鮮美多汁的水果在夏季最受人們歡迎, 然而在英文里它卻不一定總是褒義。比如下面:sour grapes。 Sour 是酸的意思,grapes 就是葡萄。中文里也有酸葡萄的說法,而且中英文的意思也完全相同。舉個(gè)例子就能說明這一點(diǎn):
例句-1: "Bill was sure he'd be elected class president. But when Mary beat him in the voting, he told us he was glad he didn't get the job because it was too much work. That's nothing but sour grapes!”
這句話翻成中文是說:“比爾開始認(rèn)為他肯定能當(dāng)選為班主席。但是,當(dāng)瑪麗在選舉中擊敗他以后,他對(duì)我們說,他很高興他沒有得到這個(gè)職位,因?yàn)楫?dāng)了班主席工作太多了。他這么說純屬是吃酸葡萄!”
下面是另一個(gè)關(guān)于 sour grapes 的例子:
例句-2: "Talk about a clear case of sour grapes! When Bob's girl friend left him to marry another man, he went around telling anybody who would listen that he left her because she wasn't good enough for him."
這人說:“要說吃酸葡萄吧,這件事可是很明顯的了。當(dāng)鮑勃的女朋友和另外一個(gè)人結(jié)婚后,鮑勃到處去對(duì)那些愿意聽他訴苦的人說,是他不要他的女朋友的,因?yàn)樗呐笥雅洳簧纤??!?
例句-1: "Bill was sure he'd be elected class president. But when Mary beat him in the voting, he told us he was glad he didn't get the job because it was too much work. That's nothing but sour grapes!”
這句話翻成中文是說:“比爾開始認(rèn)為他肯定能當(dāng)選為班主席。但是,當(dāng)瑪麗在選舉中擊敗他以后,他對(duì)我們說,他很高興他沒有得到這個(gè)職位,因?yàn)楫?dāng)了班主席工作太多了。他這么說純屬是吃酸葡萄!”
下面是另一個(gè)關(guān)于 sour grapes 的例子:
例句-2: "Talk about a clear case of sour grapes! When Bob's girl friend left him to marry another man, he went around telling anybody who would listen that he left her because she wasn't good enough for him."
這人說:“要說吃酸葡萄吧,這件事可是很明顯的了。當(dāng)鮑勃的女朋友和另外一個(gè)人結(jié)婚后,鮑勃到處去對(duì)那些愿意聽他訴苦的人說,是他不要他的女朋友的,因?yàn)樗呐笥雅洳簧纤??!?