VOA慢速英语2018--Dead as a Doornail

 

Believe it or not, the English language has about 25,000 idiomatic¹ expressions. And some of the oldest ones have very interesting histories.

Today our question involves an expression from early English literature. It comes from Dimitrije in Serbia. Here is what he writes:

Question:

What is the exact meaning of the word "doornail"? That word comes from Shakespeare's idiom "as dead as a doornail." I'm not sure about what the idiom means and when it is used. - Dimitrije, Serbia

Answer:

Hello, Dimitrije. That is a great question!

One of the best things about teaching is that students ask questions teachers don’t know the answers to. We have to look for the information and, in the process, we learn things, too.

Here is what I learned:

The expression “as dead as a doornail” is older than William Shakespeare. One of its earliest known uses was in a poem by the 14th century English writer William Langland.

Knowing the meaning of “doornail” will help us understand this idiom.

Doornails are very large nails that, in early times, were used to strengthen doors. Workers hit the nails into doors and the sharp end came out the other side. The worker then flattened² the sharp metal with a hammer to make each nail secure.

There are two theories about why doornails were called “dead.” One says that, after they were repeatedly hit, the nails became unusable for any other purpose. Another says that the force and number of times these nails were hit “killed” them, making them “dead.”

Whichever explanation is true, “as dead as a doornail” simply means this: totally and completely dead.

The expression was common in England by the 16th century.

Today, the expression is not often heard, especially in American English.

As + adjective + as

But, making comparisons of equality with the word “as” is still common in American English.

One way we do this is with the structure as + adjective + as. For example:

I am as tall as my father.

Here’s another example:

Your food is as good as it was years ago.

When we use the as + adjective + as structure in expressions, we call them "similes⁴." Here is an example of a commonly used simile³:

As light as a feather

Here’s another example:

As happy as a clam⁵

And, sometimes similes involve humor, such as “as exciting as watching paint dry,” which means: not exciting at all.

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

idiomatic - adj. using, containing, or denoting expressions that are natural to a native speaker

idiom - n. an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words

nail - n. a long, thin piece of metal that is sharp at one end and flat at the other end and that is used usually to attach things to wood

feather - n. any one of the light growths that make up the outer covering of the body of a bird

clam - n. a type of shellfish that lives in sand or mud and has a light-colored shell with two parts

1 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。

2 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

3 simile   

n.直喻，明喻

参考例句：

• I believe this simile largely speaks the truth.我相信这种比拟在很大程度上道出了真实。
• It is a trite simile to compare her teeth to pearls.把她的牙齿比做珍珠是陈腐的比喻。

4 similes   

（使用like或as等词语的）明喻( simile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Similes usually start with "like" or "as". 明喻通常以like或as开头。
• All similes and allegories concerning her began and ended with birds. 要比仿她，要模拟她，总得以鸟类始，还得以鸟类终。

5 clam   

n.蛤，蛤肉

参考例句：

• Yup!I also like clam soup and sea cucumbers.对呀！我还喜欢蛤仔汤和海参。
• The barnacle and the clam are two examples of filter feeders.藤壶和蛤类是滤过觅食者的两种例子。