Well, hey there, I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!
Now it's been a while since I've made you an idioms lesson and since so many of you have been asking for help with idioms lately, I thought we'd better get to it!
大家好啊,我是Emma,歡迎來到Emma的美味英語!
距離上次給大家準備的習語課程已經過了很長一段時間啦,很多人最近都在尋求關於習語方面的一些幫助,我覺得我們最好是來做一節吧!
. . . . . . There are just so many English idioms.
英文中有很多習語。你還記得它們是什麼嗎?
它們是一些短語,而它們的意思和短語中每個單詞單獨的意思並不相同。
Do you remember what they are?
They're phrases, whose meaning is different to the individual meaning of each of the words in the phrase. They're a really tricky part of learning English.
它們是學英語過程中非常困難的一部分。
而且有很多很多的習語!
There's lots of them, thousands!
And some idioms are more commonly used in some countries but not in others which is a little bit frustrating when you're trying to learn them, right?
有些習語在某些國家特別常用,但是在其他國家則寥寥,而這會讓正在學習這些習語的你感到有點點沮喪,是吧?
哪些是大家都會用的呢?
Which ones are the ones that everyone uses?
There are some idioms that my American friends use that I'm like, 'What? ' and ones that I use that go straight over their head as well.
我的美國朋友有一些常用的習語,而我覺得這都是些什麼鬼啊,而我用的一些習語他們也完全摸不著頭腦。
這裡有一個習語!
That's an idiom right there! Native English speakers use them a lot.
英語母語者使用非常頻繁。它們動不動就會在英語口語中蹦出來,但是很難完全理解它們,也很難停止對話的進行,詢問它們到底是什麼意思。
They pop up in spoken English when it's really difficult to, you know, fully understand them or stop the conversation and ask about the meaning of how it's used.
You're just sort of left wondering 'Why is he talking about an elephant? '
你在一旁想「他為什麼要說大象呢?」
關於習語的一個小提示就是,英語當中有一些習語可能和你的母語當中的習語很像,比如說「烏鴉爪紋」。
One little hint with idioms is that there are probably some English idioms that are similar to the ones that you have in your own language like 'crows feet'.
Crows feet are the wrinkles that people get here caused by a lifetime of laughing and smiles or maybe too much squinting in the sun.
「烏鴉爪紋」是因為經常笑或者是在太陽下眯眼睛長出的皺紋。但是在英文當中,它們被稱為「烏鴉爪紋」。
But in English they're called crows feet.
But these same wrinkles might have a similar idiom as their name in your language.
So if you do have some sort of idiom for these wrinkles here, I want you to add it to the comments right now because I've heard a few of them before but I'm curious to see just how many we can collect.
但是這些皺紋可能在你們的語言中擁有相似的習語表達。
所以如果你的語言中確實有一些關於這些皺紋的習語,希望大家可以現在寫在下方的評論處,因為我之前聽說過一些,但是我很好奇,想要看看到底能夠收集多少。
它們在英文中被稱為「烏鴉爪紋」。
They're 'crows feet' in English. They kind of look like a crows foot.
它們看起來有點像烏鴉爪。
你可能已經看過了我的其他習語課程,我其實出了好幾個了,你可以在我的習語列表中找到它們。
Now you may have seen some of my other idioms lessons,
I've made quite a few but you can find all of them right here on my idioms playlist.
I'll also link to it at the end of this lesson just in case you want to keep practising a little bit more with me later on.
我也在本節課程的結尾放上了連結,以防大家想要繼續進行練習。
還有商業習語、天氣習語、食物習語、假日習語和身體習語。
But there's business idioms, weather idioms, food idioms, holiday idioms, body idioms.
They're all there!
都在這裡,任君選擇!即便是你可能覺得習語會讓對話變得複雜難懂,它們其實真的特別有意思,而且是表達自我的非常有創造力的方式。
Now even though you probably feel like idioms make a conversation confusing, they're also really fun and they're a great creative way to express yourself.
They really show off your English talents like in a speaking exam for IELTS or TOEFL, using an idiom correctly is quite impressive.
它們可以展示你的英文能力,比如說在像雅思或者託福這種口語考試中,正確使用習語能給人留下非常深刻的印象。
在我們正式開始之前,記住一定要訂閱我的頻道哦,點擊下面的紅色按鈕就可以,這樣你就可以持續了解最近的狀況!
And before we get started, make sure you subscribe to the channel just by clicking that red button down there so that you can keep up-to-date with what's happening!
So we're going to learn a few today.
我們今天要學習一些習語。我們會學一些常見的動物習語,從這個開始。
We're going to go over some common animal idioms, starting with this one. 'It's raining cats and dogs'
「瓢潑大雨」「瓢潑大雨」的意思並不是貓貓狗狗從天上掉下來。
Now 'it's raining cats and dogs' doesn't mean that cats and dogs are falling out of the sky. It means that it's raining and it doesn't just mean raining, it means raining really hard.
It's heavy rain.
它的意思是天正在下雨,而且不僅僅是下雨,而且是下的非常非常大。是大暴雨。我覺得我們得取消騎自行車了,外面下起了瓢潑大雨。
I think we'll have to cancel the bike ride, it's raining cats and dogs out there! It's really rainy!
是真的下得很大!
講真,我一般不怎麼使用這個習語,但是我經常在看書的時候會碰見它。
Now to be totally honest, I don't really use this idiom that much but I come across it all the time in books. So I wanted to include it here for you.
所以我想把它給包括進來。
如果雨真的下的很大的話,我通常會說「大雨傾盆」,但是如果說「瓢潑大雨」的話,可能最好還是待在室內。
Usually I would say "It's bucketing down" if it's raining really hard but if it's raining cats and dogs, it's probably best to stay inside.
Now speaking of cats, who let the cat out of the bag?
說到貓咪呢,誰洩露了秘密呢?這個習語說的是揭露一個秘密。
This idiom is used to talk about revealing a secret.
Now just imagine your sister told you that she was flying home to surprise your mum for her birthday.
想像一下你的姐姐告訴你她要飛回家給你的母親一個生日驚喜。這是個秘密,對吧?
It's a secret, right? You can't tell your mum because it wouldn't be a surprise.
你不能告訴你的媽媽,因為這就不是驚喜了。
如果你告訴了她的話,你就洩露秘密了。
If you did, you would let the cat out of the bag. Your sister might say "Please don't tell Dad. He'll definitely let the cat out of the bag."
你的姐姐可能說「不要告訴爸爸。他肯定會洩露秘密的。
」這個秘密會被破壞的,因為爸爸不能保守秘密,這個派對就再也成不了驚喜了,對吧?
The secret will be ruined because dad can't keep a secret and the party wouldn't be a surprise anymore, would it?
You can also ask the question: Who let the cat out of the bag?
Who told the secret?
你可以問這個問題:誰說出了這個秘密?
或者是你可以道歉:我可能已經透露了這個驚喜。
Or you can apologise, you can say: Oops.
I may have just let the cat out of the bag.
I may have spoiled the surprise.
Now I want to ask you, have you got an addiction to something?
現在我想問一下大家,你有對什麼東西上癮嗎?
我呢,是咖啡。我對咖啡上癮。
For me, it's coffee. I've got a coffee addiction. I can't possibly give it up!
我根本不能放棄喝咖啡!
好的,如果我能完全放棄的話,我就再也不會喝了。
Well, the only way that I could do it is if I just went cold turkey.
Now this one doesn't make much sense.
但是這個句子並沒有什麼意義。想像一隻非常非常冷的火雞並沒有什麼用。
Picturing a turkey who's really, really cold won't help you at all.
But if you go cold turkey it means that you stop doing something completely, a hundred per cent.
但是如果你「完全放棄某件事的話」,它的意思是徹徹底底、百分之百地不再做某件事情。
我們通常會用它來描述戒掉成癮的情況,比如說吸菸、喝咖啡、酗酒,甚至是社交媒體成癮。
And we usually use it to talk about quitting addictions like smoking, coffee, drinking, even social media addictions.
We all know someone who's addicted to their phone, right?
我們都知道很多人手機成癮,對吧?或者可能就是你!
可能你就對手機成癮。可能你根本放不下手機。
Or maybe you are! Maybe you're addicted to your phone.
Maybe you can't put it down. If you are, maybe you should think about going cold turkey for a while.
如果你是的話,可能你應該想想暫時戒掉吧。
所以如果你需要卸載臉書,卸載推特,卸載ins,Whatsapp,一切的一切,所有的社交媒體!
So you'd delete Facebook, delete Twitter, delete Instagram, Whatsapp, everything, all forms of social media! It has to be everything otherwise it's not cold turkey.
比如得是所有的一切,否則就不算是完全戒掉。
「冷火雞」的意思是百分之百。
'Cold turkey' means a hundred per cent. Absolutely no.
完全沒有。
現在你可以使用後面加「百分之百」的兩個動詞。
Now you can use two verbs with cold turkey.
You can either say "go cold turkey" or you can "quit cold turkey" though that's a little more American, American English.
你既可以說「完全戒掉」,也可以說「完全放棄」,不過這個更加美式一點,美式英語。所以我很好奇,你之前是否完全放棄過某件事情,完全不再做了?
So I'm curious, have you ever quit anything cold turkey before and completely stopped doing it?
Tell me in the comments.
在評論中告訴我吧。
通常來說,完全放棄並不容易。
Usually, it's not so easy to go cold turkey. What do you think?
你覺得呢?好的,下一個習語,我想讓大家想一個你熟悉的人,他非常善良,非常溫柔。
Okay for the next idiom I want you to think of someone that you know who's very kind and gentle.
Well, you can describe them by saying they wouldn't hurt a fly.
好的,你可以用「心地善良」來描述他們。
蒼蠅和蚊子非常討厭,對吧?
Flies and mosquitoes are pretty annoying, aren't they?
Especially here in Australia!
尤其是在澳大利亞!所以那些不會傷害蒼蠅的人肯定非常有耐心,也很善良,對吧?
So someone who wouldn't hurt a fly must be so patient and kind, right? So this is a really positive, affectionate idiom and it's used to describe a person.
所以這是個非常積極有愛心的習語,是用來描述一個人的。
你還可以使用這個表達來消除對某個人的擔憂。
So you can also use this expression to reassure someone.
If they're worried about trusting someone, you might say to them "Don't worry, Steve wouldn't even hurt a fly! He's the nicest guy that you'll ever meet!"
如果他們不太相信某個人的話,你可以和他們說「別擔心,史蒂夫特別特別善良!
他會是你們見過的最最好的人!」好的,我猜該到時間討論「房間裡的大象」了。
All right, I think it's really time we talk about the elephant in the room.
Have you ever heard of this idiom?
你聽說過這個習語嗎?「房間裡的大象」指的是大家都不願意討論的事情。
The elephant in the room is the thing that nobody wants to talk about.
So it's quite specific, the way you use this idiom.
所以你使用這個習語的方式非常特殊。
是用在當人們在正常說話,但是他們都很刻意地不討論某個特定的話題,但是這個話題非常重要。
就像一個巨大的大象待在房間中央,非常非常明顯,不看它根本不可能,對吧?
It's when people are talking normally but they're all deliberately not talking about a particular issue but this issue is a big one.
It's like a big, huge elephant sitting in the middle of the room that is really obvious and it's impossible not to look at and you can see it, right?
But nobody's talking about it.
但是沒有人在談論它。這個話題非常非常明顯,但是所有人都忽視它,對吧?
或者是他們是故意避開這個話題,可能是因為這個話題談起來讓人不太自在,或者是這種情況很困難。
The issue is something really obvious but everyone's ignoring it, right?
Or they're trying to avoid it probably because it's an uncomfortable topic or a difficult situation. We really need to deal with the elephant in the room. None of us have been paid in over a month!
我們真的要直面問題了,我們都一個多月沒發工資了!
沒有人想要說這件事,對吧?
No one wants to talk about this, right?
Talking about money can be a little bit awkward, especially with your boss.
談錢可能有點點尷尬,尤其是和你的老闆談錢。
這是個很不好的情境!
This is a bad situation!
Why is no one in the room talking about it?
為什麼房間裡沒有人談論它?
可能每個人都談論過它了。
It's definitely what everyone's been thinking about.
Why haven't I been paid?
為什麼我還沒拿到薪水?
這個問題很明顯啊。
It's the elephant in the room.
We need to deal with this big issue, right?
我們需要解決這個重要議題,對吧?
這是我最喜歡的習語之一。
This one is one of my favourite idioms. It's one that I use a lot.
我也經常使用這個習語。當你「肚子裡有蝴蝶」的時候,就是你感覺緊張的時候。
When you have butterflies in your stomach, it's when you feel kind of nervous.
Do you know this feeling?
你知道這種感覺嗎?
這是你上臺在一百個人演講,展示你的研究之前的那種感覺。
It's that feeling in your stomach right before you walk on stage to speak in front of a hundred people and present your research.
It feels like you literally have butterflies flying around inside your belly, right?
感覺真的肚子裡有蝴蝶在到處飛,對吧?
想像一下會讓你緊張的事情,你的肚子開始感覺有點點怪怪的。
Now think of anything that makes you feel so nervous that your tummy starts to feel a little funny.
This can be described as butterflies in your stomach, right?
這可以用「心裡七上八下」來形容,對吧?
你可以用它來描述積極的緊張感或者是消極的緊張感。
You can use it to describe good nervous feelings or bad nervous feelings.
I'm so scared to speak on stage. I've got butterflies in my stomach!
我好害怕上臺啊。感覺心裡七上八下的。你上次緊張是什麼時候了?
When was the last time you had butterflies in your stomach?
Do you know this feeling?
你知道這種感覺嗎?告訴我你對什麼感到緊張,以及你什麼時候有這個感覺的吧。
Tell me about what makes you nervous and when you had this feeling.
For me, if I see police lights in the rear-vision mirror in my car when I'm driving, I instantly get butterflies in my belly even if I've done nothing wrong!
對我而言呢,如果我開車的時候,在車的後視鏡裡看到了警燈的話,我立刻就會感覺非常緊張,即便我什麼都沒有做錯!
你可以說「胃」或者「肚子」都可以。
You can say 'stomach' or 'belly' here. 'Belly' is just a little more informal, it's an informal way to say 'stomach'.
「肚子」有一點點不太正式,這是「胃」的非正式表達方式。
你可能也聽到有人說「我有蝴蝶」,他們說的也是同一個習語,除非那個人真的有一罐子蝴蝶,裝在自己的兜裡的話,那他們可能真的在說它的字面意義,但是那是不可能的,對吧?
Now you might also hear people just say "I've got butterflies" and they're talking about this same idiom unless that person has a jar of butterflies with them in their pocket, then they might be saying it and literally mean it but that's unlikely, right?
So here's the next idiom: 'a fish out of water'.
Now if you see someone who is uncomfortable in a specific situation like your grandma, if she walked into a nightclub.
這是下一個習語:「離開水的魚」。
如果你看到某個人在某個特定的情況下感覺不舒服的話,比如說你的祖母,如果她走進夜總會的話。他們會覺得非常不自然。
Then they look like a fish out of water.
She would feel like a fish out of water, really uncomfortable, right?
她也會感覺非常不自在,非常不舒服,對吧?她在夜總會裡面會覺得非常的尷尬,除非你的奶奶非常非常酷。
She would feel completely awkward in a nightclub unless you've got a super cool granny.
I was really excited on the first day of my internship, but when I arrived I felt like a fish out of water.
我對實習第一天超級期待,但是當我到了的時候感覺特別不自在。
或者可能當你受邀參加派對,但是每個人都是英語母語者,你可能感覺有點不太自在。
Or maybe when you get invited to a party but everyone is a native English speaker, you might feel a little like a fish out of water there.
Okay, we've got time for one more idiom.
好的,我們有時間再多學習一個習語。「搞得一團糟」
'to open a can of worms' Imagine a can full of worms.
想像滿滿一整罐的蟲子。全都是長長的、蠕動的、扭曲的蟲子,在一起動來動去。
It's full of long, wriggling, squirming worms that are all twisted together.
So when you open that can of worms, you're going to have a big mess.
當你打開那個罐子的時候,你的麻煩就來了。它們會跑的到處都是!
They're going to go everywhere! It's probably going to be really difficult to clean up and try and catch them all, right?
You'll have a lot more problems than when you started.
可能非常難以清理,也很難把它們全都抓住,對吧?
你可能比你開始的時候遇到更多更多的問題。當它們在罐子裡的時候可能會更加容易一點,但是如果你打開的話,就會出現大問題。
It's easier when they're in the can but if you open it there's going to be problems.
Or "Let's not talk about raising prices, we just going to open a can of worms."
或者是「我們先不要討論漲價的事情了吧,會把事情搞得一團糟。
」如果你不想把情況搞得這麼複雜的話,就不要打開那罐蟲子,對吧?很簡單!
So if you don't want to create a tricky situation, then don't open the can of worms, right?
It's simple! So those are some of the common animal idioms that I tend to use quite often but there are more.
以上就是常見的動物習語了,我經常使用它們,但是還有更多的習語。你知道其他的英語習語嗎?
Do you know any other ones in English?
Or can you share the meaning of any animal idioms in your own language?
或者是你能分享一些你母語中關於動物的習語嗎?
可能在英語中有一些相似的習語,我們可以在評論中進行討論。
Perhaps there are some similar ones in English and we can chat about them in the comments.
And make sure you try and use some of the new idioms that you've learnt in this lesson below in the comments.
記住要試一下哦,在評論中使用一下你在本節課程中學習的一些新習語。
I'll try and give you some feedback and help you to make sure you're using them correctly.
我會試著給你一些反饋,幫助大家確保你們的使用方式是正確的。
Thanks for joining me here again at the mmmEnglish channel.
再次感謝大家加入我的美味英語課程。