這個(gè)周末是我和男朋友在一起一周年的紀(jì)念日。我們計(jì)劃去遠(yuǎn)郊的一個(gè)釀酒場品酒,然后再去吃一頓法國大餐。我男朋友還說要帶我去坐熱氣球! 聽起來真棒!不過我有些擔(dān)心這個(gè)周末的天氣,天氣預(yù)報(bào)說周末要刮大風(fēng),還可能會(huì)下雨! 這也就讓我想到這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語。那就是: cross one's fingers.
大家都知道,cross是交叉的意思,fingers是手指;cross one's fingers, 字面意思是手指交叉,實(shí)際上就是希望得到好運(yùn)氣的意思。美國人經(jīng)常把食指和中指交叉,意思就是祝你好運(yùn)! I cross my fingers, hoping the weather would be good this weekend. 我交叉手指,希望這個(gè)周末會(huì)有好天氣。
下面例子里的這個(gè)排球運(yùn)動(dòng)員也相信這個(gè)動(dòng)作能給他們帶來好運(yùn)。我們來聽聽看:
例句-1:Our volleyball team has beaten every team in the division so far. I know it's because we have better players and we've practiced harder. Still, we're up against our greatest challenger next week and many of us are crossing our fingers. We're hoping that we'll be successful and win the trophy.
這段話是說:我們排球隊(duì)到現(xiàn)在為止一直保持全勝。我們一直很努力地訓(xùn)練。不過下個(gè)星期,我們將面臨最這個(gè)賽季最強(qiáng)勁的挑戰(zhàn),很多隊(duì)員都交叉手指期盼好運(yùn)。我們希望我們能夠獲勝,贏得獎(jiǎng)杯。
有時(shí)候一點(diǎn)小小的迷信無傷大雅,對(duì)吧? 想想我從小一直彈鋼琴,每次演奏之前,我都會(huì)交叉手指,期盼好運(yùn)。I cross my fingers every time before performing in the concerts. 也許是我迷信,不過每次我這么做,表演都很成功! 所以,這也就成了我的好運(yùn)標(biāo)志。 好了,enough about me.
******
自從2008年以來,美國的經(jīng)濟(jì)情況一直不好,就業(yè)市場也一直很低迷。很多人失去工作,而在找新工作的過程中也遇到很多阻礙。下面的例子就談到了類似的情況。讓我們來聽聽看:
例句-2:My daughter has been looking for a job for almost two years. After sending in lots of resumes and going on a number of interviews, she's become really frustrated. The position she just applied for looks like a good match for her skills and experience. She's got her fingers crossed. This may be the chance she's been waiting for.
這段話是說:我女兒找工作已經(jīng)找了兩年了。在無數(shù)簡歷和若干次面試之后,她特別沮喪?,F(xiàn)在她剛剛申請(qǐng)的職位特別適合她的技能和經(jīng)驗(yàn)。她交叉手指,祈求好運(yùn)。這可能就是她一直在等待的機(jī)會(huì)。
我們也祝她好運(yùn)! 不知道大家有沒有注意到,這個(gè)短語也可以使用被動(dòng)語態(tài)。所以對(duì)于我的情況,我也可以說, I have my fingers crossed that my hot air balloon adventure will take place. 我特別希望熱氣球之行能夠成行。The team members have their fingers crossed that they'll win the next game. 球員祈求好運(yùn),希望能夠贏得下一場比賽。