习语可以是一个词或短语,要理解习语的意思不能脱离其文化背景。习语一词的含义甚广,其蕴含的意义往往不能从词或词组的字面意思推测而得。习语在所有语言中都很常见。英语习语是日常英语的重要组成部分。在英语的书面语和口语中,存在海量的习语。
儒琴今日习语(Idiom of the Day)
loaded for bear
习语含义:
prepared to deal with attacks or criticism : prepared to fight or argue. (Merriam-Webster)
作好充分准备以对付最棘手的问题
习语来源
An allusion to equipping oneself with the sort of heavy weaponry suitable for hunting large game. (Wiktionary)
原文举例
Party leaders were left to explain why they had not been more nimble in questioning a witness loaded for bear, since everyone knew Lewandowski would show up with the intention of causing havoc.
(CNN Sep 18, 2019)
Reinsch said he expects the summit to be one of the most tense in recent history and said the other six countries are “loaded to bear.” (The Hill 6/6/2018)
the writing is on the wall ( UK)
the handwriting on the wall (US)
习语含义:
said to mean that there are clear signs that something will fail or no longer exist; The very apparent signs that something bad will happen in the future.
已出现不祥之兆,已有厄运临头的预兆
习语来源
The phrase comes from the Biblical story of Daniel, in which the prophet interprets some mysterious writing that a disembodied hand has inscribed on the palace wall, telling King Belshazzar that he will be overthrown.
原文举例
“President Trump ought to see the handwriting on the wall that his executive order is unconstitutional,” Schumer said in a statement shortly after Thursday’s ruling. Trump should “abandon this proposal, roll up his sleeves and come up with a real, bipartisan plan to keep us safe,” he said.
— The Hill Feb 09, 2019
A finger in every pie
习语含义:
to be involved in and have influence over many different activities, often in a way that people do not approve of
(常指不受欢迎地)凡事插手,到处干预
原文举例
Charles Curran, director general (BBC) from 1969 to 1977, sensed the beginning of that pernicious corporate sickness “we must have a finger in every conceivable pie”.
Obama’s Strategic Agility: US Wants to Have a Finger in Every Pie. Although US President Obama vowed that “a decade of war is now ending” in 2013, the US troops have got bogged down in three conflict zones, while Washington takes regular lethal actions in at least five countries, Michael Crowley noted.
—-19:10 25.04.2015
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
习语含义
To leave a situation alone so as to avoid worsening it; Do not instigate trouble.; Leave something alone if it might cause trouble.
别惹麻烦; 要是采取什么行动会给自己或别人带来麻烦,那么最好还是保持现状,不要采取行动
原文举例
President Donald Trump’s refusal to let sleeping dogs lie now threatens to harm his presidency. His revival of debunked claims that millions of illegal voters are to blame for him losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton and call for a major investigation — in essence challenging the legitimacy of his election — is in danger of overshadowing the otherwise fast start he has made in honoring campaign promises and changing America.
— CNN by Stephen Collinson