Hey!

嘿！

What?

什麼？

Don't run with scissors!

別拿著剪刀跑

All right, we have this phrase in English, don't run with scissors, which simply means you shouldn't run when you have scissors because it's a little bit dangerous.

好了，我們的英語中有這樣一句話，"don't run with scissors"（不要拿著剪刀跑），意思很簡單，就是拿著剪刀的時候不要跑，因為這有點危險。

But we have a bunch of other phrases that when you first read them, at first glance, you might not know what they mean.

但我們還有其他一些短語，當你第一次讀到它們時，乍一看，你可能不知道它們是什麼意思。

When you translate them literally, they might not make sense.

如果按字面意思翻譯，可能會有歧義。

So in this English lesson, we'll look at a few of those phrases.

是以，在這節英語課上，我們將學習其中的幾個短語。

I'll try to act out the funny literal meaning and then I will explain to you what the actual meaning is of each of those phrases in English.

我先試著表演一下有趣的字面意思，然後再向你們解釋每個短語在英語中的實際含義。

Oscar, fetch!

奧斯卡，拿過來

We have a saying in English, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

我們英語裡有句俗話："老狗教不了新把戲"。

And it doesn't mean that you can't teach a dog like Oscar new tricks.

這並不意味著你不能教奧斯卡這樣的狗新的技巧。

What it actually means is you can't teach people who are old how to do new things.

它的實際意思是，你不能教年老的人如何做新的事情。

It's hard to teach someone who really likes doing something a certain way to do it a new way.

要教會一個非常喜歡用某種方法做事的人換一種方法是很難的。

So we use the English phrase, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

是以，我們用一句英語來說，就是 "老狗教不了新把戲"。

But this dog, this might be a little easier.

但這隻狗，可能會容易一點。

Creep up.

爬上去

This is Walter.

我是沃爾特

This is a new dog.

這是一條新狗。

And we think we might be able to teach this new dog some new tricks.

我們認為我們可以教這隻新狗一些新的技巧。

By the way, we thought Oscar needed a friend, so we got another dog.

順便說一句，我們覺得奧斯卡需要一個朋友，所以又養了一隻狗。

No one can sit on this side of the couch because of this couch potato.

因為這個沙發洋芋，沒人能坐在沙發這邊。

This potato is just always sitting on the couch doing nothing.

這個洋芋總是坐在沙發上無所事事。

It's a real couch potato.

它是一個真正的沙發洋芋。

But that's not actually what the term couch potato means in English.

但實際上，"沙發洋芋 "一詞在英語中並不是這個意思。

In English, when we say that a person is a couch potato, what we mean is that the person sits on the couch all day, they don't really do anything.

在英語中，當我們說一個人是沙發洋芋時，我們的意思是這個人整天坐在沙發上，什麼也不做。

Maybe they just sit and endlessly watch one television show after another.

也許他們只是坐在那裡沒完沒了地看一部又一部電視節目。

Maybe they're a little bit lazy.

也許他們有點懶。

We would call that person a couch potato.

我們會稱這種人為 "沙發洋芋"。

I'm definitely not a couch potato, but when I'm old and retired, I think I might be more of a couch potato.

我絕對不是一個沙發洋芋，但當我年老退休時，我想我可能會更像一個沙發洋芋。

I might sit around a lot more.

我可能會坐得更久。

I might watch a lot more television.

我可能會看更多的電視。

So earlier I was doing some thinking inside this box and it wasn't going very well, so I thought I should stop and think outside the box.

是以，早些時候我在這個盒子裡進行了一些思考，但進展並不順利，所以我想我應該停下來，跳出這個盒子來思考。

So now I'm outside the box and I'll do a little bit more thinking.

所以，現在我跳出框框，多做一點思考。

But the English phrase to think outside the box has nothing to do with a box.

但是，"跳出框框思考 "這個英語短語與框框沒有任何關係。

We don't sit in boxes when we think.

我們思考時不會坐在盒子裡。

We don't sit outside boxes.

我們不坐在盒子外面。

What it means when you say to someone, you need to think outside the box, is it means you want them to think differently about something.

當你對別人說 "你需要跳出框框來思考 "時，這意味著你希望他們以不同的方式思考某件事情。

Let's use school for an example.

讓我們以學校為例。

Right now, students learn in classrooms and they sit in rows.

現在，學生在教室裡學習，排排坐。

But if we think outside the box, students could also learn by watching YouTube videos or maybe by going outside or going on field trips.

但是，如果我們跳出固有的思維模式，學生也可以通過觀看 YouTube 視頻來學習，或者到戶外或實地考察來學習。

So when you think outside the box, if at work your boss says, you need to think outside the box a little bit more, what they mean by that is they want you to have unique and different ideas.

是以，當你跳出框框思考問題時，如果在工作中你的老闆說，你需要跳出框框思考問題，他們的意思是希望你有獨特的、與眾不同的想法。

They want you to think about things differently and come up with something that's just really cool and really awesome.

他們希望你能換位思考，想出一些非常酷、非常棒的東西。

So I'm just trying to hold my horses right now.

所以，我現在只能按兵不動。

I don't want my horses to get away.

我不想讓我的馬跑掉。

So I'm trying to hold my horses.

所以，我想按兵不動。

But this isn't what the English phrase, hold your horses, actually means.

但是，"稍安勿躁 "這個英語短語並不是這個意思。

If someone says to you, hold your horses, they just want you to wait.

如果有人對你說，別急，他們只是想讓你等一等。

Sometimes when we're going somewhere, my kids all run out to the car really fast and I say, whoa, hold your horses.

有時我們要去某個地方，我的孩子們都會飛快地跑向車外，我就會說，哇，別急。

We're not leaving for another 10 minutes.

我們還有十分鐘才走

So it doesn't mean to hold an actual horse.

所以，這並不意味著要牽著一匹真正的馬。

It simply is something you say to someone when you want them to wait, when you want them to slow down a little bit.

簡單地說，就是當你想讓別人等一等時，當你想讓別人慢一點時，你會對他說的一句話。

Whoa, hold your horses.

哇，別急。

There, I have all my ducks in a row.

這樣，我就萬事俱備了。

I like to have all my ducks in a nice straight row.

我喜歡把所有的事情都安排得井井有條。

But this isn't actually what the phrase to have your ducks in a row means.

但實際上，"有備無患 "並不是這個意思。

When we say in English that you should have your ducks in a row, it means that you should be prepared or ready for something.

當我們在英語中說 "you should have your ducks in a row "時，意思是你應該為某事做好準備。

Let's say it's the first day of school.

假設今天是開學第一天。

You should have your ducks in a row.

你應該做好準備。

You should have your backpack and your books and a few pens and things to write with.

你應該帶著你的揹包、書本、幾支筆和寫字的東西。

You should be ready.

你應該準備好了。

You should be prepared for the first day of school.

您應該為開學第一天做好準備。

You should definitely have all your ducks in a row.

你一定要把所有的事情都安排好。

Sometimes when you're in a room full of people, it's hard to talk about certain things because of the elephant in the room.

有時，當你在一個滿是人的房間裡時，很難談論某些事情，因為房間裡有一頭大象。

The English term elephant in the room doesn't refer to an actual elephant.

英語中的 "房間裡的大象 "並不是指真正的大象。

But when we say it's hard to talk about certain things because of the elephant in the room, what we mean is that there's something that you just don't wanna talk about.

但是，當我們說因為 "房間裡的大象 "而難以談論某些事情時，我們的意思是，有些事情你就是不想談論。

Maybe your brother and his wife got divorced, and that's a sensitive topic.

也許你哥哥和他妻子離婚了，這是個敏感話題。

It's something that people don't like to talk about when they're all in the same room together.

當大家共處一室時，都不喜歡談論這個話題。

We would refer to that situation as the elephant in the room.

我們把這種情況稱為 "房間裡的大象"。

You would say something like this.

你可以這樣說

It was hard to have a fun conversation because of the elephant in the room.

因為房間裡有一頭大象，所以很難進行有趣的談話。

In that case, the elephant in the room is the fact that your brother and his wife are no longer together.

在這種情況下，房間裡的大象就是你哥哥和他妻子不再在一起的事實。

So in English, there's no actual elephant in the room when you use the phrase the elephant in the room.

是以，在英語中，當你使用 "房間裡的大象 "這個短語時，房間裡並沒有真正的大象。

You're simply talking about an uncomfortable situation that no one wants to talk about, and it kind of prevents normal fun conversation from happening.

你只是在談論一個大家都不想談論的令人不舒服的情況，這有點妨礙了正常有趣的談話。

One, two, three, four.

一、二、三、四

Hey, we have an English phrase, don't count your chickens before they hatch, but I'm just ignoring it for now because I think if I count the number of eggs here, I'll know how many chickens hatch in a few weeks.

嘿，我們有句英語短語，叫 "不要在小雞孵出來之前就去數它們"，但我現在暫時忽略了它，因為我想如果我數了這裡的雞蛋數量，我就會知道幾周後會有多少隻小雞孵出來。

But the phrase don't count your chickens before they hatch has nothing to do with eggs or chickens.

但是，"不要數雞 "這句話與雞蛋或雞無關。

When we say to someone, don't count your chickens before they hatch, what we're saying is don't think something is going to happen until it actually happens.

當我們對別人說 "不要在小雞孵出來之前就去數它們 "時，我們的意思是，在事情真正發生之前，不要認為它會發生。

Let's use this example.

我們來舉個例子。

Let's say someone says to you, my boss is going to give me a raise next week.

比方說，有人對你說，我老闆下週要給我加薪。

Right now I make $17 an hour and my boss is going to give me a raise next week.

現在我的時薪是 17 美元，我的老闆下週會給我加薪。

You might say to that person, hey, don't count your chickens before they hatch.

你可能會對那個人說，嘿，別在小雞孵出來之前就數著它們。

What you mean by that is don't think that that's going to happen until your boss actually tells you next week that you're getting a raise.

你的意思是，在你的老闆下週真的告訴你要給你加薪之前，不要認為這會發生。

So don't count your chickens before they hatch has nothing to do with eggs.

所以，不要在雞還沒孵出來之前就數落它們，這與雞蛋無關。

It simply means don't get too excited about something until it actually happens.

簡單地說，就是在事情真正發生之前，不要太興奮。

So I had a job once where one of my coworkers was stealing money from work and then he got caught and the boss just gave him a slap on the wrist.

我曾經有一份工作，我的一個同事在工作中偷錢，後來他被抓住了，老闆只是給了他一巴掌。

So a slap on the wrist is not actually a slap on the wrist.

所以，"一個巴掌拍不響"。

When you do something bad and you are disciplined or punished for it, if the punishment is very, very light, we call it a slap on the wrist.

當你做了壞事並是以受到紀律處分或懲罰時，如果懲罰非常非常輕，我們稱之為 "一巴掌"。

In the case of my coworker, the boss simply told him to stop stealing.

就我的同事而言，老闆只是讓他停止偷竊。

He didn't lose his job, nothing else happened.

他沒有丟掉工作，也沒有發生其他事情。

The boss just gave him a bit of a slap on the wrist, a very light punishment.

老闆只是給了他一巴掌，懲罰很輕。

He got simply a talking to.

他只是被說了幾句。

That is definitely just a slap on the wrist.

這絕對只是一記耳光。

So this is kind of strange.

所以這有點奇怪。

I have butterflies in my stomach.

我的胃裡有蝴蝶在飛舞。

If you look here, you can see that I have butterflies in my stomach for some reason.

如果你看這裡，就會發現我的胃裡不知為何有蝴蝶在飛舞。

But this isn't what the phrase to have butterflies in your stomach actually means.

但這並不是 "胃裡有蝴蝶 "這句話的真正含義。

If I was to say I have butterflies in my stomach, it means that I'm nervous about something.

如果我說我的胃裡有蝴蝶，那就意味著我對某些事情感到緊張。

If I knew that later today I had to talk in front of a thousand people, I would probably say, ooh, I'm a bit nervous.

如果我知道今天晚些時候要在上千人面前演講，我可能會說，哦，我有點緊張。

I have butterflies in my stomach.

我的胃裡有蝴蝶在飛舞。

So whenever you need to do something, when you are planning to do something that makes you nervous, you might describe it by saying, I have butterflies in my stomach.

是以，每當你需要做某件事情，當你計劃做某件事情，而這件事會讓你感到緊張時，你可以用 "我的胃裡有蝴蝶 "來形容。

So the other day, my friend said he caught a fish that was this big, but I took what he said with a grain of salt.

有一天，我的朋友說他釣到了一條這麼大的魚，但我對他的話不以為然。

In English, when you say that you take something with a grain of salt, there's no actual salt involved.

在英語中，當你說 "慎重對待某件事情 "時，實際上並不含鹽。

It simply means that you're not going to believe it right away.

這僅僅意味著你不會馬上相信它。

My friend tends to exaggerate when he tells his fishing stories.

我的朋友在講述他的釣魚故事時往往會誇大其詞。

I'm sure the fish he caught was really only this big, but he said it was this big, and so I just took it with a grain of salt.

我相信他釣到的魚真的只有這麼大，但他說有這麼大，我也就信以為真了。

That means I'm not gonna believe what he says maybe until I actually see the fish.

也就是說，在我親眼看到魚之前，我是不會相信他說的話的。

So I just simply took it with a grain of salt.

所以，我只是簡單地把它當成一粒鹽。

No salt actually involved.

實際上不含鹽。

That just means I didn't believe him right away.

這隻能說明我沒有馬上相信他。

If I stand up really tall, my head is in the clouds.

如果我站得很高，我的頭就會在雲端。

But if I just stand normal, my head is no longer in the clouds.

但是，如果我只是正常站立，我的頭就不再在雲端。

The English phrase, though, to have your head in the clouds means something a little bit different.

不過，"to have your head in the clouds "這個英語短語的意思有點不同。

We use this to describe someone who is a little bit absent-minded, someone who is not very practical.

我們用它來形容一個有點心不在焉的人，一個不太實際的人。

You might use a sentence like this.

你可以用這樣的句子

I'm not sure my brother-in-law will be successful in business because he always has his head in the clouds.

我不確定我的姐夫能否在事業上取得成功，因為他總是瞻前顧後。

Someone who has their head in the clouds is often thinking about other things.

頭頂雲彩的人往往在考慮其他事情。

They're not thinking about what they're supposed to be doing.

他們沒有考慮自己應該做什麼。

Maybe they're daydreaming a bit, or they're just thinking about things that aren't very practical.

也許他們在做白日夢，也許他們只是在想一些不太實際的事情。

I usually don't have my head in the clouds, unless I go like this.

我通常不會頭腦發熱，除非我像這樣。

Mm.

嗯 Mm.

Sorry, I'm having a little trouble talking right now because I bit off more than I can chew.

對不起，我現在說話有點困難，因為我咬得太多了。

Now, the English phrase, to bite off more than you can chew, doesn't actually refer to eating.

現在，英語中的 "to bite off more than you can chew "實際上並不是指吃。

We don't say that when we've taken a really big bite of something and we're having trouble talking.

當我們大口大口地吃著東西，難以開口時，我們不會這麼說。

We use this phrase when we've started a job or we've started a project and it's too hard for us to do by ourselves, or it's just gonna be very difficult and take a really long time.

當我們開始一項工作或啟動一個項目時，我們會使用這句話，因為它對我們來說太難了，我們無法獨自完成，或者它將會非常困難，需要很長時間。

You might say to someone, I bought an old car and I'm gonna fix it up, but I think I bit off more than I can chew.

你可能會對別人說，我買了一輛舊車，我要把它修好，但我覺得我咬得太緊了。

When you say that, basically what you're saying is, the job is too hard, the job is too difficult, it's gonna take forever.

當你這麼說的時候，基本上你是在說，工作太難了，工作太難了，要花很長時間。

I definitely bit off more than I can chew.

我肯定咬得太多了。

So last night, one of my kids came home really late and I was worried sick.

昨晚，我的一個孩子很晚才回家，我擔心死了。

In English, when we use the phrase to be worried sick, it just means that you are extremely worried.

在英語中，當我們使用 "to be worried sick "這個短語時，它只是表示你非常擔心。

It doesn't necessarily mean that you were so worried that you started to feel sick, although this is one of the phrases where you can actually take it literally as well.

這並不一定意味著你非常擔心，以至於開始感到不舒服，儘管你也可以從字面上理解這句話。

So there's two ways to use this phrase then.

是以，這句話有兩種用法。

You can say, I was worried sick, meaning that you were so worried about something that you actually had a stomachache or you weren't feeling well, but we also use it sometimes just to exaggerate.

你可以說 "我擔心得要命"，意思是你非常擔心某件事情，以至於肚子疼或不舒服，但我們有時也會用它來誇大其詞。

My kid came home really late and I was worried sick.

我的孩子很晚才回家，我擔心死了。

Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson.

非常感謝大家收看這節英語課。

Remember, I put out one or two English lessons a week, so if you click that subscribe button, you'll get notified when a new English lesson pops up on my channel.

請記住，我每週都會推出一到兩節英語課程，所以如果你點擊訂閱按鈕，當我的頻道出現新的英語課程時，你就會收到通知。

If you enjoyed this lesson, please give me a thumbs up, and if you have a little bit of extra time, why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson?

如果你喜歡這節課，請為我豎起大拇指，如果你有多餘的時間，為什麼不留下來再看一節英語課呢？