

　　传说这个slang的来源与16世纪的赛马比赛有关。a horse race in which the lead rider would be pursued by other riders, which is said to be similar to how geese flying in a formation will follow the one in the lead.

　　在赛马时，跑在最前面的马会被其他马追赶，这和鹅群追赶跑在最前面的鹅一样。追赶领跑者，很有可能因为追不上而失败，那么就用wild goose chase指代徒劳无益的追求。

　　举例：

　　1.王小二人长得丑，但是一直以来的梦想都是做一个演员，那么他的梦想就很有可能实现不了，那么我们就可以说

　　His scheme of being a movie star is a wild-goose chase.

　　他想成为电影明星的计划可以说是希望渺茫。

　　2.比如说你的猫找不到了，你找遍了屋里所有地方都没找着，但是最后发现它竟然在外面：

　　I was searching for my cat all over the house but I couldn't find her anymore, it really felt like I was on a wild goose chase. It turned out my cat was outside during the entirety of my search, no wonder I couldn't find her!

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。