英语词汇实用小百科 与睡相关的词语

 

Xiaohua: Hello and welcome to RoundTable's Word of the Week. This week we're talking about some sleep-related idioms.

John: Indeed. Everyone likes to sleep, but not everyone knows how to talk about sleep in English. So we're going to take a look at some idioms specifically related to sleeping. "Cat nap", a short sleep or rest during the day. My dad often has a cat nap on a Sunday afternoon.

Xiaohua: 猫特别喜欢在白天打瞌睡，那cat nap就是小睡一下的意思。

John: And then "forty winks²". If you have forty winks , you have a short sleep or rest, generally during the day. So very, very similar to cat nap.

Xiaohua: Forty winks也是差不多的意思，so if you winked³ forty times, it's a very short period of time, therefore, forty winks?

John: I have no idea.

Xiaohua: Sounds like it.

John: Sounds like it. Next up, "hit the hay or hit the sack". When you hit the hay or hit the sack, you go to bed when you're really, really tired. For example, the boys were so exhausted⁴ that they hit the hay as soon as they reached the campsite.

Xiaohua: 当人们很累的时候就一下子倒在干草堆上了，所以hit the hay or hit the sack是立刻就去睡觉了的意思。

John: Right. Then there is "lie in or sleep in". If you lie in, you stay in bed after a normal time for getting up. I imagine that a lot of people like to have a lie in on the weekend when they don't have to get up early for work.

Xiaohua: There's nothing better than a lie in on Sunday for me. Lie in就是已经过了起床的时间但还赖在床上不肯起来的意思。

John: And then "out like a light". If a person is out like a light, they are so tired that they fall asleep very quickly. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he was out like a light.

Xiaohua: Out like a light的意思就是一下就睡着。

John: Someone who is "ready to drop" is extremely tired or nearly too exhausted to stay standing⁵. So for example: I've been shopping all day with Judy. I'm ready to drop! This is also kind of similar to a phrase you hear in English: someone is shopping until they drop. Or "shop till you drop" is usually a sales tactic⁶ getting people to come in the store with the amazing deals.

Xiaohua: I see. Ready to drop就是累得可以马上倒下睡着的意思。而shop till you drop居然也是购物一直到。。。

John: 到累死了？

Xiaohua: OK，购物一直购到累死了的状态。

John: I never thought I'd be teaching Xiaohua Chinese.

Xiaohua: No.

John: And then "sleep like a log". If you sleep like a log, you sleep deeply or soundly. So after a day at the beach, I usually sleep like a log.

Xiaohua: 这个短语大家可能都知道，sleep like a log，睡得很沉。

John: So "not sleep a wink¹ or not get a wink of sleep". So basically you sleep so lightly or you don't actually sleep at all no matter how hard you try.

Xiaohua: 刚才说到forty winks是小睡一下的意思，那not sleep a wink就是一点都没睡着。

John: And then the opposite of "not sleeping a wink" is to be fast asleep or sound asleep. And so very similar to sleeping like a log, to be fully⁷ asleep and not easy to wake up.

Xiaohua: Fast or sound asleep也是指睡得很沉的意思。

John: And then looking at some idioms that aren't directly related with sleep but talking about sleep: "asleep at the wheel" means that someone is not sufficiently⁸ attentive⁹, especially at a critical moment when vigilance is required. For example, when the firemen arrived too late at the scene, the night watchman was accused of being asleep at the wheel.

Xiaohua: Asleep at the wheel有点像关键时刻掉链子的意思，就是当你需要非常警醒的时候你却没有注意。

John: And then to sleep on it, so take time usually until the next day) to think something over before making a very important decision.

Xiaohua: Yeah, I tend to sleep on my problems all the time.

John: Do you oversleep on your problems?

Xiaohua: Kind of. 所以sleep on something就是把这件事情先不管啦，拖一阵再解决。And that's all we have for RoundTable's Word of the Week.

1 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

2 winks   

v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• I'll feel much better when I've had forty winks. 我打个盹就会感到好得多。
• The planes were little silver winks way out to the west. 飞机在西边老远的地方，看上去只是些很小的银色光点。 来自辞典例句

3 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

9 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。