Lesson 59 - A FISH OUT OF WATER / TEACH A FISH HOW TO SWIM
在今天的节目里,我们要给大家介绍几个和鱼有关的习惯用语。中国人常常用「如鱼得水」来形容一个一切都很顺当的环境。美国人常用的一个俗语却刚好和「如鱼得水」相反,他们说: a fish out of water。从字面上解释就是:没有水的鱼。你肯定经历过一种场合,当时你觉得很不自然,和周围的人或环境格格不入。A fish out of water作为一个俗语,就是指这种感觉的,它的意思是某人和他所处的环境不融恰,使他感到很别扭、很难堪。
比如说,我的一个朋友最近从一个国际会议回来后他对我说:
例句-1: At the conference I was a fish out of water. All the speeches were in French, a language I never studied.
他说:"参加那个会议真叫我感到别扭。所有人发表讲话的时候都用法语,可是我从来也没有学过法文。"
每个人都会有感到别扭的时候,下面这个人碰到的场合又是一个例子:
例句-2: Everybody else at the party ended up in the swimming pool. But I was a fish out of water because I can't swim.
这人说:"参加聚会的每个人最后都到游泳池去游泳了,我真感到别扭,因为我不会游泳。"
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要是谁想教鱼怎么游泳的话,那简直是班门弄斧,多余的了。下面我们要讲解的一个习惯用语就是这个意思: to teach a fish how to swim。To teach a fish how to swim作为俗语的意思是指班门弄斧:给别人提出完全没有必要的建议或劝告。你听了下面这位父亲的讲话就会知道他的儿子有多可笑了:
例句-3: My son, fresh out of college, keeps telling me how to run my business. But I've been making good money for 30 years so he's teaching a fish how to swim.
例句-4: The day after I got my private pilot's license, I told this man at the party all about how to fly an airplane. Later I learned he was an airline pilot who flew jumbo jets -- I'd been teaching a fish how to swim.