to pull no punches
straight from the horse's mouth
大多數(shù)人都認(rèn)為誠(chéng)實(shí)和坦率是一個(gè)很好的品質(zhì),盡管我們不見(jiàn)得每時(shí)每刻都能夠做到,美國(guó)人也不例外。在美國(guó)的日常用語(yǔ)里有各種說(shuō)法來(lái)形容這種品質(zhì)。我們?cè)诮裉斓腫美國(guó)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)]里要給大家介紹四個(gè)和這一主題有關(guān)的習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)。
第一個(gè)是:to pull no punches。 To pull no punches,這是指毫不保留地告訴別人你的看法。Punch 這個(gè)字的一種解釋就是拳擊。 To pull no punches 這個(gè)俗語(yǔ)使人腦子里頓時(shí)出現(xiàn)一個(gè)拳擊場(chǎng)里兩個(gè)拳擊手扭成一團(tuán),互相攻打?qū)Ψ?,而?duì)方設(shè)法回避的形像。但是 to pull no punches 這個(gè)俗語(yǔ)并不是用在拳擊方面的。下面的例子說(shuō)明在日常生活中怎么用這個(gè)俗語(yǔ):
例句-1: When I saw my brother Joe, I didn't pull any punches -- I told him to stop drinking and go out and find a job.
這句話翻成中文的意思是:"當(dāng)我見(jiàn)到我哥哥喬伊的時(shí)候,我毫不保留地對(duì)他說(shuō),不要再喝酒了,還是出去找個(gè)工作吧。"
人們要想毫無(wú)保留地對(duì)對(duì)方講心里話的時(shí)候往往會(huì)很猶豫,怕傷害別人。但是,在有的情況下,你絕不會(huì)猶豫,就像下面這個(gè)例子里的這個(gè)人:
例句-2: I pulled no punches when I went to see the auto dealer who sold me such a lousy car. I told him he ought to be ashamed to charge so much for a car that had so many things wrong with it. No, he didn't give me my money back, but I sure felt better afterwards.
這個(gè)人說(shuō):"那個(gè)汽車商賣給我的這輛汽車毛病太多了。我去看他的時(shí)候毫不客氣地對(duì)他說(shuō),賣這么次的車給我還收我那么多的錢,你自己應(yīng)該感到害臊。雖然他并沒(méi)有把錢還給我,可是,說(shuō)了這些話我感到痛快多了。"
今天我們要講的另外一個(gè)俗語(yǔ)是:straight from the horse's mouth。 Straight from the horse's mouth,從字面上來(lái)解釋它的意思是:直接來(lái)自馬的嘴巴??墒?,這個(gè)俗語(yǔ)的真正意思是:你聽(tīng)到的消息是真實(shí)的,因?yàn)檫@消息來(lái)自可靠的來(lái)源。馬和消息可靠又有什么關(guān)系呢?你要知道,遠(yuǎn)在人們還沒(méi)有使用汽車的年代,人們是依靠馬作為他們主要的交通工具,認(rèn)為馬是十分可靠的。現(xiàn)在,汽車已經(jīng)早就代替了馬,但是這個(gè)俗語(yǔ)仍然被廣為使用?,F(xiàn)在我們?cè)賮?lái)舉個(gè)例子:
例句-3: I tell you I know for certain that Lisa will be promoted to manager. The boss told me himself, so it's straight from the horse's mouth!
這個(gè)人說(shuō):"告訴你,我知道莉沙肯定會(huì)被提升為經(jīng)理的。這是老板親口告訴我的,這個(gè)消息是絕對(duì)可靠的!"
我們?cè)賮?lái)舉個(gè)例子:
例句-4: Say, did you hear that Sally and Bob are going to get married. Honest, I'm not joking. I heard it from Bob himself, so it's straight from the horse's mouth!
他說(shuō):"喂,你聽(tīng)說(shuō)了沒(méi)有,薩利和鮑勃要結(jié)婚了。我可不是開(kāi)玩笑,我說(shuō)的是實(shí)話。我是聽(tīng)鮑勃自己講的,因此這消息是完全可靠的!"