Lesson 84 - THROW TO THE WOLVES...

to throw to the wolves

to throw the baby out with the bath water

今天我们要给大家介绍两个由throw这个字组成的俗语。第一个是to throw to the wolves。Wolf就是狼，to throw to the wolves的意思就是：牺牲别人来解救自己。这个俗语可能是来自一个俄罗斯的民间故事。这个故事说的是，一对父母带着几个孩子坐着雪橇在雪地里行走，后面有一群狼在追他们。那个做父亲的就把他的孩子一个接着一个地扔给狼吃，这样他自己就可以安全地抵达目的地。我们来举个例子看看这个俗语在实际生活中是怎么用的：

例句-1: The voters have been demanding that the mayor do something about all the corruption¹ at city hall, so he threw a couple of minor² officials to the wolves--he accused them of taking bribes³ to issue building permits and then fired them.

这是说：选民们要求市长对市政府内部所有的贪污行为采取行动，于是他就把两名基层官员做牺牲品来保全他自己。他指责这两个基层官员在发放建筑许可证方面接受贿赂，然后就把他们解雇了。

但是，比这位市长更凶狠的人也并不少见，下面就是一个例子：

例句-2: Louie, we've got to find some small-time guys to throw to the wolves for murdering that cop. Otherwise, the cops will trace the killing⁴ right back to us.

这是一个流氓头子在说话，他对手下的一个打手说：路易，我们得在谋杀那个警察的事上找一些小喽罗来做牺牲品，否则，警察就要把这案件追根儿追到我们这儿来了。

******

我们下面要给大家介绍的一个俗语是：to throw the baby out with the bath water。To throw the baby out with the bath water从字面上来解释就是：在泼洗澡水的时候连孩子一起泼掉了。这是很难想象的。但是这个俗语真正表达的是：在你扔掉不要的东西时把宝贵的东西都无意地一起扔掉了。我们举个例子吧：

例句-3: Our company thought they'd be smart and save money by stopping the bonuses they had been giving to the salesmen who sold the most cars each month. Well, they saved a little money, but they threw the baby out with the bath water--our best salesmen quit and went to work for our biggest competitor.

这句话的意思是：我们公司取销了给每个月出售汽车最多的推销员奖金的制度，以为这样做很明智，可以省钱。可是，他们省了一点儿钱却失掉了更有价值的东西，因为我们最好的推销员就此不干了，他到和我们竞争最激烈的公司去干了。

下面这个例子里的公司主管比较聪敏，他正在考虑要不要解雇那个他不满意的雇员：

例句-4: I'd really like to fire this man tomorrow. But if I fire him, his brother will probably leave with him. His brother is one of our best people, and I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water.

他说：我可真想明天就把那个人解雇了。但是，要是我解雇他，他的哥哥也许会和他一起走。他哥哥是我们这儿最好的雇员之一，我可不要因为解雇他弟弟而失去他。

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。