VOA慢速英语2020 体育习语

Idioms About Sports

Now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

Sports are a great source of enjoyment¹ and competition for people around the world. There are many expressions related to sports in English that we use in our daily lives.

In the United States, the most popular sports include baseball and American football. So, terms and sayings connected to those games are especially common.

We often use sports-related terms in our daily lives to describe moments of success, difficulty, failure and fairness.

Timothy Wahl teaches English as a second language to adults in Los Angeles, California. He also wrote the book, Footballogy: Elements of American Football for Non-Native Speakers of English.

Wahl says using sports idioms is a great way to sound more like a native speaker and better understand a new culture.

Knowing how to use American sports idioms can help people from different cultures make personal connections in a foreign place.

Here are a few expressions to practice.

Huddle² up

Let's consider the phrasal verb "huddle up." The verb "huddle" means to crowd together. In American football, the offensive³ team huddles⁴ throughout the game to discuss its plan of play. The team forms a sort of circle with their backs to everyone else. This helps keep the players' brief meeting private. They do not want the opposition⁵ to learn what moves they are planning to make.

Apparently⁶, the football huddle began at Gallaudet University, a university for students who have hearing disabilities. The players use sign language, speaking through signs they make with their hands. So, the Gallaudet players faced each other so the other team could not see their hands.

Here is are two example sentences of the phrase used outside of football:

The students huddled⁷ up around the chemistry teacher as she performed the experiment.

The patient's doctor and family huddled up to discuss possible treatments.

Hail⁸ Mary

One of the most common American football idioms is "a Hail Mary."

"Hail Mary" is the name of a Christian⁹ prayer. It is used in football to describe a play made by the losing team toward the end of the game. The play is not likely to be successful but is made in desperation.

The prisoner hid under a car in a Hail Mary effort to escape police.

Drop the ball

The idiom "drop the ball" most often describes a situation where someone failed to do something important or necessary.

This term is used in many sports. A baseball, football or basketball player can "drop the ball," usually resulting in some kind of loss or penalty¹⁰ for their team.

In non-sports talk, you might say you "dropped the ball" if you did not finish your school work on time, or forgot to pay the electric company, or did not follow your supervisor's orders for a project at work.

Listen to this short discussion as an example:

Sorry, I'm late for work. I had to walk because there was no gas in the car. John was supposed to take it to the fuel station.

Wow. Didn't you also tell me that he left your phone outside in the rain yesterday?

Yep! He has really been dropping the ball lately, and only I seem to suffer the results!

Words in This Story

idiom – n. an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but that has a separate meaning of its own

practice – v. to carry out or perform a particular activity

authentic¹¹ – adj. not false or copied; genuine; real

phrasal verb – n. a phrase consisting of a verb and another element, typically a preposition

desperation – n. a state of despair or hopelessness

1 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

2 huddle   

vi.挤作一团；蜷缩；vt.聚集；n.挤在一起的人

参考例句：

• They like living in a huddle.他们喜欢杂居在一起。
• The cold wind made the boy huddle inside his coat.寒风使这个男孩卷缩在他的外衣里。

3 offensive   

adj.令人不快的，侮辱的，攻击用的；n.进攻

参考例句：

• His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。
• If all else fails,I will take the offensive.如果其他方法不行，我将采取攻势。

4 huddles   

（尤指杂乱地）挤在一起的人（或物品、建筑）( huddle的名词复数 )； （美式足球）队员靠拢（磋商战术）

参考例句：

• The little girl huddles herself up. 小女孩把身子缩成一团。
• The child huddles down in the bed, listening to the sound of the storm. 孩子听到雷雨声，就在床上缩成了一团。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

8 hail   

n.雹，一阵；vi.下雹；vt.高呼，为...喝彩

参考例句：

• Hail fell with such violence that it broke windows.冰雹猛落，把玻璃窗也砸破了。
• The people lined the streets to hail the returning heroes.人们夹道欢迎凯旋的英雄们。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 penalty   

n.处罚，刑罚，罚款

参考例句：

• If you knock the ball with your hand in football,you will suffer a penalty.如果在踢足球时你用手碰到球，你将受到处罚。
• One of those arrested could face the death penalty.被捕的那些人中有一人可能被判死刑。

11 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。