老外說他 wear the trousers,可不是「穿著褲子」!真正的意思竟然是…

2022-07-26   每日英語

原標題:老外說他 wear the trousers,可不是「穿著褲子」!真正的意思竟然是…

toursers是英式英語中是長褲的意思,但是wear the trousers可能不是穿上褲子~

Wear the trousers和Wear the pants是兩個相似的短語,可能起源於19世紀的美國。它們是習語,也就是具有比喻意義的一個詞,一組詞或短語,習語比較不容易從其字面意義推導出來其真實意思。

在一段關係中,誰「wear the trousers/pants」就意味著誰在這段關係中是負責的人,是占主導地位的成員。負責一段關係的人會被描繪成穿著褲子的人的原因是,在19世紀,社會是非常男權的。

在過去的時代,女性的服飾是沒有「褲子」這個選項的,他們認為「褲子」代表男人,「裙子」代表女人。而男人往往是社會的主導力量。直到19世紀90年代之後,女性才慢慢開始爭取到了穿著褲裝的權利。

wear the trousers真正的意思是:

To be in charge in or control of a relationship or family. Often followed by in the family or in the house.

在戀愛中或是家庭中掌權,負責。這個短語後邊經常會接in the family或者是in the house。

Quora用戶:

Based on the largely outmoded (on several levels) idea that the man is the boss - when this was thought to be true — pants (ie trousers) symbolising the man (it not being though appropriate for women to wear them!)

基於「男人是老大」這一基本過時(從幾個層面來說)的觀念——在當時被認為是真理的觀念——褲子象徵著男人(女人穿褲子是不合適!)

Hence it could be heard, when someone commented on a particularly domineering wife: 「You can tell who wears the trousers in that house!」 The expression can still be heard occasionally, but less so since the feminist agenda gained traction.

因此,當有人評論一個特別霸道的妻子時,就會聽到這樣的話:你能分辨出誰在那個家wear the trousers!這個表達偶爾還會被聽到,但自從女權主義活動獲得支持以來就不那麼頻繁了。

例:

I think it's pretty obvious who wears the pants in that family .

我認為誰在那個家族裡說了算是很明顯的。

Actually, in our relationship, we both wear the pants we make decisions together.

事實上,在我們的關係中,我們都是一起當家做決定的。

拓展

all talk and no trousers

只談空話,不做實事

Meaning: someone who talks about doing big things but doesn』t do anything

含義:只是說大話但從來不做事的人

Example:

I told you Eric is all talk and no trousers. He was bragging that he』ll ask Jenny out and he didn』t even say 『hi』 to her.

我告訴過你埃里克只談空話,不做實事。他吹噓說他會約珍妮出來,但他甚至沒有跟她打招呼。

caught with one’s pants down

做壞事被逮個正著

Meaning: to be exposed in an embarrassing situation or when you』re not prepared

含義:在尷尬的情況下或你沒有準備好的時候被發現曝光

Example:

I was expecting the meeting to be next week and I was caught with my pants down when the boss asked me about my project.

我本來期待著會議在下周進行,但當老闆問我關於項目的問題時,我被當場問住了。

好啦,今天的小知識點,你學會了嘛?