口語步步高兔年話“兔”

◎王靜云

2023 年1 月22 日開始就是農歷癸卯年了。在中國傳統文化中，兔子是祥瑞之獸，象征吉祥、長壽。而兔子在西方也有多種不同的含義，英語中就有不少含rabbit 的習語，一起來看看吧！

1. rabbit 兔子；嘮叨。例如：

The rabbit got up and took some hops.

兔子直起身子，蹦跳了幾下。

Good luck getting a word today—Tom and Ted sure can rabbit.

今天插到話了可真走運——湯姆和泰德可真嘮叨。

2. rabbit on 嘮嘮叨叨；喋喋不休。例如：

What are you rabbiting on about?

你在嘮叨什么？

What on earth is she rabbiting on about today?

她今天究竟在喋喋不休什么？

3. (as) timid as a rabbit 膽小如兔，形容非常緊張、害羞或害怕。例如：

I can’t believe John actually had the temerity to demand a raise. He’s always been timid as a rabbit!

我不敢相信約翰真的有膽量要求加薪。他總是膽小如兔！

4. rabbit punch 兔子拳，指對頭部或頸后部的可能致命的打擊。例如：

Rabbit punches can cause serious brain and spinal injuries, not to mention death.Therefore, they’re banned from most fighting sports.

兔子拳能導致嚴重的大腦和脊髓損傷，甚至死亡。因此，在大多數格斗運動中都禁止使用。

5. horse and rabbit stew 指既包含不愉快或粗魯的情況又包含令人愉快的或有益的情況，通常前者比后者的比例更大。例如：

I appreciate William inviting me to go with him to the theater, but having to listen to those opera singers would be horse and rabbit stew.

我很感激威廉邀請我和他一起去劇院，但不得不聽那些歌劇歌手表演，那就有點不愉快了。

6. (like) a rabbit (caught) in the headlights 兔子在迎面而來的車輛前僵硬在原地，比喻處于驚訝、恐懼或困惑的狀態。例如：

He froze like a rabbit in the headlights when I caught him taking money out of the register.

當我發現他從收銀機里拿錢時，他驚恐萬分。

Mary turned into a rabbit in the headlights when she forgot her lines in the middle of the play.

當瑪麗在劇中忘詞時，她驚恐地僵在原地。

7. pull a rabbit out of a hat 從帽子里變出一只活兔子，比喻用魔法一樣，做出令人刮目相看、驚訝或看似不可能的事情。例如：

The caterer really pulled a rabbit out of a hat by producing 100 cupcakes with just 20 minutes’ notice.

餐飲服務商只需提前20 分鐘接到通知，就可以生產100 個紙杯蛋糕，真令人驚訝。

Unless someone can pull a rabbit out of a hat, we’re out of solutions.

除非有人能做出令人刮目相看的事情，否則我們就沒有辦法了。

8. rabbit hole 兔子洞，比喻特別奇怪、復雜或混亂的情況或旅程。例如：

Are you sure that you are ready to go down the rabbit hole of owning your own business? It is a huge responsibility full of unexpected challenges.

你確定你準備好進入擁有自己企業的兔子洞了嗎？這是一項巨大的責任，充滿了意想不到的挑戰。

9. work the rabbit’s foot on (someone) 欺騙（某人）。例如：

You can’t work the rabbit’s foot on me.

你可不能欺騙我。

I can’t believe he worked the rabbit’s foot on thousands of people into buying a faulty product!

我不敢相信他竟然欺騙了成千上萬的人購買有問題的產品！

10. the rabbit died/kill the rabbit 兔子死了/殺死兔子，指懷孕了。例如：

I saw Carol shopping for maternity clothes in the mall the other day. I guess the rabbit died!

前幾天，我看到卡羅爾在商場里買孕婦裝。我猜她懷孕了！

Grandmother told me that my mother had killed the rabbit. When I asked what she meant, she said that there would soon be another baby in our family.

祖母告訴我，我母親“殺死了兔子”。當我問她這是什么意思時，她說我們家很快就會有另一個孩子！

11. breed like rabbits 像兔子一樣迅速繁衍后代。例如：

Business processes are volatile and they breed like rabbits.

業務過程變動就像是兔子繁衍那樣躁動不安。

The Greens have ten children. They really breed like rabbits. 格林家有十個孩子，他們家孩子可真多！

12. let the dog see the rabbit 給參加者機會。例如：

“Give him a chance: let the dog see the rabbit,” was one of the interruptions.

“給它一個機會：就像讓狗看見兔子一樣。”是其中的打斷聲音之一。

13. pants rabbits 體虱。例如：

You gotta stop sleeping out, Harry, or you’ll end up with pants rabbits—or worse!

哈利，你不要再在外面睡覺了，否則你將會有體虱——或者更糟！

Bart is sure scratching a lot. Do you think he’s got pants rabbits?

巴特撓個不停，你認為他有體虱嗎？

14. rabbit food 指沙拉蔬菜，通常是生的蔬菜。例如：

Care for any rabbit food? It’s good for you!

喜歡沙拉蔬菜嗎？它們對你有好處！

Rabbit food tends to have a lot of vitamin C.

生蔬菜往往富含大量維生素C。

15. if you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one 如果你同時追兩只兔子，你一只也抓不到，比喻如果你試圖同時完成或追求兩件不同的事情，你兩者都會失敗。例如：

You can’t look for that file and dictate a message at the same time. Didn’t your mum ever tell you that if you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one?

你不能在查找文件的同時又口述消息。你媽媽沒有告訴過你嗎，如果你同時追兩只兔子，你一只也抓不到嗎？

If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one, so first things first.

如果你同時追兩只兔子，你不會抓住任何一只，所以先做重要的事情。