美语:blow up in someone's face 栽了跟头
上一讲我们向大家介绍了两个关于face的片语,今天我们再介绍两个。第一个是blow up in someone's face.现实生活中总有一些人由于急剧增长的名誉或取得的重要成就而骄傲起来,这时他们就可能栽个跟头了。
The football player is great. They say, “Pride goes before a fall”. Years of constant success and popularity are about to blow up in his face.
(这名足球运动员是很优秀的。有句话说“骄傲在失败之前”。多年来长久的成功和声望就要使他栽跟头了。)
这里片语blow up in someone’s face的意思是“使某人栽跟头或使某人做事失败”。这个片语主要用来描述突然间的、没有预期到的做事失败或栽了跟头,所以有时也译为令某人难堪。if something you have done or planned to do blows up in your face, it suddenly goes wrong.
再看一个例子:
Harry is very proud of herself, she always tells others that she is the best one. But now, it is kind of funny watching the presentation blow up in her face.
(Harry很骄傲,她总是告诉别人她是最好的。但现在看到她难堪的样子真是有趣。)
正如汉语中的一句名言所言“骄傲使人落后。”很明显的,骄傲之后接踵而来的就是跟头了。对了这里表达“很明显的”之意,我们可以用一个比较复杂一点的片语来表示:as plain as the nose on one's face.
Harry is one of the best players. That is as plain as the nose on your face. But he doesn‘t deserve all the credit for the great progress our team has made. Other players worked hard too. (Harry是最好的选手之一。那是很明显的。但我们不该把巨大的进步归功于他一个。其他选手也做得很努力。)
片语as plain as the nose on one’s face意思是“很明显的”。Plain本来就有“简单清楚,明白朴素的”之意。所以从字面上看这个片语的意思就是“像某人脸上突起的鼻子一样清晰明白的”,当然这个意思就是我们常说的“很明显的”之意了,相当于it’s very clear that.
He is very nervous. That is as plain as the nose on your face, because he stands awkwardly in front of the microphone for several minutes and says nothing.
(很显然地,他十分紧张,因为他在麦克风前局促不安地站了好几分钟而没有说一句话。)
结束语:在英文写作中我们有时需要用不同的词汇来表达同一个意思,这样文章才显得生动而不千篇一律。很显然的(as plain as the nose on one’s face),当我们表达“很显然的”意思时,我完全可以用it is clear that,也可以用it is obviously,但在一篇多处需要表达这个意思的文章中,如果你总是使用这两个简单的片语就易栽跟头了(blow up in one’s face),所以记住还有另一个表达as plain as the nose on one’s face.需要注意的是,这个片语,常用作副词片语,而且在句中起插入语的作用,所以常用固定搭配as plain as the nose on your face.