slang/idiom today (Dec.18--Dec.24 05)

Moses

In the following week, I'll choose some funny slangs or colloquial expressions. The problem is you can't always find the equivalent german expressions. anyway, i'll have a try.

Dec. 18 05

"You eat with that mouth?"

It's a nice counter-attack onto those who say sth. dirty about you. It's formulated in a "polite" way and make the ignoring, rude guys shut up.

别人对你说脏话,你就回敬他这一句,言下之意,就是你的嘴那么脏,你还用这张嘴吃饭.还有一种说法,也很"文明",但是作用是一样滴,那就是:You kiss your Momma with that mouth?就是说你也是用这脏嘴亲你LM吗?(请自动联系周星星,就知道LM代表什么了):D 所谓人不犯我,我不犯人,如果别人欺负你,我们总还是要学点"防身术"滴..以后碰上听不懂的老外骂人的话,就回敬这两句...搞定... 例子嘛,我就不用举了,经验告诉我,例来骂人的话都是学得最快滴...不管什么地方的语言...

我觉得直接翻译成德语也可以表达同样的效果:
German Version: Fresst du mit dieser Klappe?
(同时手指向对方的嘴,搞定,对方就明白了..)

(注: 这是绝对口语,我是自己想出来的德文译文,还没有经历过"实战"..不同上周的那些成语,习惯用法的译文.错误之处大家包涵..)

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Dec. 19 05

"rain check"

I think most of your guys have heard of this phrase. It's quite useful in daily communication. So I'd like to put if forward for further discussion.

大家都知道,看棒球和网球是美国人的一大爱好.在美国,只要在球赛开始以后下雨,每个人在离开体育场的时候都可以得到一张特别的票子,你可以用这张票子下回免费看一场球. 这种特别的票子就叫 rain check.Rain check 的意思就是,你买了票,但是因为下雨而没有看成球.为了补偿你的损失,就给你一张下次可以用的免费票.可是到了现在,rain check 这个词已经不局限在体育球赛方面了.它已经应用于生活的各个方面.通常适用的语境是:给予第二次机会。

Examples:
1)   Salesperson: I'm sorry but we just sold the last TV set we had on sale. But I'll give you a raincheck so you can still get the special price when we get in a fresh stock a couple weeks from now.

2)  Rain check 这个词也可以用在社交场合.假如一个男学生要请一个女孩子去吃晚饭,可是这女孩当天已经有了约会.不过她很喜欢这个人,也很想跟他出去玩.这时候,她就说:  "I'd love to go out with you, Ben. I'm sorry I'm busy tonight, but I'd like a rain check."

German Version: 如果解释成德文的话,我查到: Einlasskarte fuer die Neuansetzung einer wegen Regens abgebrochenen (Sport)Veranstaltung.

Example: May I take a rain check on it? -- Darf ich darauf (auf Ihr Angebot etc.) spaeter einmal zurueckkommen?

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Dec. 20 05

"Put your foot in your mouth."

When you say something, as a result of thoughtlessness, and caused an awkward situation, say making someone feel embarrassed, you have put your foot in your mouth.

由于无心而说错了话,导致了一些尴尬或者引起了一些麻烦.那种情形下你都可以说你是"把自己的脚放到自己的嘴里了".

Examples:
1)  A: I'm so embarrassed. Are you sure he could hear me when I was talking about his wife's affair in the next room?
     B: Yes, I think he heard that. He looked that angry. You just put your foot in your mouth/in it.

2) I really put my foot in my mouth when I asked her how her husband was; they divorced three years ago.

German Version: (bei jm) ins Fettnaepfchen treten;
                          sich danebenbenehmen=sich falsch benehmen
Example: Vor drei Jahre hat er von seiner Frau scheiden lassen. Wenn jemand jetzt ihn nach ihr fragt, tritt er dann bei ihm ins Fettnaepfchen.

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Dec. 21 05

"a red letter day"

这是个很"吉利"的美语习惯用法.字面上似乎很难看出什么意思,其实呢大概意思就是"一个大喜日子",对某个人来说是"发生了好事情的一天"..

Examples:
1)  Mother: It was a real red letter day for me when my son came home from three years in the navy.

2)  I'm lucky--my birthday is a real red letter day. It's on December 31, New Year's eve and all over the world people are out celebrating it.

German Version: ein besonderer/gluecklicher Tag

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Dec. 22 05

"chicken"

这个单词很熟吧,不过今天这里呢介绍的就不是普通的"鸡"了,而是一种slang的用法,意思就是"胆小鬼,懦夫".

Explanation:
Chicken, used to refer to a person who lacks courage; coward

Example:
1) Come on, don't be a chicken!

German Version: Feigling

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Dec. 23 05

"under the gun"

Explanation: "You are under the gun" means you are working under tremendous pressure or you're working hard to meet deadlines.

就是一个人为了在限定的时间内完成一项任务,或者是解决一个问题而受到很大的压力,几乎就好像有人拿着枪逼着他把事情干完一样.

Examples:
1) I'd planned to go to the beach this weekend but I had to cancel my reservation. The boss has me under the gun to finish the company's annual program report by next Monday.

2) I can't afford any time before Christmas for parties because I'm under the gun to get ready for term exams. If I fail any of the courses I won't be accepted into medical school next year.

3) Everyone at the office has been under the gun since the new manager arrived.

4) We are under the gun to get this project finished at work.

German Version: unter Stress, Stress haben

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Dec. 24 05

"the apple of your(/his/her) eye"

The original meaning of the apple of your eyes is the pupil, or the round black spot in the middle of the eye. It is as if the person's reflection can be seen in the pupil (apple) of your eye. So the apple of your eye is a person
/thing that your care for the most.

本意是人的瞳孔,也就是某人的眼中注目的焦点,可以关注别人的一举一动.引申出来呢,就是某人非常珍爱/珍惜的人或物.

Examples:
1) A: He buys everything his daughter wants to have.
    B: He loves her that much, she is the apple of his eye.

2) A: Oh, what a nice Swarovski necklace! I've been thinking of buying it. Thank you so much, it's really a beautiful Christmas gift.
    B: It's my pleasure. I know it's the apple of your eye.

German Version: Augapfel

[ Last edited by Moses on 2006-1-4 at 14:13 ]

Moses

A Kim, you may ask the german guy to see whether my german version for "you eat with that mouth?" is workable or not... if he has the right one, please let him tell us... :)