Adam's profession
按圣经讲,上帝创造了世界第一个人之后,就让他看守和修理伊甸园。
喻花匠或园林工人所从事的职业。[5AdEm]
First Clown:...There is no ancient gentlemen but gardners ,ditches,and grave-makers.They hold up Adam's profession.
Aladdin's lamp
《一千零一夜》的一个同名故事。只要擦一下神灯就会有一个魔怪出来满足拥有这个主人提出的任何三个愿望。
阿拉丁神灯。比喻财富和幸福的源泉。
Unlike Aladdin's lamp,however,the Internet truly exists and the "wish list" is not limited to only three.
All for one,one for all.
from The Three Musketeers
喻个人和集体应有的团结一致、患难与共关系。
In performance,they are not a gang,like a pop group;they are a family.The all-for-one-one-for-all ethos is not a rhetorical position but their psychological reality.
All Greek to me
from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar,
喻一点也不能理解,一窍不通。
If only he could have understood the doctor's jargon,the medical niceties...but they were Greek to him-like a legal problem to a layman.
All happy families resemble one another,each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
form L.Tolstoi's Ann Karenina
All he touches turns to gold.
典出希腊神话。
喻一个人在任何情况下总是走运。
All quiet on the western front.
西线无战事。
喻一切如常。
All Is Not Quiet On the West Front.On the West front of the Capitol...workers were installing the rostrum and the bulletproof shield that will surround it for the swearing-in of the 41st President.
All that comes into being deserves to perish.
from J.W. von Goethe's Faust
All that glisters is not gold.
喻不要被好看的外表所迷惑。
All the world's a stage,and all the men and women merely players.
from Shakespeare's As You Like It
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
from James Howell's Proverbs.
All's fair in love and war.
喻公平的规则不适用于爱情和战争,可以不择手段。
The Alpha and omega
希腊字母表的第一个字母和最后一个字母,借指事情的本末,或最主要最本质的部分。
"And the alpha and omega of my heart's wishes broke involuntarily from my lips in the words-"Jane!Jane!Jane!"
Anything that can go wrong,will go wrong.
任何可能出错的事情必然会出错。
Aphrodite
希腊神话中的爱神阿佛洛狄忒,即罗马神话中的维纳斯Venus.
[7AfrE5daiti]
Appetite comes with eating.
April showers bring May flowers.
I believe in many things that predict the future.I believe,if showers fall in April,that we shall have flowers in May;that if the sun shines,grain will ripe.
Archimedean lever
Archimedes,-287--212,古希腊伟大的数学家和物理学家。
比喻可以帮助完成某项重大任务的关键。[9B:kI`mi:dIEn][7B:ki5mi:di:z]
An army of stags led by a lion would be more formidable than one of lions led by a stag.
As snug as a bug in a rug.
Ashes to ashes,dust to dust.
Ask not what your country can do for you;ask what you can do for your country.
from John F.Kennedy
An ass in a lion's skin.
典出《伊索寓言》中一则同名故事。
Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Behind every great man there's a great woman.
The best defence is a good offence.
Better be envied than pitied.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is,than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.
Better the last smile than the first laughter.
Beware of the man of one book.
Beyond goood and evil.
F.Nietzsche's a book.
喻那些为了自己的目标而不顾现存道德规范的人。
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
Blood is thicker than water.
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Business is business.
公事公办。生意归生意;在商言商。
A cat in gloves catches no mice.
As chaste as ice,as pure as snow.
Clogs to clogs only three generations.
Constant dropping wears the stone.
The course of true love never did run smooth.
Crocodile tears
[5krCkEdail]
喻坏人的假慈悲。
The customer is always right.
Cut the coat according to the cloth.
Damocles'sword
[5dAmEkli:z]
The darkest hour is that before the dawn.
Death is a great leveler.
The road to hell is easy.
Discretion is the better part of valour.
Do as you would be done by.
Does your mother know you're out?
The dogs bark,but the caravan goes on.
Domino effect
多米诺骨牌
喻牵一发而动全身
Dressed up in borrowed plumes.
Dust and ashes
喻低微的人或毫无价值的事物。
A dwarf stanfing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself.
An eighth wonder in the world.
世界第八奇迹。
Either Caesar or nobody.
[5si:zE]
The emperor's new clothes.
The end justifies the means.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
An engineer of human soul.
Every dog is faliant at his own door.
Every man is a fashioner of his own fortune.
Everyone must bear his own cross.
Experience is the best teacher.
Eye for eye,tooth for tooth.
The eyes are the mirror of the soul
The first step is the hardest.
Forbidden fruit is sweet.
Fortune favours the brave.
Friends are thieves of time
from F.Bacon's The advancement of learning.
From each according to his ability,to each according to his work.
From the sublime to the ridiculous is only one step.
Generations come and go but the earth remains forever.
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Thomas Alva Edison
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Give me liberty or give me death.
Give me where to stand,and i will move the world.
God defend me from my friends,from my enemies i can defend myself.
God is always on the side of the big battalions.
God sides with the strongest.
God help those who help themselves.
Gone with the wind.
"Was Tara still standing?Or was Tara also gone with the wind which had swept through Georgia?"
Government of the people,by the people,and for the people
民有、民治、民享的政府。
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
喻人们总是这山望见那山高。
Habit is a second nature.
习惯是第二天性。
意指习惯是不容易改变的。
Half is more than the whole.
Harping on the same string.
Have a card up one's sleeve.
喻留有一下。
He could sell a drowning man a glass of water.
He laughs best who laughs last.
Hercules at the crossroads.
Hercules' choice
His days are numbered.
喻一个时日不多。
His star is in the descendant.
Hold out the olive branch
There is no place like home.
Home,sweet home.
Homer sometimes nods.
喻智者千虑,必有一失
An honorable death is better than a vile life.
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Hunger is the best sauce.
The husband is always the last to find out.
I have nothing to offer but blood,toil,tears,and sweat.
I have promises to keep,and miles to go before i sleep.
I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.
If any one strikes you on the right cheek,turn to him the other also.
If any one will not work,let him not eat.
If God did not exist,it would be necessary to invent Him.
讽刺一些人习惯于偶像崇拜。
If i have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
from Isaac Newton
If not us,who?If not now,when?
If the mountain will not come to Mahomet,Mahomet must go to the mountain.
[mE5hCmit]
If winter comes,can spring be far behind?
from percy Bysshe shelley
If you can't beat 'em,join 'em.
If you don't like it,you can lump it.
Like it or lump it.
If you drive nature out of the door,it will find a way back through the window.
If you wish for peace,be prepared for war.
If youth but knew,if age but could.
指人在青年时有干劲,但缺乏知识,老年时知识丰富了,但精力已经有限。
Ignorance is no argument.
无知并不是论据。
Ignorance of law does not excuse.
In one's mind's eye.
不是亲眼看到,而是凭灵感知道的。
In unity there is strength.
In war:resolution.In defeat:defiance.In victory:magnanimity.In peace:good will.
from Winston Churchill
It ain't over 'til it's over.
It goes in one ear and out the other.
It is better to have loved and lost.
It is better to lose the battle and win the war.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
It is right to learn,even from the enemy.
It takes a village to raise a child.
It takes three generation to make a gentleman.
It was the best of times,it was the worst of times.
from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities
It will all be the same a hundred years hence.
It's no use to close the stable door after the horse has been stolen.
It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game.
It's survival of the fittest.
It's the tip of the iceberg.
An ivory tower.
喻脱离现实和耽于幻想的象征。
Jack of all trades and master of none.
杰克样样都懂,可没有一样精通。
The jewel in the crown.
喻同类事物中最好的,最光彩夺目和最有价值的一个。
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
Judge not,that you be not judged.
Jupiter,you are angry,therefore you are wrong.
Keep one's powder dry.
意指有备无患,随时准备战斗。
Knight without fear and without reproach
Knowledge is power.
from F. Bacon 's Meditations of Essays.
The land of unlimited opportunities.
Language was given to men to conceal their thoughts.
为口是心非或言行不一的行为解嘲,或对之谴责。
The last straw breaks the camel's back.
The Laurel
桂冠
典出古罗马神话。爱神丘比特Cupid为了报复太阳神阿波罗Appolo,把点燃爱情火焰的金箭射中阿波罗,而把熄灭爱情火焰的铅箭射中了河神的女儿达芙妮Daphne,至使阿波罗强烈地爱上了达芙妮,而达芙妮却对阿波罗始终冷若冰霜。有一次,达芙妮被阿波罗追得无处躲藏,便请求她的父亲把自己变成了一棵月桂树。阿波罗为了纪念他仍然心爱的达芙妮,便把这棵月桂树当作自己的树,把它的枝条编成冠冕,还要求罗马人给他们凯旋的将帅也戴上用桂枝编成的冠,并以此奖赏在音乐、美术和体育竞赛中的优胜者。
The law of the jungle
丛林法则
指每一种生物都必须为自身的生存而进行斗争。
Laws are like cobwebs,which may catch small flies,but let wasps and hornets break through.
Laws are silent in time of war.
Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.
Let the other side also be heard.
Let the sleeping dog lie.
Let the welfare of the people be the highest law.
Let us eat and drink,for tomorrow we shall die.
Let what you say be simply "Yes" or "no",anything more than this comes from evil.
Liberty,equality, and fraternity.
Life is short,the art long,opportunity fleeting,experiment treacherous,judgement difficult
Life,liberty,and the pursuit of happiness
from Thomas Jefferson's The Declaration of Independence
Light sorrows speak,but deeper ones are dumb.
Lightly lies the load that is cheerfully borne.
A little bird told me so.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
A little pot is soon hot.
喻器量小的人容易发火。
Live not to eat but eat to live.
The lost generation.
from The Sun Also Rises.
Love conquers all things.
Love makes the world go round.
Maginot line
20世纪法国以设计者国防部长马奇诺命名,旨在防御宿敌德国人。这条防线由一系列有铁轨联结的据点及辅助工事构成,被认为十分坚固。但它只沿法德边界延伸,却没有防御法比边界,结果德国人于第二次世界大战初从比利时后方绕到防线后方,一举击败了法国。
Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.
Man is by nature a political animal.
Man is no more than a reed,the weakest thing in nature.But he is a thinking reed.
Man is to man either a god or a wolf.
Man proposes but God disposes.
Man shall not live by bread alone.
Marathon
马拉松是希腊东南部临海的一个平原。古希腊人曾在此以少胜多一举打败了波斯人。公元490年9月12日,雅典的希腊人都焦急地等待前方的战况。一位勇敢的战士斐力比第斯Philippides经过浴血奋战后,以惊人的毅力跑了26英里到雅典把这个喜讯告诉人们。
Marrigae is a lottery.
All the housemaid hopes is,happiness for 'em-but marriage is a lottery,and the more she thinks about it,the more she feels the independence and the safety of a single life.
Men use to worship the rising sun.
The milk of human kindness.
The mills of God grind slowly,but they grind exceedingly fine.
Misery makes strange bedfellows.
Misfortunes never come singly.
A miss is as good as a mile.
Mona Lisa
[5mEunE5li:sE, -zE]
Shw knew that she was a dangerous woman and went softly,like a cat,wearing a half-smile not unlike that seen on the lips of Mona Lisa,but she did not worry about herself.
Money amassed either serves or rules us.
Money doesn't stink.
Money has no smell.
The more i see of men,the more i love dogs.
More worship the rising than the setting sun.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Never judge from appearance.
Never speak ill of the dead.
No man can serve two masters.
No man is a hero to his valet.
Not that i loved caesar less,but that i loved Rome more.
喻大义灭亲,或表示在大是大非之间选择更合理、更有利的做法。
Not to see the wood for the trees.
只见树木不见森林。
喻一个人被许多局部的琐碎细节所干扰,因而看不见整体,看不到事物的本质。
Nothing can be created out of nothing.
无中不能生有。
Nothing human is alien to me.
Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
Of two evils choose the lesser.
An olive branch.
诺亚放出乌鸦、鸽子看洪水是否已退,第一次鸽子找不到落脚地便飞回来了。过了七天他又放出鸽子,到了晚上,鸽子叼着一枝新啄下来的橄榄枝回来了,诺亚因而知道大水已退。
On the side of angels.
意即站在传统观念一边,甚至表示站在正确的一方。
One half of the wold knows not how the other half lives.
One is innocent untill proven quilty.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
One might as well as be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb.
One swallow does not make a spring.
One's second
one's other self.
Open,sesame!
源出《一千零一夜》,强盗们在森林里有一个秘密宝库,只要念地声咒语:“芝麻,开门!”门就会自动打开。
Opportunity knocks but once.
Our country,right or wrong.
Out of sight,out of mind.
Pandora's box.
潘多拉盒子。
喻灾难和湮没无闻的根源。
Pass on the torck.
喻把学问知识或某种传统一代一代传递下去。
Peaceful coexistence.
和平共处。
Physician,heal thyself!
喻指摘别人之前先要正视自己。
Please all,and you will please none.
Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Riches either serve or govern the possessor.
Rise like a phoenix from its ashes.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Rome was not built in a day.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Save us from our my friends.
Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
Silicon Valley.
美国三藩市以南洛杉矶附近一片山谷。
Sing the same song.
老唱一首曲子。
So many men,so many minds.
So passes away earthly glory!
尘世的荣华就这样过去!
Soap opera
美国的一些广播剧播出时,常插一些肥皂或其他单口的广告。
A sound mind in a sound body.
Speech is silver,silence is gold.
The spirit is willing,but the flesh is weak.
喻心有余而力不足。
A stick and carrot policy.
对象是驴子。
Strike while the iron is hot.
The sun is never the worse for shining on a dunghill.
意指一个高尚的人不会因为关心卑贱者而影响他的伟大。
Talk of the devil,and he is bound to appear.
That government is best which governs least.
That's one small step for man,one giant leap for mankind.
Their silence speaks louder than words.
There is no place like home
没有什么地方比家更可爱。
There is no royal road to learning.
学习上没有平坦大道。
There's always room at the top.
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
Those who can,do.Those who can't,teach.
Those whom God wishes to destroy,he first makes mad.
Time and tide tarry no man.
Times cures all things.
Time is the great physician.
The times are changing,and we are changing with them.
To be or not to be,that's a question.
生存还是毁灭---
The tortoise wins the race while the hare is sleeping.
The Trojan horse.
传说希腊人进攻特洛伊人时。围城久攻不下,于是佯作撤兵,把一匹巨大的木马遗留在特洛伊城下。特洛伊人把木马当做战利品运入城内。
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Truth is the daughter of time.
The truth,the whole truth and nothing but truth.
Uncle Sam
第二次英美战争1812-1814,纽约有个叫samuel wilson的人时任军需检查员,当地人称他为山姆大叔。他在运入前方的食品的箱子上部总是打上U.S.的字样。
United we stand,divided we fall.
Vanity of vanity,all is vanity.
Variety is the spice of life.
Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.
喻胜利了会有很多人来争功,失败了却无人来承担责任。
The voice people is the voice of God.
Watch what we do,not what we say.
Watergate
水门
1972.6.17日共和党总统竞选连任委员会派人潜入水门大厦民主党总部安装窃听器,事发暴露,总统尼克松辞职;
Waterllo
滑铁卢
1815.3.20 Napoleon Bonaparte,进军巴黎重新掌握政权,但只存在百日,便遭到英、奥、普、俄等国的反对。6.18日英普联军在比利时南部的滑铁卢附近打败拿破仑的军队,6.22日拿宣布退位,被流放于赫勒拿岛。
The way to be a bore is to say everything.
We must cultivate our darden.
喻我们应该做我本份应做的事情。
We soon believe what we desire.
What can't be cured must be endured
What good wind brings you here?
What happens here,stays here.
What you are going to do,do quickly.
When Adam delved and Eve span,who was then gentleman?
When one door closes,another one opens.
When the going gets tough,the tough get going.
When you come to a fork in the road,take it.
喻在分岔路口果断抉择比一筹莫展好。
Where are the snows of yester-year.
Where there's life there's hope.
Where there's no vision,the people perish.
Where there's smoke,there's fire.
Whcih came first,the ckicken or the egg?
While we live,let us enjoy life.
Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.
The wisdom of many and the wit of one.
众人的智慧,一人的文采。
格言的定义。
With malice toward none,with charity for all.
A wolf in sheep's clothing.
A word once uttered flies onward never to be recalled.
Words hurt more than swords.
You can take a horse to the water,but you cannot make him drink.