外国成语谚语精选

2007-12-29

1. bat an eye (show surprise, fear, or interest) 眨一下眼睛 （表示惊讶、恐惧等）

[注] 也作 bat an eyelash。该成语通常用于否定句中，表示不露声色。

例：Bill told his story without batting an eye, although not a world of it was true.

虽然没有一句话是真的，比尔编造故事却面不改色。

2. be all fingers and thumbs ( be very awkward and clumsy in handling things) 做事笨手笨脚

例：She could not undo the string of the parcel ---- she was all fingers and thumbs.

她怎么也解不开包袱上的绳子 ---- 真是笨手笨脚。 　

3. be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth (born with inherited privilege or wealth) 门第高贵；出生富豪

[注] 银具是富裕人家身份的象征之一，生在富贵人家的孩子多用银匙 (silver spoon) 喂食。同义语有be born in (或to) the propel; be raddled in purple.

例：When does he know about hardship ---- he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

他根本就不知道什么叫艰难 ---- 他出生在富贵人家。

4. be in sth. up to one's neck (be very much and very seriously involved in) 深陷于......中

例：She said she knew nothing about the robbery, but I'm sure she's in it up to her neck.

她说她对这起抢劫案一无所知，不过我敢肯定她深深卷入其中。

5. bite the hand that feeds one (be very ungrateful) 忘恩负义；以怨报德

例：She felt that her protégé had bitten the hand that fed him by making unkind remarks about her in public.

她觉得她的被保护人在公开场合讲有损她的话是忘恩负义。

6. bite off sb's nose (scold sb. severely; disagree with sb. in a bad manner) 气势汹汹地回答某人；声色俱厉地训斥某人

[注] 也作snap off sb's head。该成语最早出现于16世纪。到了18世纪，有人用动词 snap 替换该成语中的 bite 一词。

例：She bites off his nose on the faintest provocation.

不管有事无事，她动不动就声色俱厉地训斥他。

7. break the back of sth. (complete the heaviest or most difficult part of sth. hurt the most import part) 门第高贵；出生富豪

[注] 银具是富裕人家身份的象征之一，生在富贵人家的孩子多用银匙 (silver spoon) 喂食。同义语有be born in (或to) the pruple; be radled in purple.

例：Now that you've broken the back of the job, have a rest.

你既然已经完成了这项工作的主要部分，那就休息一下吧。

8. bury one's head in the sand (deliberately ignore sth. that is obvious but unpleasant) 逃避现实；拒绝承认现实

[注] 鸵鸟遇到危险时，总是把头埋在沙里，自己看不见敌人就认为敌人也看不见自己，由此产生这一成语。

例：He had suspected for some months that his son was taking drugs, but he had buried his head in the sand and refused to admit it, even to himself.

几个月来，他一直怀疑自己的儿子在吸毒，但他却采取鸵鸟政策，拒绝承认现实。 　

9. carry a chip on one's shoulder (have rather an aggressive manner, as if always expecting to be insulted, ill-treated) 以挑衅的态度出现；像要跟人家打架似的

[注] 19世纪中叶美国中西部的居民寻衅打架时，常把一块碎木片（chip）放在肩膀上，谁要与他打架就得先击落这块木片。

例：He is very difficult to deal with ---- he's always carried a chip on his shoulder about his lack of education.

他这个人很难对付----由于没能受到良好的教育，他整天都像要跟人家打架似的。

10. chance one's arm (do sth. risky; take a risk) 冒险一试；碰碰运气

[注] 该成语原出自拳击运动，后被裁缝吸收为行话；从1890年起，又被士兵们用来指"冒降级的险"

例：The doctor decided to chance his arms and try to write a book on medicine.

这个医生决定碰碰运气，试着写一本关于医药的书。
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