black and white
在談論交換條件時經常聽到人說「用白紙黑字寫明」,英語的 black and white 確實有這個意思,前面一般都加上 in,例如:
Tanya wanted to put everything in black and white before accepting the
offer.(坦尼婭要所有條件都以書面寫清楚才肯接受這工作。)
除此之外,中文常說的「黑白分明」,湊巧 black and white 也具此意,表示「是非黑白分得清楚」、「非黑即白」,例如:
Ralph views the show business in black and white.(拉爾夫對娛樂界的是是非非看得很分明。)
out of the
blue
天氣晴朗的時候,天空呈現藍色,但當風雨雷電交加之時,藍天恐怕一下子消失得無影無縱,故 out of the blue 是用來表示「晴天霹靂」、「突如其來」、「出乎意料」,例如:
His wife’s death came out of the blue.(他妻子的去世來得很突然。)
這個習語也可以說 a bolt from
the blue,平時說 a bolt of lightning 就是「一道閃電」,分別在於 out of the blue 作副詞用,而 a bolt from the
blue 作名詞用,例如:
green with envy
envy 本已解作「羨慕」、「嫉妒」,若人欽羡的目光幾乎現出青眼,可想而知其內心是多麼渴望擁有別人的東西,green with envy 就是表示人「非常妒忌的」、「感到眼紅的」,例如:
Kenneth bought the latest model of the sports car
that made all his friends green with envy.(肯尼思買了最新型號的跑車,他所有的朋友都欽羡不已。)
red tape
tape 此處指捆綁用的帶子,red tape 所指的是古時用來捆綁官方公文的線帶,由於帶子顏色多為紅色,故有 red tape 一詞,後來引申解作「官僚作風」、「繁文縟節」,一般多用來形容程序繁瑣的手續,例如:
Sometimes it can take weeks or months to apply for a
visa because of all the red tape.(有時候因為諸多繁瑣費時的手續程序,申請簽證可以花上數週甚至數月的時間。)
golden
handshake
golden handshake 字面上是「黃金的握手」,乍看下不明所以,原來
handshake 此處有「握手言別」之意,而 golden 的確與黃金有點關聯,指一大筆款項,兩詞合起來解作因退休而獲得的退職金或因失業而給予的遣散費,要留意 golden 強調金額非常豐厚,所以這個習語多用於高薪厚職或服務多年的雇員,例如:
The general manager received a huge golden
handshake on retiring.(總經理退休後獲得一筆豐厚的退職金。)
on a silver
platter
platter 是指裝載食物的大盤子,silver
platter 可想而知是餐館裡服務員托着的銀盤,在餐館點菜隨傳隨到,故此 on a silver platter 就引申為「輕易獲取」、「唾手可得」之意,這個習語要小心運用,因為隱含一點貶義,例如:
Haha... Other than "out of the blue", I have never heard of any of these. Good to know. Have a great weekend, Andrew!
回覆刪除Thanks Lok. Hahah, maybe most of them are quite formal and rarely spoken, just like Chinese 成語, which is used in writing most often.
回覆刪除Have a nice weekend and make more of your yummy food!