see the elephant就是“看见大象”？其实还有这层意思…

看到see the elephant，你会怎么理解？

按字面意思来当然是“看见大象”。但它的实际含义远不止这么简单。一起来看看吧↓

see the elephant

see the elephant也可说成get a look/ sight at the elephant，意思是“开眼界”、“长见识”。

为什么看到了大象就等于“看到了世界”，就是“见过世面了”？因为在see the elephant这句俚语诞生的年代，只有在非洲和亚洲才能看到大象。对当时的人来说，能看见大象就相当于是见过世面、开了眼界了。就这样，see the elephant就成了“见见世面”的意思了。

例句：

The boy came and saw the elephant in the city.

男孩到城里来大开了眼界。

see red

to become very angry

非常生气；暴怒

see red源于斗牛，公牛看到红色就会发怒。因此，see red意思是“怒不可遏、火冒三丈”。

例句：

When Jim realized that he had been duped, he started to see red.

当吉姆意识到受骗，他立即火冒三丈。

see the back of sb/ sth

if you are pleased to see the back of someone or something, you are pleased that you no longer have to be involved with him, her, or it

巴不得…早点结束；再也不愿见到（某人）

例句：

The hotel staff were glad to see the back of such a difficult guest.

宾馆员工很高兴把这么难伺候的客人打发走。

see stars

想一想，除了抬头望天之外，你还能在什么时候看到星星？

——被撞倒或是被打到眼冒金星的时候。

所以see stars又有“眼冒金星”的意思。

if you see stars, you are partly unconscious because you have been hit on the head.

（头部受撞击而）眼冒金星

例句：

I bumped my head on the door, and saw stars for some five minutes afterwards.

我一头撞在门上，接下来的5分钟里，眼前金星直冒。

（来源：CATTI翻译公众号  编辑：yaning）