据说一百来年前有个滑稽演员在剧场说了个笑话，但是全场观众却无动于衷，于是他只得自我解嘲地这样说：Don't laugh so hard! You'll bring the house down - it's an old building, you know。他说：可别笑得太厉害了。要知道这是栋老房子，笑声太大会把它震坍的。这就是bring the house down这个习惯用语的出典，它表示赢得雷鸣般的掌声和震耳欲聋的喝彩声。总之，就是得到了高度赞赏。

 

既然这个成语出自剧场，我们先来听个有关纽约百老汇剧场歌舞喜剧的例子。句中number这个词有特殊意思，解释为歌舞剧的部分。

 

例句-1：That musical number at the end of the first act always brings down the house -- the dancers wear beautiful costumes, the song itself is really catchy and the singer has a terrific voice.

 

在第一幕结尾的歌舞总是让全场观众为之倾倒：舞蹈演员穿着漂亮的服装，歌曲本身已经够迷人的了，而歌手又有一付美好的嗓子。

 

例句-2：The match lasted three hours and it was the best tennis I've ever seen. It brought down the house: after the last point the crowd stood up to applaud both players as hard as they could.

 

比赛持续了三小时。这是我有生以来看过的最精彩的一次网球赛。它令全场轰动，在最后一分之后，观众都站立起来，竭尽全力地为两位选手鼓掌。

 

例句3： The ballet troupe’s first performance in the city was so successful that it brought down the house.

 

芭蕾舞团在该城的首场演出十分成功，全场为之倾倒。

 

例句4： The monkeys of the circus always give very funny and interesting performances and every time they make their appearance on the stage they bring the house down.

 

马戏团的猴子表演令人发笑，每当它们出现在舞台上，总能博得全场观众的喝采。

 

亲爱的朋友们，我们的今天对于说欢迎的招数——bring down the house的拓展学习就到这里了。下回我继续抛出说“欢迎”的招数，期待您再来接招。好，亲爱的朋友们，我们下次再见！