英式英语和美式英语之别——令英国人糊涂的美式短语

得益于美国文化的全球化传播，世界范围内说英语的人们已经知晓一些奇奇怪怪的美式英语表达，如 bury the hatchet、pass the buck 和 take a rain check，（有关11个流行表达方式的解释）。但无论看过多少好来坞电影，总还是有一些美式俚语的含义让人出其不意。让我们通过下面的十道题测试一下你对当下美语短语的理解如何。

1. If something ‘jumped the shark’, then it:

A. Avoided payment of overdue loans

B. Began a period of inexorable decline in quality or popularity

C. Escaped from a dangerous situation

D. Went down to Florida for the winter

2. A ‘Monday morning quarterback’ is someone who:

A. Is obsessed with American football

B. Is an early enthusiast for something

C. Loves getting things done at the start of the week

D. Passes judgment on and criticizes something after the event

3. A ‘horse of another color’ would refer to:

A. An unrelated matter with distinctly different meaning

B. The odd one out

C. A person from a different state

D. A missed opportunity

4. Someone who ‘bought the farm’ has:

A. Died

B. Come into new wealth

C. Paid off a mortgage

D. Made an awkward comment

5. If you were to ‘lay an egg’, then you would be:

A. Really angry

B. Hungry

C. Completely unsuccessful

D. Opportunistic

6. A ‘Bronx cheer’ refers to:

A. A sound of derision or contempt made by blowing through closed lips

B. A chant popularized by fans of the New York Yankees

C. The sound of a car horn

D. A stabbing

7. If we need to ‘put on the dog’, then we would:

A. Chase behind a car

B. Be servile

C. Eat hot dogs for dinner

D. Behave in an ostentatious way

8. Something ‘up the wazoo’ is:

A. In Canada

B. In a desperate situation

C. At the bottom of a lake

D. In great quantity

9. If you ‘talked turkey’, then you would be:

A. Lying about your true intentions

B. Insulting someone behind their back

C. Discuss something frankly and straightforwardly

D. Obsessed with Thanksgiving planning

10. A John Hancock refers to:

A. A person’s signature

B. An elderly person

C. A revolutionary

D. A breakfast sandwich

准备好查看答案吗？再往下看。

答案

1. B

Jump the shark（走下坡路）一词源于很流行的一档美剧Happy Hours，在第五季第一集的剧情里，人物Fonzie去划水，并跳过了一条鲨鱼。这个剧情的设计饱受纷争，在此之后剧集质量下滑，观众人数下降。这一现象产生了这个短语，用以指代电视剧或电影情节达到某个分水岭，在此只为出奇而引入一些荒唐可笑的剧情，表明质量开始下降。

例句：It had its faults - some say it jumped the shark when Niles and Daphne got married - and,as with any long-running show, it could get tiresome sometimes.

2. D

Monday morning quarterback （事后诸葛亮，马后炮）源于美国橄榄球赛，星期日比赛后，星期一早上各家媒体会就昨日比赛做出各式批评和评论。Quarterback 是橄榄球赛中的四分卫，相当于全队进攻的核心，因此球赛的评论也多是把四分卫作为焦点。该短语作为非正式的用法，比喻事后做出判断和批评，自作聪明的事后诸葛亮。

例句：I'm getting a little sick and tired of the Monday morning quarterbacks out there determining that she did something wrong.

3. A

A horse of another / a different color 这一短语指有明显不同意义的不相关事物，即完全不是一回事。它可能是从莎士比亚喜剧《第十二夜》中的 “a horse of the same color”短语发展而来。

例句：Buxton Forman's A Shelley Library,however, was a horse of a different colour.

4. A

短语 buy the farm 在美式英语中可表示“死亡”。它源于美国军事俚语，但词源学家也不能肯定其出处。这或许是在暗示某种情况，即一个农场因为军用飞机坠毁而受损，其农场主的损失将由政府承担。若是飞机遭遇致命的空难，飞行员大概会毙命。

例句： I refused to admit to my recklessness, even when I nearly bought the farm

5. C

如果说某人 lay an egg，那就是说这个人很不成功，很失败。当然，如果是母鸡 lay an egg，那就是下了个蛋。

例句：The magazine really laid an egg with this article, which ranks right up there with the worst and most inaccurate articles they have ever published.

6. A

Bronx cheer 是用嘴吹出嘘声，表示蔑视和嘲笑。Bronx 是纽约市的布朗克斯区，纽约扬基棒球队的发源地。该短语与 blow a raspberry 近义。

例句：She shuddered, making a noise like a Bronx cheer. / He blew a long, loud raspberry, spraying Bob with spittle.

7. D

Put on the dog：（北美非正式）Behave in a pretentious or ostentatious way。如果你“表现成一只狗”，那就是说你表现出自命不凡的拽样。词源学家也不很确定这一词组的确切来源，有一些人曾认为这是源于贵妇们的“lap dog/哈巴狗”这一概念。Lap dog可指无主见、奉承和势力的人。

例句：The CEO put on the dog today as he welcomed customers to the enterprise software company's annual users' conference.

8. C

Up / out the wazoo：（北美非正式）大量的。Wazoo /wəˈzuː/一词指臀部、屁股。该词的来源无法得知。

例句：A terrorist has no problem at all getting fake I.D. up the wazoo. / You're right, those two have issues out the wazoo, and Lana is off to find out why.

9. C

讲土耳其语是什么意思？它指坦率地说，毫无保留；言归正传，讨论不利的事实等。辞典学家也不知道词组的真实来源，有些人假定可能和感恩节有关。那这里就不是土耳其语而是火鸡喽？

例句：she promised to go talk turkey with the representatives

10. A

John Hancock 为什么有签名的含义呢？John Hancock（1737-1793年）是美国的革命家和政治家。他是北美第一届和第二届大陆会议的成员，第一任大陆会议主席（1775-1777年）。美国的《独立宣言》由 Thomas Jefferson 起草，在第二届大陆会议上通过。John Hancock 是在《独立宣言》上第一个签字的人，且签名很大。随后“John Hancock”就成为签名一词的代名词。

（来源：牛津辞典微信公众号  编辑：Julie）