Head,腦袋。water,水。把頭放在水面上,這樣就不會嗆水了。因此說,Keep one's head above water,這個習(xí)慣用語就是說,在艱難的處境下為生系,克服生活、工作和財務(wù)上的困難。說到我們鄰居的那位老奶奶,She's scarcely able to keep her head above water.
Keep one's head above water這個習(xí)慣用語很實(shí)用。讓我們聽聽下面這位餐館老板最近的生意如何。
例句-1:Before the new highway was built, I could easily fill every table in my restaurant. These days, with fewer diners, it's become a struggle to stay in business. I'm barely keeping my head above water. I don't know how much longer I can afford to stay open.
這位餐館老板說:沒有那條高速公路的時候,我的餐館里總是坐得滿滿的??墒侨缃?,客人少多了,錢越來越難賺,能維持收支平衡就已經(jīng)很不容易了。我真不知道還能堅(jiān)持多久。
看來,這條高速公路真是斷了這個餐館老板的財路。他肯定特別懷念以前生意興隆的日子。在英語里,我們說生意開在了黃金地帶,黃金地帶就是goldmine, goldmine, 金礦。
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眼下,越來越多的美國人都從東北地區(qū)搬走,住到南方去。不過,現(xiàn)在房地產(chǎn)市場不景氣,在買房和賣房之間一定要協(xié)調(diào)好,否則的話,就會出現(xiàn)跟下面這對夫婦同樣的狀況。
例句-2:My wife and I are excited about furnishing our new house in North Carolina. But since we still haven't sold our old place back in Massachusetts, it's been a huge financial challenge. So far we've kept our heads above water. We only hope we can find a buyer soon!
這位先生說:我跟太太正在裝修北卡羅來納州的新房子,興奮極了。但是因?yàn)槲覀冊诼樗_諸塞州的舊房子還沒有脫手,所以財務(wù)上壓力很大。到目前為止,我們還能勉強(qiáng)支撐著,真希望能盡快找到買主。
設(shè)身處地想想看,要同時負(fù)擔(dān)兩棟房子的按揭,ouch! 真夠他們受的。如果暫時賣不掉,把房子租出去也是一種選擇。我姑姑姑父就把自己的公寓租了出去,因?yàn)榈攸c(diǎn)好,從來都不愁找不到房客。They not only keep their heads above water, 他們不僅不愁付不出按揭,而且還能小賺一筆,投資有了回報。
大家肯定已經(jīng)猜到了,keep one's head above water,這個習(xí)慣用語是從游泳來的。沒錯,這個習(xí)慣用語最早是十八世紀(jì)初出現(xiàn)的,意思就是讓頭露出水面,不要被淹死。