VOA慢速英语 词汇掌故：有关鼻子和耳朵的词汇

 

Nose and Ear Expressions 词汇掌故：有关鼻子和耳朵的词汇

Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.

现在是 VOA 慢速英语的词汇掌故栏目。

A person’s nose is important for breathing and smelling. The nose is also used in many popular expressions.

鼻子对于呼吸和嗅觉很重要，而鼻子（nose）一词也被用于多个流行表达中。

Some people are able to "lead other people by the nose." For example, if a wife "leads her husband by the nose," she makes him do whatever she wants him to do.

有些人能够 lead other people by the nose（牵着他人的鼻子走）。比如，如果一个妻子可以牵着丈夫的鼻子，意思就是说她可以让她丈夫做任何她想的事情。

Some people are said to be "hard-nosed." They will not change their opinions or positions on anything. If someone is "hard-nosed," chances are he will never "pay through the nose," or pay too much money, for an object or service.

一些人被称为是 hard-nosed（顽固的），意思是他们不会在任何事情上改变自己的观点或立场。如果说某人是 hard-nosed，那么他绝不会 pay through the nose（被敲竹杠），就是说他们不会为某件东西或者服务支付过多的钱。

It is always helpful when people "keep their nose out of other people’s business" -- they do not interfere¹. The opposite of this is someone who "noses around all the time." This kind of person is interested in other people’s private matters. He is considered "nosey."

keep their nose out of other people’s business（不管他人闲事）总是好的，他们不插手他人的事情，与此相反的是有些人总是 noses around，这种人对他人的私事非常感兴趣，被称为 nosey（爱管闲事）。

Someone who "keeps his nose to the grindstone" works² very hard. This can help a worker "keep his nose clean," or stay out of trouble.

一些 keep his nose to the grindstone 的人工作非常努力，这可以帮助一个工人 keep his nose clean（循规蹈矩），避免麻烦。

One unusual expression is "that is no skin off my nose." This means³ that a situation does not affect or concern me. We also say that sometimes a person "cuts off his nose to spite⁴ his face." That is, he makes a situation worse for himself by doing something foolish because he is angry.

一个不太寻常的表达方式是no skin off my nose，意思是某件事情不影响我，或者与我无关。我们还说，有时一个人 cuts off his nose to spite his face。也就是说，因为他很生气，做了一些愚蠢的事情，使情况更加糟糕。

More problems can develop if a person "looks down his nose" at someone or something. The person acts like something is unimportant⁵ or worthless⁶. This person might also "turn up his nose" at something that he considers not good enough. This person thinks he is better than everyone else. He "has his nose in the air."

如果某人对某人和某物 looks down his nose 则会产生更多问题，意思是此人感觉某件事情不重要或没有价值。人们还可能对他认为不够好的某物 turn up his nose，意思是他认为自己比别人都强。他 has his nose in the air（自大）。

In school, some students "thumb their nose" at their teacher -- they refuse to obey orders or do any work. Maybe these students do not know the correct answers. My mother always told me, if you study hard, the answers should be "right under your nose," or easily seen.

在学校，一些学生对老师们 thumb their nose（不尊重），他们不愿意遵守指令或做任何工作。或许是这些学生不知道正确答案，我的妈妈告诉我，如果你努力学习，答案就在你的眼前（right under your nose），很容易看到。

I think we have explained the nose expressions. What about ears? Well, I hope you are "all ears," or very interested in hearing more expressions. We might even "put a bug⁷ in your ear," or give you an idea about something. We also advise you to "keep your ear to the ground." This means to be interested in what is happening around you and what people are thinking.

我认为我们已经解释了关于鼻子的词汇，那么关于耳朵呢？我希望你们能够 all ears，有兴趣倾听更多词汇。我们可能会 put a bug in your ear，意思是针对某事给你提个建议。我们也建议你 keep your ear to the ground，意思是关注你周围发生的事和周围人的想法。

If you are a good person, you will "lend an ear" to your friends. You will listen to them when they have a problem they need to talk about. Our last expression is "to play it by ear." This has two meanings. One is to play a song on a musical instrument by remembering the tune⁸ and not by reading the music. "Play it by ear" also means to decide what to do at the last minute instead of making detailed⁹ plans.

如果你是一个好人，对你的朋友你会 lead and ear（倾听），在他们需要对某问题倾诉时，他会倾听他们。最后一个词汇是 play it by ear（无计划行事）。这个词汇有两个意思。一是在乐器上演奏歌曲时是通过回忆它的旋律而不是读谱。Play it by ear 还有一个意思是最后时刻才决定做什么，而不是事先制定好详细的计划。

1 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

2 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

4 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。

5 unimportant   

adj.不重要的，无意义的

参考例句：

• Let's not quarrel about such unimportant matters.我们不要为这些小事争吵了。
• Money seems unimportant when sets beside the joys of family life.与天伦之乐相比，金钱显得微不足道。

6 worthless   

adj.无价值的，无用的，可鄙的

参考例句：

• Don't read worthless books.不要读没有用的书。
• He was worthless as a painter.他作为画家一事无成。

7 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

8 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

9 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。