英语常用谚语与惯用语

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谚语、惯用语

  不管张三李四。
  Every Tom, Dick and Harry. *举出常用的男孩名,表示“不论谁都……”、“不管张三还是李四”。虽然没有女孩名,但男女都可用。
  My daughter had a homestay in America. (我女儿为体验当地生活,去美国了。)
  So did every Tom, Dick and Harry. (不管谁都能去啊。)
  I like sexy girls. (我喜欢性感的女人。)
  So does every Tom, Dick and Harry. (无论谁都是这样的。)
  一波未平一波又起。
  Out of the frying pan into the fire. *frying pan “平底炒菜锅”,直译是菜从锅里炒出来又掉进了火里。
  舍名求实。
  I live to eat.
  Pudding rather than praise. *不太常用的说法。
  瞎猫碰上了死耗子。
  Every dog has his day.
  Bob won the lottery. (鲍勃中了头彩。)
  Every dog has his day. (瞎猫碰上了死耗子。)
  Everyone has good days.
  Everyone gets lucky sometimes. (谁都会有走运的时候。)
  A flying crow always gets something. *不太常用的说法。
  说曹操,曹操到。
  Speak of the devil. *“说到恶魔,恶魔就来”。源自谚语Speak of the devil and he will appear。
  Speak of the devil.常用于口语中。
  Here comes John! (约翰来了。)
  Speak of the devil. (真是说到曹操,曹操到。)
  情人眼里出西施。
  Love is blind. *直译是“爱情是盲目的”。表示人们一旦谈恋爱,就会失去正确的判断能力,无法冷静地看待事物。
  一举两得。
  Kill two birds with one stone. *直译是“一石可以打中两只鸟”,即“一举两得”。
  不闻凶讯便是吉。
  No news is good news.
  I haven't heard from John lately. (好久没有约翰的消息了。)
  Well, no news is good news. (是啊,不闻凶讯便是吉。)
  光阴似箭。
  Time flies. *表示时间像飞一样地过去了。Tim flies是Time flies when you are having fun.的省略说法。即“越高兴时间过得越快”。
  时间就是金钱。
  Time is money.
  百艺不如一艺精。
  Jack of all trades, master of none. *Jack是男子名,一般表示“某人或男人”。此句的意思是什么事都去做的人没有一件事是能精通的。
  三思而后行。
  Look before you leap. *直译“飞之前先看看”,表示“付诸于行动前要慎重地考虑,做好准备”。
  百闻不如一见。
  Seeing is believing. *“眼见为实”,即只有自己亲眼所见,才能信服。
  无风不起浪。
  There is no smoke without fire. *传闻总是有出处的,“无火的地方不冒烟”。
  诚实总是上策。
  Honesty is the best policy. *常以为不正当行为能获得好处,但从长远来看,结果是采取正当行为才是上策。
  晚做总比不做强。
  Better late than never.
  男孩子就是男孩子嘛!
  Boys will be boys.
  John got into a fight again. (约翰又打架了。)
  Boys will be boys. (男孩子就是男孩子嘛!)
  知识就是力量。
  Knowledge is power.
  Knowledge is power. (知识就是力量。)
  That's why he's so successful. (所以他才成功。)
  冰冻三尺非一日之寒。/罗马不是一天就建成的。
  Rome was not built in a day. *要做大事不是一朝一夕就可以成功的。
  条条大路通罗马。
  All roads lead to Rome. *为达到同一目的,可以采取多种手段。
  There are many roads to success. (有许多办法可以取得成功。) *常用语。
  入乡随俗。
  When in Rome, do as the Romans do. *“在罗马就要照罗马人做的去做”。即“到另一个地方就要遵从那里的风俗习惯”。口语中常省略成Do as the Romans do.
  熟能生巧。
  Practice makes perfect. *任何事情都反复练习是成功的秘诀。
  历史总在重演。
  History repeats itself.
  Another war started. (又一场战争开始了。)
  History repeats itself. (历史总在重演。)
  祸不单行,福无双至。
  When it rains, it (always) pours.
  功夫不负有心人。
  Where there's a will, there's a way. *有坚强的意志和决心的话,无论有多大的困难都能克服。
  行动比语言更响亮。
  Actions speak louder than words.
  (钱财等)来得容易去得快。
  Easy come, easy go. *轻易得来的钱财,是不被珍惜的。来得容易,去得也容易。
  血浓于水。
  Blood is thicker than water.
  有其父必有其子。
  Like father, like son. *父子相似的意思。
  Like mother, like daughter. (有其母必有其女。)
  恋爱和战争都是不择手段的。
  All's fair in love and war. *在恋爱和战争中任何策略都是正当的。
  美貌不过一张皮。
  Beauty is only skin deep. *“再漂亮的美女削去一层皮后就和丑女无二样”,即“看人不能只看外表而要重视内涵”。
  Beauty is but skin deep.
  东西总是人家的好。
  The grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence)。 *直译是“(篱笆)那边的草总是绿的”。
  不劳则不获。
  You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. *直译是“不打碎鸡蛋就做不成蛋包饭”。意思是做任何事如果不努力,不付出牺牲,不投资的话,是得不到结果的。
  流水不腐,户枢不蠹。
  A rolling stone gathers no moss. *不断活动的石头是不会长上像青苔这类东西的。即“能不断保持新鲜”。也可以把它看做相反的意思,“不断变换工作和搬家的人,没有熟练的事情,也存不下钱”。
  患难见真情。
  A friend in need is a friend indeed. *in need “遇到难处,贫穷”,indeed 是“真正的”,这两个词押韵,给人以节奏感。
  只会工作不会玩的人是没意思的人。
  All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. *这句可以译成“只让学习不让玩的孩子会变成愚蠢的孩子”。
  事实胜于雄辩。
  The proof of the pudding is in the eating. *直译是“不吃布丁不知道布丁的味道”。即“不实际去试试,是不会知道它的真正的价值”。
  岁月不待人。
  Time and tide wait for no man. *tide 是“潮水”,此处与time同义,表示时间。
  越快越好。
  The sooner, the better.
  When should I come over? (什么时候来合适?)
  The sooner, the better. (越快越好。)
  正好。
  On the nose.
  How many people came to the party? (有多少人来参加晚会?)
  A hundred people, on the nose. (正好100人。)
  Exactly.
  On the dot.
  捉迷藏。
  Hide-and-seek
  Let's play hide-and-seek. (我们玩捉迷藏吧。)
  Okay. (好吧。)
  未完待续。
  to be continued *用于电视连续剧等的最后,表示“待续”。
  一个巴掌拍不响。
  It takes two to tango. *直译是“跳探戈舞是两个人的事儿”。
  Joe is always starting arguments with Sue. (乔总是和苏争论不休。)
  Well, I think it takes two to tango. (不过,我是觉得一个巴掌拍不响。)
  Both sides must be blamed.
  They are the same.
  They are both responsible.
  They are both wrong.
  Both of them should be blamed.