【英语早间课堂】话说地道美语 Lesson 15 (1)

【课堂热身】

首先，let's warm up。我们先来热热身，进入我们的“Review”环节。大家还记得我们在第14课中讲到的“表示小瞧，轻视，小看，贬低，低估（某人或某事或某物）”的表述法吗？它们分别是：sell something short，sell somebody short。

在sell somebody short 中，somebody是反身代词的话，即：sell oneself short，意思就是“妄自菲薄”。那么“妄自菲薄”还有更多的表述法，such as：feel oneself inferior, self-abased , unduly¹ humble² oneself, belittle³ oneself a lot, underestimate one's own capabilities⁴。 Sell...short有“小看，轻视”之意源于股市的交易方式，那么sell short仍然使用在股市中，在股市领域中是“卖空”的意思。

【今日课题】

I am in a bad mood this morning and I don't know why? 我今天早上起来莫名其妙地感到压抑，烦躁，怕事得了“起床病”了。And how about you? 我的朋友，您呢？早上睡醒后会心情不好、对人发脾气、无精打采、心理阴暗、对叫醒你的人怒目相视甚至大骂……恭喜你，这些都是“起床病”的症状。很多动漫中的人物也有起床气，比如《纯情罗曼史》中的宇佐见秋彦……“起床气”其实是个很普遍的症状。If you feel down or feel blue too this morning, how do you say it in real American English? 如果您也感到心绪不好，情绪不不佳的话，we have a colorful expression. So , what's it? 那么，想知道，现在就进入我们今天的课题：Lesson Fifteen How to say "起床病" in real American English？

【课堂详说】 Let's look at matters of a man's heart to get it: I'm sorry I'm in such a bad mood today - I just got up on the wrong side of the bed. But our baby cried all night long. And I forgot to set the alarm so I had no time to eat breakfast. After a good night's sleep I'll be okay again!听完了这个人的内心表白。这个人还是有自知之明的，对他过激的言行而道歉。我们来看看他在道歉中说了些什么东西。I'm sorry I'm in such a bad mood today. 对不起，我今天脾气真糟糕。I just got up on the wrong side of the bed. 我一整天都情绪不好。But our baby cried all night long. 我们的孩子昨晚哭闹了一夜，And I forgot to set the alarm so had no time to eat breakfast. 而我又忘了上闹钟，所以今天早上早饭都来不及吃。After a good night's sleep I'll be okay again!只要晚上好好睡一觉，我就会恢复正常的。说到这里，我想大家都只知道了是用“get up on the wrong side of the bed”来表述“起床病”。In America, someone who is having a bad day is said to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. 要是直译就是“起床的地方不对头”或者是“起床的方式不对”。这是个在美国通用的习惯用语，从二十世纪三十年代起一直沿用到今天 。 And now let's go back to that time. 我们现在就回到那个时代去了解一下它的起源。为何get up on the wrong side of the bed是表示“整天情绪不好，心绪烦乱”之类的意思呢？

E. Cobham Brewer⁵, a writer who lived in 1870, published the book Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable⁶. In it, he claims the saying "getting up on the wrong side of the bed" originated from an ancient superstition⁷ that getting out of bed with your left leg first was unlucky. Many Romans, were cautious when getting out of bed, making sure it was on the right side. This expression was usually used by saying, "You got out of bed the wrong way." or "You got out of bed with the left leg foremost." Those developed into the idiom, "get up on the wrong side of the bed" ,we know and use today. 作家E. Cobham Brewer出版了一部习语和寓言的词典。词典中说“getting up on the wrong side of the bed”起源于古时候的迷信。古时候，如果你用左腿下床的话，就示意这不幸运，相信迷信的人如果知道自己违背了迷信的条规，那么会因此整天心绪不安，情绪不佳。很多罗马人在下床时非常谨慎，一定要确定了是用右腿从右边下床才下床。最初的说法是：“You got out of bed the wrong way.”或者是“You got out of bed with the left leg foremost.”这些说法后面就发展为我们现在所知道以及运用到的习语了，即：get up on the wrong side of the bed。

【课堂总结】

在今天的课堂上，我们学了“表示一个人整天情绪不安”的非常有趣的说法：get up on the wrong side of the bed。这个说法是源于古代英国人以及罗马人的迷信，所以我们还追踪了历史，了解了这个说法的起源。

 

转自可可英语

 

1 unduly   

adv.过度地，不适当地

参考例句：

• He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
• He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

2 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

3 belittle   

v.轻视，小看，贬低

参考例句：

• Do not belittle what he has achieved.不能小看他取得的成绩。
• When you belittle others,you are actually the one who appears small.当你轻视他人时， 真正渺小的其实是你自己。

4 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

6 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

7 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。