我們知道,
dog是狗,
house是房子,
doghouse就是「狗窩、犬舍」的意思。
但是,
老外說「in the doghouse」,
可不是說「在狗窩裡」,別搞錯了!
in the doghouse
in the doghouse字面意思是「在狗窩裡」,
但在英語口語中其實還有別的意思
If you are in the doghouse, someone is annoyed with you and shows their disapproval.
如果你in the doghouse,那就是說有人被你惹得很煩躁,並向你表示反感
可以翻譯成
惹禍,惹麻煩;受冷落;失體面;丟臉
例:
Her husband was in the doghouse for leaving her to cope on her own.
她丈夫因讓她獨自應付把她惹毛了。
I'm in the doghouse - I broke Sara's favourite vase this morning.我惹麻煩了——今天早晨我把薩拉最喜愛的花瓶給打碎了。
cathouse
doghouse是狗窩犬舍,
那cathouse呢?
其實,
cathouse雖有貓窩的意思,
但在口語中,
更多的是用來表示:妓院。
例:
It is not a hotel, but a cathouse.
那不是旅館,而是妓院
get on like a house on fire
If two people get on like a house on fire, they like each other very much and become friends very quickly.
一見如故,情投意合
一旦房子著起火來,火勢就會非常迅猛地蔓延。就好像是兩個剛見面的朋友馬上就相處地非常融洽。所以這個短語就表示「(兩個人)迅速建立並保持非常好的關係」。
例:
I was worried that they wouldn't like each other but in fact they're getting on like a house on fire.
我之前還擔心他們會合不來,實際上他們卻一見如故。
bring down the house
這裡的house指的是劇場,bring down the house字面意思是「因為人們熱烈歡迎,鼓掌喝彩達到了足以使劇場倒塌的程度」。也可以說成:bring the house down。引申意為「博得滿堂喝彩」。
例:
Why could Peg's performances bring down the house?
為什麼佩格的演出能博得全場喝彩?
on the house
on the house字面是在房子上,
實際表示:
free, at the management’s expense (usually in reference to a drink or meal at a restaurant or bar)
店家負擔費用,免費。(通常指在餐館或酒吧喝的飲料或吃的飯)
on the house的這種用法,
源自美國。
以前,
在美國酒館消費有個慣例︰
顧客每喝三杯,
酒館就奉送一杯,
這一杯就是on the house(算在酒館帳上)。
例:
All the drinks were on the house.
所有的飲料都是免費的。