最近季節交替,是不是許多人都像小編一樣過敏開始發作,鼻水流個不停?說到鼻子,其實英文中有許多和鼻子有關的詞組,今天就一起學習這些有趣的詞組吧!
Grindstone 的意思是磨刀石,古代會放在木頭上,把整塊石頭像輪子一樣轉動來磨利刀具、武器等等。那可能磨刀時鼻子要靠近磨刀石,又要磨很久,keep one’s nose to the grindstone 就引申為「長時間苦幹、努力做某事情」,舉個例子:
She kept her nose to the grindstone for half a year and got the result she wanted on the IELTS test.
她苦讀了半年書,終於取得了滿意的雅思成績。
絕大部分的人都有一個鼻子,但如果在 a nose 後面加上了 for something 就表示「擅長尋找…;有發現…的能力」,像是把人形容成狗狗一樣,搜查能力特別敏銳,舉個例子:
As a passionate gourmet, she has always had a nose for a fine restaurant.
身為一個熱愛美食的人,她總是能找到很棒的餐廳。
My granny has a nose for good bargains.
我奶奶很擅長撿便宜。
這個詞組是把 nose 當動詞,表示「打探出;查出」,可以想成像警犬一樣嗅出各種線索,舉個例子:
The detective soon nosed out the details of the murder by talking to the people involved in it.
這名偵探和當事人們聊了聊後,他很快就摸清了謀殺案的細節。
字面上意思是把鼻子從某人的事情中移開,其實意思就是「別多管閒事、給點隱私好嗎」,類似 mind your own business,舉個例子:
Dio, keep your nose out of your brother's business. Johnny can handle his problems well enough on his own.
Dio,別管你哥哥的事情。Johnny 能自己處理好他的問題。
這個詞組類似上一個詞組,字面上是保持鼻子乾淨,衍伸的意思是「安分守己、不找麻煩、不惹事生非」,舉個例子:
I just moved to the new school last month, so I was trying to keep my nose clean.
我上個月才剛轉到新學校,所以我試著不惹事生非。
我們中文也有類似這個字的用法,lead someone by the nose 就表示「牽著某人的鼻子走;任意操控某人」,舉個例子:
I'm surprised that Robert lets his girlfriend lead him by the nose like that.
我真的很訝異 Robert 讓他女朋友這樣隨意控制他。
字面上是在某人鼻子下,衍伸的意思其實是「某事在某人眼皮下發生」,通常是指壞事在顯而易見的狀況下發生,當事人卻沒有注意到或沒辦法阻止,舉個例子:
Karl stole a bottle of Johnnie Walker under the assistant's nose.
Karl 在店員的眼皮底下偷了一罐尊尼獲加。