【直击主题】

There's a phrase which expresses that "a bad person or a poor thing in a group would do harm to others or take abjective influence to the members in the whole group , or even the worst is that it or he would ruin the entire group." What's it? Let's listen to a simple situational dialogue and find it .

【对话原声 美语发音】

A : I'm so bored. I don't like my new job.

B : What did you say? You're not satisfied with your new job.

A : Yeah, I do.

B : What do you want? Your new job sounds too good to be true- interesting work, high pay, short hours. Is there any fly in the ointment?

A : But I have no freedom.

【答疑解惑】

With the development of language, in modern English it's used to express " an unpleasant thing of a pleasant thing" 表示美中不足的意思，or express " something small spoils your fun" 表示使人扫兴的事情，and refers to " the flaw , inconvenience ,or impediment in an arrangement", 表示事情中的麻烦，缺陷或是障碍。However, all of the above meanings come from it's original meaning I've mentioned. And now listen again and try to hunt it. A : I'm so boring. I don't like my new job.

B : What did you say? You're not satisfied with your new job.

A : Yeah, I do.

B : What do you want? Your new job sounds too good to be true- interesting work, high pay, short hours. Is there any fly in the ointment?

A : But I have no freedom.

All right, this time have you found it? [There is a silence.] Come on , have a shot! It doesn't matter if you are right or wrong and what I would like is your active participation. [Juliet, it seems that it's a fly in the ointment. ] Yeah, dead right. It is "a fly in the ointment ". This phrase comes from 【圣经：旧约】《传道书》第十章. The original sentence is " Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary and send forth a stinking savour ;so doth a little folly him that is in reputation and honor ." "Fly " 是苍蝇的意思, "ointment " 是药膏，油膏的意思， a fly in the ointment 字面上的意思就是“药膏里的苍蝇”， the front part of sentence above in the Bible意思是说: 一只死苍蝇使得做香的油膏发出臭气， 本来做香的油膏是有香气的，由于一只死苍蝇而使全部的油膏发臭，这就是有点像我们中文里说的：一颗老鼠屎搅坏一锅汤。Something like " a black sheep" which is a slang , 这有点儿像这个俚语的意思：a black sheep , 意思是：害群之马，败家子，败类，可不要把它认为是一只黑色的绵羊。Let's look at another part part of the above sentence from the Bible, 后面的意思是：这样，一点愚昧，也能败坏他的智慧和荣誉。可见 the Bible 都是 perfectionism 的说教。可是现实生活中，人无完人，物无完物，everything has one more face. 因此, a fly in the ointment 就有了“美中不足，”“使人扫兴的事”，“事情中的缺陷，麻烦，或障碍等”的意思。

【学以致用】

Let's look at more example sentences with the phrase "a fly in the ointment " . Another fly in the ointment was that Xiangzi had nearly got into a fight that morning when the rickshaw pullers were having their feast.还有点美中不足的地方,早晨给车夫们摆饭的时节,祥子几乎和人打起来。 This is the sentence from a well-known literature called《骆驼祥子》written by Laoshe, a Chinese famous writer. It was a very good party. The only fly in the ointment was that the host got drunk and started abusing everybody!那是一个非常好的聚会,美中不足的是,主人喝醉了,并开始辱骂每一个人。

【视野拓展】

Talking of " a fly in the ointment " which means " an unpleasant of a pleasant thing " , we have more expressions which are as follows: to spoil the fun; to be a wet blanker ( this is slang ); to kill joy; to dampen interest.