英语博客-北美风情 215、Never look a gift horse in the mouth

 　　You can’t always get what you want, but you should appreciate what is given to you. This episode¹ is about accepting what people give you and not being critical, even if it is not exactly what you wanted. We have some very old expressions in English to remind people to be grateful, like never look a gift horse in the mouth. But nowadays, with gift receipts², do you think this proverbs still holds true?

 

　　Maura:So at that time, when a person looked their gift horse in the mouth, they were checking it to see if it was a good gift. And that’s not really a nice thing to do. You know, imagine you give someone a gift and they’re just evaluating it to see if it’s a very good gift. That’s not really nice.

 

　　Harp:Yeah. They’re trying to see how expensive it is or if there’s a price tag³ on it.

 

　　Maura:Yeah. Nowadays, it would be like giving someone a shirt and that person would then try to check the name brand to see if it was really expensive or not.

 

　　Harp:Yeah. It’s just not very polite. You should appreciate the gift that you’re given.

 

　　Maura:I agree. So, let’s give an example with this proverb, to never look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

　　Harp:OK.

1 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

2 receipts   

（企业、银行等）收到的款，进款； 收到( receipt的名词复数 )； 收入； 收据； 收条

参考例句：

• Cash income is calculated by subtracting total trading income from total receipts. 现金收入是从总收入中减去总贸易收入来计算的。
• The receipts have increased since last year. 自去年起收入已增加。

3 tag   

n.标签，附属物，名称，谚语；vt.附以签条，尾随，添饰，指责，连接；vi.紧随，尾随

参考例句：

• Please tag your baggage.请在你的行李上贴上标签了。
• The clerk attached a price tag to each article.店员给每一件商品系上标价签。