be all ears
be all ears 形象上就是指人人都豎起了耳朵傾聽,換言之即是說有些重要的事令到人人都「全神貫注、聚精會神地細聽」,以免有所遺漏,例如:
‘We are all ears in terms of ideas and innovations that may provide the
company a competitive advantage from the financial side,’ Meredith said.(「對於可能給公司的財政方面提供競爭優勢的意見和創新概念,我們都在靜心傾聽。」梅雷迪思說。)
music to one’s ears
人人都喜歡音樂,好聽的曲調更能令人舒暢開朗,所以 music to one’s ears 就是比喻為「令人喜悅的言語」、「中聽的說話」、「佳音」,例如:
I suppose that comments
like that are music to your ears?(我想那樣的言論正正就是你渴望聽到的吧?)
play it by ear
這個短語是出自 play sth by ear,原是指不看樂譜而單憑聽力或記憶演奏,例如說 Colin played
the music by ear(科林憑記憶把樂曲演奏出來),後來引申出 play it by ear,意思是說「事前沒有計劃,根據實際情況而見機行事」,例如:
Until we can get
something definite sorted out, we are having to play it by ear.(在我們還沒能把某些確切的事處理好,暫時只好隨機應變了。)
turn a deaf ear to sth
deaf 是「聾的」,用失聰的耳朵去對待某事,跟 turn a blind eye(視若無睹)意思相似,即對某事「充耳不聞」、「裝作聽不見」,一般都是指一些令人不愉快的事,例如:
How could people turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to the horrors that they
suffered?(人們怎麼能對所承受的恐懼視若無睹、置若罔聞?)
wet behind the ears
這個短語帶有貶義,甚麼人的耳朵背後會是濕的?恐怕是初生嬰兒或沒有能力照顧自己的人,wet behind the ears 就是用來形容人「年少無知」、「乳臭未乾」,多數是指剛踏入某行業或做某工作的人因缺乏經驗而給人一種未曾看過世面的感覺,例如:
Mr Toshiki Kaifu,
Japan's prime minister, may still be a little wet behind the ears but, not for the first time, he has confounded
his more experienced rivals.(日本總統海部俊樹看來可能還略欠經驗,但他已不是第一次挫敗他那些更有經驗的對手。)
with half an ear
用一隻耳朵聽已不太投入,用半隻耳朵聽則更是幾乎不想聽,所以 with half an ear 是用來形容人在聽某事時「心不在焉」、「似聽非聽」,還可能想着別的東西,例如:
When the others spoke he listened with half an ear, made up his mind what course to follow and
followed it without hesitation as though no other were possible.(當其他人說話時,他只是似聽非聽,下定決心之後該做甚麼,並且毫不猶豫地進行,像是已沒其他可行的辦法。)
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