老外說「chase your own tail」是啥意思?可不是叫你追自己尾巴!

chase有「追趕/逐」的意思，tail是「尾巴」，但老外說「chase your own tail」，

chase your own tail是什麼意思？

 

chase your own tail

字面意思是：追你自己的尾巴

我們都知道尾巴一般長在後面，

自己追自己的尾巴，永遠也追不上。

實際表示： 瞎忙活；徒勞無功

【英文解釋】

to spend a lot of time and energy doing something, but achieving nothing.

【例句】

Don't chase your tail in your work.

在工作上,千萬別瞎忙活。

the tail is wagging the dogthe tail (is) wagging the dog

If you say that the tail is wagging the dog, you mean that a small or unimportant part of something is becoming too important and is controlling the whole thing.

即：如果你說「the tail is wagging the dog」，你的意思是某件事的一個小的或不重要的部分變得太重要，正在控制整個事情。

【例句】

Why is this small matter taking so much time ? Now it's the tail wagging the dog !

為什麼這件小事要花這麼多時間?真是本末倒置！

with your tail between your legswith your tail between your legs

口語中常用來形象地形容：

無地自容；垂頭喪氣；灰溜溜

If you say that you have your tail between your legs, you are emphasizing that you feel defeated and ashamed.即：如果你說你的尾巴夾在兩腿之間，你在強調你感到挫敗和羞愧。

【例句】

His team retreated last night with tails tucked firmly between their legs. 

他的隊伍昨晚灰溜溜地撤退了。

nose to tail

字面意思：鼻子到尾巴

實際表示：首尾相連

（尤指塞車時汽車一輛接一輛緩緩行進）

If vehicles are nose to tail, the front of one vehicle is close behind the back of another.

如果車輛是頭尾相接，則表示一輛車的前部緊靠另一輛車的後部。

汽車首尾相接，

英式英語是：nose to tail；

美式英語是：bumper-to-bumper；

【例句】

About twenty fast-moving trucks drove nose to tail on the road.

大約二十輛快速行駛的卡車在路上首尾相連。

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