我们许多人习惯把更有趣的Halloween(万圣节前夜)当做为万圣节,但其实万圣节All Saints' Day是在11月1日。
Hallow在英文中的意思是“圣人、圣徒;神圣”的意思,虽然与saint的含义相同,但hallow这个词太古老了并不常用,而且saint才指那些因其言行而被基督教会追封的圣人。
据说Halloween是一年中最“闹鬼”的时候,各种妖魔鬼怪、僵尸巫婆、外星来客纷纷出动,简直就是all hell breaks loose(所有地狱都“解封”了)!
all hell breaks loose
1
Loose的本意是“未固定牢的;不受拘束的”,all hell breaks loose形容的是“发生各种疯狂或是可怕的事”
Said of a chaotic or disruptive situation, especially one that begins suddenly or unexpectedly.
一种混乱的情况,特别是指突然或意外发生的情况。
🌰举个例子
The last time the team got eliminated from the playoffs at home, all hell broke loose, so I don't really want to go to the game with you.
上次球队在主场被淘汰出季后赛后,一切都失控了,所以我真的不想和你一起去看比赛。
living hell
2
:
living hell指一种“极不愉快的情况”。
🌰举个例子
She described her marriage to her alcoholic husband as a living hell.
她形容自己与酗酒的丈夫的婚姻是一场活地狱。
be the day hell freezes over
3
在西方,地狱中是滚烫的岩浆,罪人在其中受到永远的折磨,所以,be the day hell freezes over地狱被冰封的那一天,指的其实是“不可能发生的事”。
🌰举个例子
The day that a Democrat like him gets elected in a blue-collar Republican town like this will be the day hell freezes over.
像他这样的民主党人在这样一个蓝领共和党小镇当选,是永远都不会发生的。
give (one) hell
4
give (one) hell这个短语的意思可不少:
1. 严厉斥责或责骂某人、让某人难堪
🌰举个例子
I'd avoid the boss today—he's already given me hell.
我今天会避开老板——他已经狠狠地批了我一顿。
Mom will give you hell if you come home after curfew yet again.
如果你再过了宵禁回家,妈妈会骂死你的。
2.为某人制造难题或挑战
🌰举个例子
This discrepancy in the budget is really giving me hell—I still haven't figured it out.
预算不符真把我难住了——我到现在还没弄明白。
3.对即将参加某项活动(通常是比赛)的人表示鼓励的呼喊,旨在激励他们尽最大努力击败对手取得成功。
🌰举个例子
Go out there and give 'em hell! You were born to do this.
出去给他们点颜色瞧瞧。你天生就是干这个的料。
Hell has no fury like a woman scorned
5
Hell has no fury like a woman scorned
No one will have a greater wrath or vengeance than woman when they have been wronged.
没有人会比一个被冤枉错待的女人有更大愤怒或更严重的复仇
注意:这个短语中的woman可以被任何人、任何职业代替!
🌰举个例子
The university might think nothing of hiking up the cost of tuition, but we'll show them that Hell has no fury like a broke college student scorned!
学校可能觉得提高学费没什么大不了,但我们要让他们知道破产大学生们的怒火!
The governor, after veering away from his party's core ideologies, is now discovering that Hell has no fury like politicians scorned.
州长在偏离了所在政党的核心意识形态后,才发现政客们的怒火有多严重。
Most men find out the hard way that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
大多数男人在经历过惨痛的经历后才知道地狱的怒火也比不上一个被错待的女人的复仇。
Speak of the devil
6
既然今天聊的是hell,怎么能不Speak of the devil(说一说魔鬼)呢。
Speak of是说到、提到,devil是魔鬼。Speak of the devil 的字面意思是:说到魔鬼。但作为一个习惯用语,它的意思是“说曹操,曹操到”。
Speak of the devil 在18世纪初开始流行,当时有一种迷信的说法:speak of the devil and he's sure to appear。如果你提到魔鬼,魔鬼就一定会现身。后来逐渐简化成:speak of the devil。
🌰举个例子
Did you hear what that politician decided to do this time? Oh, speak of the devil, there he is on the television.
你听说那个政客这次又决定做什么了吗?噢,他在电视上露面了。真是说到曹操曹操就到。
Play the devil's advocate
7
Play the devil's advocate这个短语来源于罗马天主教会。罗马天主教会在授予某人圣人称号的时候都要经过审议。以前在审议时,有一个专门提出反面意见的教会官员,故意指出被授称号者的缺点,目的是促使审议人员更慎重地进行讨论。担任这项工作的教会官员就被称为the devil's advocate。
to play the devil's advocate是指为了考虑得更周到、提高有效性,而故意提出不同意见。
🌰举个例子
So basically my role in the company is to play the devil's advocate to each new proposal before we commit to it.
我在公司的作用基本上是在公司实施新的建议之前提出不同意见。
🙋精选干货
点击下方推文图片,查看往期内容