西方有这样一句谚语：you are what you eat. 人如其食，一个人的饮食习惯忠实地反映了这个人的性格与生活环境。英语中有不少关于吃的习惯用语，比如eat someone's dust吃土；eat one's hat吃帽子；I could eat a horse吃马？！！！既然人如其食，那这些“吃”到底都是什么意思？
eat someone's dust
1
eat someone's dust 当然不是“吃土”的意思，而是指“在竞争中远远落后于某人”。
🌰举个例子
We've been eating the competitor's dust since they released their new line of smartphones.
自从对家发布了他们的新一代智能手机，我们就远远落后于人。
eat one's words
2
：
每个人都有不能兑现自己说过的话的时候，我们把这种情况叫做：食言；而英文中有种说法叫做：eat one's words，意思是收回曾说过的话。
🌰举个例子
You think I can't get an A in this class, but you'll have to eat your words when we get our report cards!
你认为我在这堂课上得不到A，但等我们拿到成绩单时，你就得收回你的话！
eat one's hat
3
eat one's hat与eat one's words的意思有些类似。当一个人说 eat his hat，那就是他十分肯定他说的话是对的，要是他错了，他宁可把自己的帽子给吃了。这种情况就类似：如果我错了，我就不姓赵/钱/孙/李...
🌰举个例子
One thing I do know something about--playing the stock market. And I'll eat my hat if it doesn't go up another three hundred points by the end of the year.
如果说我懂什么，那就是玩股票。要是到今年年底股票价格不上升三百个百分点的话，我就把我帽子吃了。
I could eat a horse
4
I could eat a horse只是一种夸张的说法，意思是“饿极了”。中文中，我们一般会说“饿的能吃下一头牛”...
🌰举个例子
When will dinner be ready? I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
晚饭什么时候好？我饿得能吃下一头牛。
eat crow
5
乌鸦是极其聪明的鸟，不仅能识别人脸，并且有超强的记忆力，而且乌鸦还是一种非常团结的鸟类，会照顾彼此。敢“吃乌鸦”的人应该会一辈子被乌鸦攻击吧。
eat crow 的确切意思是一个人因犯了一个很难堪的错误，不得不承认而感到丢脸。
🌰举个例子
That man running for mayor went around bragging he'd win the election by a big 50,000 majority. But he had to eat crow when the woman running against him won by more than 60,000 votes.
那个竞选市长的人到处吹嘘说他肯定能得到大多数选民的拥护，以五万张选票当选市长。可是，现在他很丢脸，因为那位和他一起竞选的女候选人最后获得六万多张选票而当选市长。
eat one's heart out
6
eat one's heart out当然也不是“吃人心”的意思，而是“非常沉痛和绝望的悲痛”。
🌰举个例子
Ever since grandmother died, grandfather has been eating his heart out--he's lost all interest in life and won't even get out of bed to eat.
自从祖母去世后，祖父非常伤心，他对生活失去了一切兴趣，都不愿意起床吃饭。
eat one's heart out还可以用在另一种场合，指半开玩笑地让别人对你产生妒忌心理。
🌰举个例子
Eat your heart out—I got tickets to the concert and you didn't!
羡慕不，我有音乐会的票，你没有！
今天的内容就这些，最后让我们复习一下：
eat someone's dust 落后于人
eat one's words 收回你的话
eat his hat 绝对没错
I could eat a horse 饿
eat crow 被迫认错
eat one's heart out 悲痛伤心；羡慕嫉妒不
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