听播客学英语 136 成语

 　　I have some idioms for you today. Idioms are colourful ways of saying something. Often, when we use an idiom, we don’t mean the words in a literal¹ sense. We are using the words figuratively.

　　Still confused? The best thing is to give you some examples. Four examples, in fact, and each one is about legs or feet!

　　Kevin and Joanne go with some friends to a disco club. Kevin likes dancing. But he is no good at it. He stands on the dance floor, jumping up and down and waving his arms in the air. It is not a pretty sight, but Kevin is happy. Bless him! And Kevin has two left feet. That does not mean that he actually has two feet on the left side of his body. No, it means that he is clumsy² – he can’t keep his feet in time with the music, and he falls over a lot. He has two left feet.

　　Charles is Kevin and Joanne’s friend. But they do not see him very much, because Charles is always travelling. He is never completely happy where he is – he always wants to be somewhere else. He gets a job, but after a few months he resigns and looks for another job, or he goes travelling. He rents a flat, but he will not stay there for long. In a few months he will move to another flat, or to a different city. We say that Charles has itchy feet. That means, he is not happy staying for a long time in the same place or the same job. He always wants to be moving to somewhere new.

　　Harry³’s car broke down last week. It stopped on the motorway⁴ and he had to phone a garage to come and tow⁵ his car away. Then he had to pay to have his car repaired. It was very expensive. “It cost me an arm and a leg”, says Harry.

　　And finally, let us meet Joanne’s friend Tracey. Tracey is lovely young woman, but she is always putting her foot in it. That means, she says the wrong things – she offends⁶ people, or embarrsses them, or makes them upset, without meaning to. So, for example, she hears that Harry has just split⁷ up with his girlfriend. All of Harry’s friends know that Harry gets very upset whenever he thinks about his former girlfriend. They know that the best thing is not to talk to him about it. But not Tracey. “I hear you split up with your girlfriend”, she says to Harry. She has put her foot in it – again!

　　Do you understand now what an idiom is? There is a quiz attached to the podcast, with some more idioms in it. You can find it on the podcast website.

1 literal   

adj.照字面的，原义的，逐字的

参考例句：

• This word should not be taken in its literal sense.这个词不能按本义去理解。
• He made a literal interpretation.他逐字解释。

2 clumsy   

adj.笨手笨脚；不圆滑的，缺乏技巧的

参考例句：

• He is clumsy with his hands.他的一双手很笨。
• Its body looks heavy and clumsy when it has eaten its fill.它步态蹒跚，吃饱了的身体更显得笨拙可笑。

3 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

4 motorway   

n.高速公路，快车道

参考例句：

• Our car had a breakdown on the motorway.我们的汽车在高速公路上抛锚了。
• A maniac driver sped 35 miles along the wrong side of a motorway at 110 mph.一个疯狂的司机以每小时110英里的速度在高速公路上逆行飙车35英里。

5 tow   

n.拖，拉，牵引

参考例句：

• The broken-down car was taken in tow by a lorry.那辆坏了的车由一辆货车拖着。
• Mrs Hayes went to the supermarket with her four little children in tow.海斯太太带着她的4个小孩到超市去了。

6 offends   

v.触怒( offend的第三人称单数 )；得罪；冒犯；使反感令人不适

参考例句：

• His behaviour offends against the canons of good manners. 他的行为违背了礼法的准则。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His English offends against the rules of grammar. 他的英语不符合语法规则。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。