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美国习惯用语 第四十九讲

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Words & Idioms Lesson 44

to get off on the wrong foot
to put one's foot in one's mouth

今天我们要给大家介绍两个由 foot 这个字组成的习惯用语。 Foot 在中文里就是“脚”的意思。由 foot 这个字形成的俗语在英文里也不少,它们的意思有的是正面的,例如:to put one's best foot forward。这是指尽量给人一个好的印象。那末,有的人一开始就给人一个坏印象是怎么说的呢? You should say: to get off on the wrong foot。 To get off on the wrong foot,这是指某人一开始就没给人一个好印象,或一开始由于某种行为而把事情弄糟了。下面这句话里说的这个人就是一个例子:
例句-1: "When Joe went to his new job, he got off on the wrong foot -- on the first morning he upset his new boss by arriving at the store two hours late. And right now he's out looking for a job again."
这个人说:“乔找到了一份新的工作,可是他刚开始到那家店里去上班时就给人一个坏印象。第一天上班他就晚到两个小时,让他的老板很不高兴。现在他又在找工作了。”

To get off on the wrong foot 这个俗语实际上可以适用于任何情况。下面一个例子是一个男学生在说他交女朋友的情况:
例句-2: "I finally got a date with that new girl in class but I sure got off on the wrong foot with her: I had car trouble and got to her place almost two hours late."
他说:“那天我终于和班上新来的那个女同学约好了出去玩。可是,当天我的车出了问题,晚了两个小时才去接她,所以我一开头就把事弄糟了。”
有意无意做错事、说错话的情况是很经常的。下面我们要讲的一个俗语就是无意中说错了话而伤害了别人,或者叫自己很不好意思。这个俗语就是:to put your foot in your mouth。

我们来举个例子看看什么样的情况才 to put your foot in your mouth:
例句-3: "When Sally told that silly joke about the sailor with one leg she really put her foot in her mouth. She didn't know the man across the dinner table had a brother at home in a wheelchair."
这句话翻成中文就是:“沙莉吃晚饭时说了一个笑话,拿一个只有一条腿的水手开玩笑。她可不知道坐在饭桌对面那个人的哥哥就是个残废,行动都得靠轮椅。” Sally如果事后了解情况的话,她肯定会说: "Well, I certainly have put my foot in my mouth."

下面我们再来举一个例子:
例句-4: "I certainly put my foot in my mouth at the party last night when I asked Mister Brown to say hello to his wife for me. Somehow I'd forgotten that his wife died six months ago."
这人说:“我昨晚在那个聚会上无意中说错了话。我让布朗先生替我向他的太太问好。不知怎么回事,我忘了他太太已经在半年前去世了。”

今天我们给大家介绍了两个由 foot 这个字组成的习惯用语。第一个是 to get off on the wrong foot。 To get off on the wrong foot 是指一个人在做某件事的时候一开始就给人一个坏印象,或者一开始就把事弄糟了。我们今天介绍的第二个俗语就是 to put one's foot in one's mouth。这是指无意中说错了话而伤害了别人。

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