VOA慢速英語：詞匯掌故：結合寒冷和肢體的詞匯

'Cold Feet' and Other Cold Body Expressions

詞匯掌故：結合寒冷和肢體的詞匯

And now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

這里是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

Cold weather has a great effect on how our minds and our bodies work. Perhaps that is why we have so many expressions that combine the word "cold" with body parts.

寒冷天氣對我們的頭腦和肢體工作有很大影響。可能這也就是有這么多詞匯將肢體和寒冷這個單詞相結合的原因。

The most straightforward example is the adjective coldhearted. Just as it sounds, a coldhearted person is distant and, well, cold. An action can be coldhearted as well. This would be one that shows no love or sympathy.

最直接的例子就是“冷酷的(coldhearted)”這個形容詞。正如它的讀音，冷酷的人是冷淡和冷漠的。某種行為也能稱之為冷酷的，這是指表現(xiàn)出沒有愛心或同情的行為。

There are many songs about coldhearted men or coldhearted women who, without feeling, broke the hearts of their lovers.

有很多的歌曲是關于無情男女，他們缺乏感情，傷了他們愛人的心。

In the 1988 song, Cold Hearted, Paula Abdul sings about the coldhearted man who broke her heart.

在這首1988年這首《Cold Hearted》中，保拉·阿卜杜勒(Paula Abdul)唱到了那個傷了她心的無情男人。

He's a coldhearted snake, look into his eyes,

他冷血無情，看著他的眼睛

Oh, oh he's been telling lies. He's a lover boy at play,

噢，他一直在說謊。他是歡場上的美男子

He don't play by the rules oh, oh, oh ...

他不守常理。

The song was a huge hit.

這首歌很受歡迎。

It seems a trend may have been set. In 2010, the Zac Brown Band released a song with the exact same name.

似乎某種趨勢可能早已定下。2010年，扎克·布朗樂隊發(fā)行了一首同名歌曲

Pretty little words covered your dark and crooked heart

花言巧語掩蓋了你陰暗和扭曲的心

With a forked tongue I fell in love,

我在謊言中墜入愛河

Then I fell apart

然后我的心被撕裂

You are so

你是如此的

Cold hearted

冷酷無情

Other similar adjectives often get a hyphen, like cold-blooded. Reptiles, amphibians and most fish are cold-blooded animals. This means they are unable to control their own body temperature. Mammals, on the other hand, are warm-blooded -- well, for the most part. There are some people in the world you could call cold-blooded.

其它類似的形容詞通常會加上連字符，例如冷血(cold-blooded)。爬行動物、兩棲動物和大部分魚類都是冷血動物，這意味它們無法控制自己的體溫。另一方面，哺乳動物大部分都是恒溫動物。世界上有些人你可以稱之為冷血動物。

People who show no emotions or feelings are often described as cold-blooded. Cold-blooded people are hard to get close to. And they often do terrible things, on purpose.

沒有表達出情緒或感情的人通常被稱之為冷血者。冷血者很難接近，他們經常故意地搞出可怕的事情。

For example, the police might look for someone they call a cold-blooded killer. The person killed someone without any understandable cause - not in self-defense, fear or even anger. Killing for no reason is often called cold-blooded.

例如，警方可能在搜捕他們所謂的冷血殺手。這個人不可理喻地殺了某人，而不是出于自衛(wèi)、恐怕或哪怕是憤怒。無故殺人通常被稱之為冷血。

Okay, enough of cold-blooded people. Let's go back to fish!

好吧，冷血者說得夠多了，讓我們繼續(xù)說魚。

As we said earlier, most are cold-blooded. So, calling a striped bass or rainbow trout a "cold fish" is fine. They would not be insulted...if they could be insulted.

正如我們前面所說，大部分魚都是冷血動物。所以，將一條銀花鱸魚或虹鱒魚稱之為冷血動物(cold fish)沒錯。它們不會受到侮辱--如果他們能夠受到侮辱的話。

But calling a person a "cold fish" is an insult.

但是稱某人是冷漠者(cold fish)就是一種侮辱。

A cold fish is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. Cold fish do not offer much of themselves to anyone.

冷漠者是指不友好、缺乏感情、表現(xiàn)出沒有愛心或熱情的人。冷漠者不會向任何人獻出自我。

However, not everyone who doesn't show their feelings is a cold fish. Some people keep their feelings to themselves until they know you better. We could describe these people with the expression cold hands, warm heart.

然而，并非所有不表現(xiàn)出感受的人都是冷漠者。有些人把感受藏在心底，直到他們非常了解你。我們可以稱這種人是冷面熱心(cold hands, warm heart)。

This means that a person may be very kind and warm. But they just don't show their feelings very easily. Take my friend Celeste as an example. She doesn't normally show her feelings. But she is always ready to help and is very kind. She is a classic case of cold hands, warm heart.

這意味著某個人可能非常友好熱情，但是他們不會輕易表現(xiàn)出他們的感受。以我的朋友Celeste為例，她通常不會表達自己的感受。但是她總是樂于助人并且非常友好。她就是冷面熱心的典型例子。

Speaking of hands, the hands and feet are some of the first body parts to feel the cold. Getting cold feet is no fun – outdoors or in conversation.

談到手，手和腳是最先感受到寒冷的肢體部分。Getting cold feet(畏縮、裹足不前)在戶外或談話中并不有趣。

To get cold feet means to become afraid to do something you had already decided to do. We use this expression in situations that make us nervous or afraid -- from leading a big meeting at work to singing on stage in front of strangers.

To get cold feet意思是害怕做你已經決定要做的事情。我們在某些讓我們感到緊張或害怕的局面中使用這個詞匯，從主持一場大型工作會議到站上舞臺在陌生人面前唱歌。

But we commonly use it in connection with weddings. People who are about to get married may begin to feel nervous as the day nears. They begin to question if they should take such a big step. If a bride shares these feelings of nervousness and uncertainty, a relative or friend might answer with "Don't worry! This is a classic case of cold feet!"

但是我們通常將它用于婚禮。即將結婚的人可能會隨著時間臨近開始感到緊張。他們開始質疑是否應該邁出這么一大步。如果新娘說出這種緊張不安，親戚朋友可能會回答說：“別擔心，這就是臨陣畏縮(婚前恐懼)的典型例子。”

Another body part involved in our cold expressions today is the shoulder.

今天我們談到的這些寒冷詞匯涉及的另一個肢體部分是肩膀。

You give someone the cold shoulder when you refuse to speak to them. You ignore them. The expression probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has broken a promise, or to someone who has said mean things about others.

冷落某人是指拒絕跟他們說話，無視他們。這個詞匯可能出自于轉身背對某人這種身體動作。你可能會冷落一位不守承諾的朋友、或者說別人壞話的人。

Well, that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

以上就是本期詞匯掌故節(jié)目的全部內容。

In the Comments Section, let us know what you think of today's show. We try to answer as many comments as we can. But unfortunately we can't respond to all. So, if you don't get a reply, please know we're not giving you the cold shoulder.

請在評論區(qū)留言讓我們知道你對今天的節(jié)目有什么看法。我們會盡量回復盡可能多的評論，但不幸的是我們無法回復所有評論所以，如果你沒有得到回復，你要知道我們不是想要冷落你。

I'm Anna Matteo.

安娜·馬特奧報道。