迷你对话学地道口语第874期:不可与日耳语

 　　第一， 迷你对话

　　A: Are you falling for someone in our company?

　　你是不是爱上了我们公司的什么人？

　　B: Nothing of the sort, I know few people in the company.

　　没那回事，我不认识公司里的什么人。

　　A: But you do seem to fall for Lucy.

　　课你好像是确实有点喜欢Lucy。

　　B: Well, I like her, but I can’t hold a candle to her. I am not her match.

　　嗯，我喜欢她，但是我不能和她相比，我配不上她。

　　第二， 地道表达

　　Can’t hold a candle to someone

　　1. 解词释义

　　Cannot hold a candle to someone的字面意思是“不能为某人持握住蜡烛”，比喻为“远远不如”“不能相提并论”“不可与日耳语”或“给人提鞋跟都够不上”等等意思。我们常用“秉烛之能”来讽刺某人的无能，无用。

　　2. 拓展例句

　　e.g. Right - the Beatles were fantastic. Their music is still popular now. They were the greatest! Nobody has come along afterwards who can hold a candle to them.

　　对，甲壳虫乐队实在棒极了。他们的乐曲至今仍然流行。他们是登峰造极的，后来一直没人能跟他们比美。

　　e.g. I'm talking about Michael Jordan，Number 23，who played for the Chicago Bulls. He set all sorts of records and won four world titles. Nobody can hold a candle to him.

　　我说的是Michael Jordan，就是以前芝加哥公牛队的二十三号。他创下各种各样的记录，并且四次夺取世界锦标。任何人跟他相比都望尘莫及。

　　e.g. She writes quite amusing stories but she can't hold a candle to the more serious novelists.

　　她能写些很有趣的故事，但是 比不上那些写出内容能发人深省的小说家。

　　e.g. In speed and efficiency of delivery we can't hold a candle to our European competitors.

　　在邮递速度和效率上我们比不上欧洲的竞争对手。

　　第三， 词海拾贝

　　fall for：（1）喜欢，迷恋 （2）亲信，信以为真

　　e.g. You're too intelligent to fall for his flattery.

　　你很聪明，不会受他的阿谀奉承所惑。

　　e.g. He must have been pretty gullible¹ to fall for that old trick.

　　他准是有点儿傻, 才落入那惯用的圈套。

　　e.g. The salesman said the car was in good condition, and I was foolish enough to fall for it.

　　推销员说这辆汽车状况良好,而我那麽傻竟然信以为真。

　　e.g. The dressmaker then said that his daughter was so appealing to the eye that the son of the judge would fall for her at first sight.

　　裁缝师接着就说以他女儿这般姿色，法官的儿子第一眼看到她，就会拜倒在她的石榴裙下。

　　e.g. Women of certain age always fall for Graham's charm.

　　中年以上的妇女总是迷恋格雷厄姆的魅力。

　　第四， 短句口译

　　1. 语义表述：不是那号人。

　　口语翻译：Nothing of that sort.

　　2. 语义表述：我配不上她。

　　口语翻译：I am not her match.

1 gullible   

adj.易受骗的；轻信的

参考例句：

• The swindlers had roped into a number of gullible persons.骗子们已使一些轻信的人上了当。
• The advertisement is aimed at gullible young women worried about their weight.这则广告专门针对担心自己肥胖而易受骗的年轻女士。