VOA词汇掌故2023 刚出龙潭, 又入虎穴

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。

On this program, we explore idioms, or expressions, in the English language.

在本节目中，我们探讨英语中的习语，即短语。

We give examples and notes on usage².

我们举例子并对用法进行解释说明。

And, sometimes we even use them in short stories.

有时，我们甚至在故事中使用它们。

Today we talk about bad situations.

今天我们谈论的是糟糕的情况。

Sometimes we think a situation is very bad.

有时我们认为情况非常糟糕。

We cannot imagine that it can get any worse. But then it does.

我们无法想象情况还会变得更糟。但情况确实变得更糟了。

We have an expression for just that situation – out of the frying pan³ and into the fire.

我们有一个短语来表示这种情况——刚出龙潭，又入虎穴。

Imagine we are camping.

想象一下我们正在露营。

The area is near a small river.

露营的那片区域靠近一条小河。

So, for dinner, we decide to go fishing.

因此，晚餐时，我们决定去钓鱼。

Fish cooked over a campfire is a tasty meal indeed.

在篝火上煎鱼确实是美味的一餐。

We start the fire. We add butter and onions to the frying pan.

我们生火。我们在煎锅里加入黄油和洋葱。

When it heats up, we add the fish.

加热后，我们加入鱼。

In the frying pan, the fish is in a very bad situation.

在煎锅里，鱼的处境非常糟糕。

It flips⁴ violently back and forth⁵.

它猛烈地来回翻转。

It tries to get out of the hot frying pan.

它设法从热煎锅里出来。

Finally, the fish flips out of the frying pan but lands in the fire.

最后，鱼从煎锅里翻了出来，但却落在了火里。

The idiom out of the frying pan and into the fire means you leave a bad situation purposefully only to find yourself in a much worse situation.

习语“out of the frying pan and into the fire”的意思是你有意离开一个糟糕的环境，结果却发现自己陷入了更糟糕的境地。

You thought you were improving it, but the opposite happened.

你认为你正在改善处境，但事实却恰恰相反。

Sometimes, this saying describes a choice between two equally difficult options.

有时，这句谚语指的是在两个同样困难的选择之间做出选择。

Here is another example.

下面是另一个例子。

Let's say your friend complains about his job all the time.

假设你的朋友总是抱怨他的工作。

He says his commute⁶ to the office is too long and the pay is too low.

他说，他上班的路程太长，工资太低。

You remind him that he gets great benefits, and he has the freedom to set his own hours.

你提醒他，他得到了很大的好处，他可以自由地安排自己的工作时间。

You tell him that no job is perfect. But he does not listen.

你告诉他，没有完美的工作。但他不听。

He leaves his job and starts another one. When you talk to him a month later, this is how the conversation might go.

他辞去了工作，开始了另一份工作。一个月后，当你与他交谈时，谈话可能是这样进行的。

Hey, how is the new job going?

嘿，新工作怎么样？

To be honest ... not so good.

说实话……不怎么好。

Oh no! What's wrong?

哦不！怎么了？

Well, I used to set my own hours. My new job has a strict 9-to-5 policy.

我以前是自己安排时间的。我的新工作严格要求朝九晚五。

Being able to set your own hours is a big plus.

能够自己安排工作时间是一个很大的优势。

And my take-home pay might be more. But I have to pay so much more for health insurance. And I have to pay for a parking space.

虽然我的税后工资可能会更高。但是我不得不为健康保险支付更多的钱。我还得付停车费。

Sounds like you've jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

听起来你好像刚出龙潭，又入虎穴。

Please don't remind me.

请不要提醒我。

And here is a final note on usage.

下面是有关用法的最后一项解释说明。

If the friend in this conversation simply said, "Sounds like you just jumped out of the frying pan," we would know they mean this expression.

如果在这段对话中的朋友只是简单地说，“听起来你好像刚出龙潭”，我们就知道他们说的是这个习语。

Some word experts say this phrase comes from very early Greek poetry.

一些词汇专家表示，这个短语来自非常早期的希腊诗歌。

Those early poets used the expression to describe the process of trying to escape smoke and getting burned by the flames instead.

那些早期的诗人用这个短语来描述试图逃离烟雾却被火焰灼伤的过程。

And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.

以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。

Do you have a question about an idiom or expression? Send us an email to voalearningenglish.com and let us know!

你有关于习语或短语的问题吗？发电子邮件到voalearningenglish.com告诉我们！

Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.

下次见……我是安娜·马特奥。

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

3 pan   

n.平底锅；v.严厉批评

参考例句：

• The water had all boiled away and the pan was burned.水煮干了，锅也烧坏了。
• The eggs were frying in the pan.鸡蛋正在锅里煎。

4 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。