用“water”竟可以表達(dá)不愉快

        Expressions about water are almost as common as water itself. But many of the expressions using water have unpleasant meanings.

　　關(guān)于水的表達(dá)幾乎和水本身一樣常見(jiàn)，但很多含有水的表達(dá)卻有不愉快之意。

　　The expression to be in hot water is one of them. It is a very old expression. Hot water was used five hundred years ago to mean being in trouble. One story says it got that meaning from the custom of throwing boiling water down on enemies attacking a castle.

　　英語(yǔ)中有to be in hot water（遇到麻煩；陷于困境）的表達(dá)。實(shí)際上，早在500年前，英文中便出現(xiàn)了hot water的說(shuō)法，用來(lái)指“困境”。據(jù)說(shuō)這樣的用法起源于古代，當(dāng)敵人襲擊一座城堡時(shí)，城堡里的人會(huì)將滾燙的開水潑向敵人。

　　That no longer the custom. But we still get in hot water. When we are in hot water, we are in trouble. It can be any kind of trouble--serious, and not so serious. A person who breaks a law can be in hot water with the police. A boy can be in hot water with his mother, if he comes into the house with dirty, wet shoes.

　　現(xiàn)在這樣的傳統(tǒng)不復(fù)存在了，但我們?nèi)詴?huì)get in hot water（惹上麻煩）。當(dāng)我們使用in hot water的表達(dá)方式時(shí)，表明我們遇到了麻煩。它可能是任何種類的麻煩：嚴(yán)重的、沒(méi)那么嚴(yán)重的。違法者可能會(huì)與警察鬧糾紛；一個(gè)男孩子如果穿著臟兮兮、濕漉漉的鞋子進(jìn)家門，會(huì)給媽媽惹很多麻煩。

　　Being in deep water is almost the same as being in hot water. When you are in deep water, you are in difficulty. Imagine a swimmer in water over his head who cannot reach the shore.

　　Being in deep water（陷入困境）與being in hot water意思相近。當(dāng)你in deep water時(shí)，表明你陷入困境了。設(shè)想一個(gè)水沒(méi)過(guò)了頭頂、卻游不到岸的游泳者，你就會(huì)有所體會(huì)。

　　You are in deep water when you are facing a problem that you do not have the ability to solve. The problem is too deep for you. You can be in deep water, for example, if you invest in stocks without knowing anything about the stock market.