邪恶的表情

Evil¹ Expressions 邪恶的表情

Now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning² English.

In an earlier program, we talked a lot about the Devil³. In many religions, the Devil is the most powerful spirit of evil. Religious leaders teach that hell⁴ is where the Devil lives. They also say hell is the place where bad people go after they die.

You can hear many Americans using the words “Devil” and “hell” in everyday expressions. But the list of expressions is just too long for one show. So, get ready for the sequel -- what we’re calling “Part 2: Hell, the Devil’s Hangout!”

Many people think of hell as a hot place full of fire. So, a snowball would not have much of a chance there. And that is where this expression comes from: a snowball’s chance in hell.

Let’s say you applied⁵ for a promotion⁶ at work. But so did your boss’s daughter. You do not have a snowball’s chance in hell. Your boss is not going to hire you over his daughter.

It will be a cold day in hell and when hell freezes over also mean the same thing: there is no chance that something will happen.

For example, if you have a fight with a friend and never want to talk to him again, you could say, “It will be a cold day in hell before I ever call him again. Our friendship is over!” Or “Sure, I’ll call him … when hell freezes over!”

But be careful. These expressions are very informal and very strong. You would only use them with your close friends and peers⁷.

So if your boss asks if your work will be done before you go home, you would never say, “It’ll be a cold day in hell when that happens...” unless you want to lose your job. 

Sometime, we just use the expression “hell” like this: She’s a hell of a dancer. He’s a hell of a writer. That was a hell of good time. “Hell of a” runs together as if it’s one word – hell-of-a. Again, this is very slang⁸ and very informal.

Hell is reported to be not only hot, but miserable⁹.

So, if something is going to hell in a hand basket, it is becoming very bad very quickly.

If you have been to hell and back, you have been through a very difficult period and lived to tell about it.

Here is an example:

A: I’m glad to see that Julie is back to her old self.

B: Me, too. She’s been through so much this past month. Her mom died, her son got really sick and then she was in that terrible car accident.

A: Wow, she has really been to hell and back.

"Excuse, but how do you get to hell?"

But if you do want to visit hell, there is a road you can take: the road of good intentions.

Let me explain. When we say “The road to hell is paved¹⁰ with good intentions,” we mean that positive intentions may have negative outcomes¹¹. “Paved” here means to line a street. So, the road to hell is lined with well-intended ideas that went terribly wrong.

You do not have to have good intentions to be hell on wheels. People who are hell on wheels are aggressive, tough, mean or just difficult to deal with. For example, “Watch out for the new woman in sales. She’s good. But she is hell on wheels! Stay out of her way!”

Being hell on wheels is different than raising hell. People who are hell on wheels might actually be doing a good job. But if you are raising hell, you are simply behaving badly.

Let’s listen to this dialogue.

B: “When she was a teenager, she really raised hell.”

A: “Tell me about it. She skipped school, got into trouble every weekend … what a hell raiser!”

B: “Her poor parents!”

If you raised too much hell in one place, you might find you need to leave that place like a bat out of hell -- in other words -- crazy-fast!                    

1 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 devil   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him.召鬼容易驱鬼难。
• Susie,you're a determined little devil.苏茜，你真是个坚决的小家伙。

4 hell   

n.地狱，阴间；用以咒骂或表示愤怒，不满

参考例句：

• It's a hell of a hike from Sydney to Perth.从悉尼到珀斯的徒步旅行简直苦死了。
• The boss really gave me hell today.老板今天着实数落了我一通。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

7 peers   

n.同等的人，贵族vi.凝视，窥视vt.与…同等，封为贵族v.凝视( peer的第三人称单数 )；盯着看；同等；比得上

参考例句：

• She enjoys the respect of her peers. 她受到同侪的尊敬。
• She peers into my eyes. 她盯着我的眼睛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

9 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

10 paved   

v.铺( pave的过去式和过去分词 )；为…铺平道路

参考例句：

• a paved area near the back door 后门旁一块石板地
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track. 铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 outcomes   

结果( outcome的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The two scenarios provide illustrations of consistent set of outcomes for range of possible policies. 这两个方案说明某一套可能采取的政策将会产生的一系列后果。
• We analyzed all the possible outcomes of your mission, Commander. 我们分析过所有可能的结果，指挥官。