to give somebody a piece of one's mind
to tell someone off
你有沒有因為十分生氣而對別人大發(fā)雷霆?美國人有一個說法是形容這種情緒的,那就是:to give someone a piece of one's mind。To give someone a piece of one's mind是指對某人大發(fā)雷霆。例如,一個人開汽車出門,在路上一個開車不守規(guī)則、橫沖亂闖的人把他弄得很緊張,差點兒沒出事。他回到家還在生氣,于是他對家里的人說:
例句-1: This stupid idiot passed me on the left, then cut in ahead of me so close I had to jam on the brakes to keep from hitting him. When I caught up with him at the stoplight, I rolled down my window, and boy, did I give him a piece of my mind.
這個人說:這個混蛋,他從我左邊超車,然后在靠我很近的地方就往我前面擠,我不得不急煞車,否則我的車就要撞上他的車了。當我在紅燈的地方和他平行的時候,嗬,我可把他臭罵了一頓。
下面這個例子是一個公司經(jīng)理對他的辦公室主任不滿,他說:
例句-2: Today I'll give my business manager a piece of my mind. I'm tired of him coming in an hour late every day. I'll tell him to be here on time or look for a job some place else.
他說:今天我得好好地把辦公室主任說一頓。他每天遲到一小時,真叫人討厭。我要叫他準時來上班,否則就到別處去另找工作。
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在美國口語里有一些表示生氣的習慣用語都是由tell這個字組成的。其中美國人最常用的一個就是:to tell someone off。To tell someone off也是表示生氣,但是也包含一些拒絕某人要求的意思,例如:
例句-3: My brother-in-law borrowed !00 from me six months ago and never paid me back. So when he tried to borrow another !00 last night, I certainly told him off.
這句話翻成中文的意思就是:我的姐夫半年前問我借了兩百塊美元,可是一直沒有還我。所以當他昨天晚上又要問我借兩百塊美元的時候,我把他好好說了一頓,沒借給他。
在美國,有許多地方汽車是生活不可缺少的一個工具。汽車也確實給人們提供許多方便。可是,一旦汽車出了毛病那就麻煩了,因為大多數(shù)車行要價很高,還有的還欺詐顧客。下面就是一個例子:
例句-4: Can you believe this mechanic charged $800 to fix my car and it runs worse than it did before? Tomorrow I'll go back to tell him off: I'll make his ears burn for a week!
這人說:你信不信,這個修車的人給我修一下車就要我八塊錢,可是我的車開起來比修車以前還不如。明天,我得去罵他,我得讓他一個禮拜都感到害臊。