Name: 日常英語表達的根源：聖經與民間故事 (The Roots of Everyday English Expressions: The Bible & Folk Tales)
Uploaded: 2025-06-17T16:30:05.000Z
Duration: 12 min 52 s

Hi everybody, welcome to www.engvid.com, I'm Adam.

大家好，歡迎來到 www.engvid.com，我是亞當。

過去簡單式

In today's video, I want to share with you some expressions, some common expressions in English, but what makes these particular expressions interesting is where they came from, their source.

在今天的視頻中，我想與大家分享一些表達方式，一些常見的英語表達方式，但這些特殊表達方式的有趣之處在於它們的來源、出處。

So, most of these are from either superstition or from the Bible, believe it or not.

是以，不管你信不信，其中大部分都來自迷信或《聖經》。

Many people don't realize they're quoting the Bible, but they are.

許多人沒有意識到他們在引用《聖經》，但他們確實在引用《聖經》。

So, first of all, what is a superstition?

A superstition is a type of belief that is not really based on anything.

迷信是一種沒有任何實際依據的信仰。

It's just a story that happened that was popular many, many, many years ago, and that parents told their kids, who told their kids, who told their kids, and people started believing it even though there's no scientific reason to.

這只是一個發生在很多很多年前的流行故事，父母告訴他們的孩子，他們的孩子又告訴他們的父母，他們的父母又告訴他們的孩子，人們開始相信這個故事，儘管沒有科學依據。

Some people believe that if you break a mirror, you will have seven years of bad luck.

有些人認為，如果打碎一面鏡子，就會有七年的厄運。

Some people think that if you see a black cat crossing in front of you, you should spit or you will have bad luck.

有些人認為，如果看到一隻黑貓從你面前走過，你就應該吐口唾沫，否則就會倒黴。

So, I'm going to give you a few expressions that are based on superstition that people use all the time.

是以，我要給大家介紹幾種人們經常使用的基於迷信的表達方式。

So, I don't have any wood here, but I would knock on wood after I say something positive.

所以，我這裡沒有木頭，但我在說了一些積極的話後會敲敲木頭。

So, I say, oh, I think my son is going to be accepted into Harvard.

所以，我說，哦，我想我兒子會被哈佛大學錄取。

Now, if there's a piece of wood somewhere, most people will knock and say the expression knock on wood, because what they want to do, they don't want to jinx what they just said.

現在，如果某個地方有一塊木頭，大多數人都會敲敲它，然後說 "敲敲木頭"，因為他們想做的是，他們不想讓自己剛才說的話掃興。

To jinx something is to bring bad luck on it.

So, you want to avoid the bad luck, so you knock on wood and then you're safe.

所以，你要避免厄運，所以你要敲敲木頭，然後你就安全了。

Some old story became a superstition and people accepted it.

一些古老的故事變成了迷信，人們接受了它。

Hail Mary is from a religion, not necessarily the Bible.

萬福瑪利亞 "出自一種宗教，不一定是《聖經》。

Now, what's interesting about this is I'm not actually talking about the prayer.

現在，有趣的是，我說的其實不是祈禱。

I'm talking about football, American football, and the Hail Mary pass is something that is popular in the sport.

我說的是美式橄欖球，"萬福瑪麗 "傳球在這項運動中非常流行。

A Hail Mary pass generally happens near the end of a game or near the end of a half, and one team is behind in points.

萬福瑪利亞傳球一般發生在比賽臨近結束或半場臨近結束時，一隊比分落後。

They don't have enough time to slowly move up the field, so they try a Hail Mary pass, which means trying to pass all the way across the field and hope that the catcher, the person who's supposed to catch the ball catches it and gets the touchdown.

他們沒有足夠的時間慢慢移動到前場，所以他們嘗試 "萬福瑪利亞 "傳球，也就是嘗試一路傳到前場另一側，希望接球人，也就是應該接球的人接住球，然後達陣。

Now, people... this started in the NFL, in football.

現在，大家......這是從 NFL 開始的，從橄欖球開始的。

Now, people use this anytime that they need to do something desperate, in business, in social life, anything.

現在，人們在任何時候都會使用它來做一些絕望的事情，無論是在生意場上，還是在社交生活中，任何事情都是如此。

When you're running out of chances, when you're running out of time and you're desperate, you'll do a Hail Mary.

當你沒有機會的時候，當你沒有時間的時候，當你走投無路的時候，你會做萬福瑪利亞。

You'll basically fire everybody to save money.

為了省錢，你基本上會解僱所有人。

You'll hire somebody, a professional, even though he costs too much, but it's a Hail Mary pass.

你會僱一個人，一個專業人士，儘管他的成本太高，但這是一個萬福瑪利亞傳球。

You need to do something desperate in order to score the touchdown, in order to succeed in what you're trying to do.

為了達陣，為了成功，你必須孤注一擲。

Now, technically not English, but we use it in English all the time.

嚴格來說，這不是英語，但我們在英語中一直使用它。

To have deja vu is to think you've seen something before, or you've done something before, or you've experienced something before, and when you're doing it now, it seems very, very familiar, like you've done it before, maybe even in a past life.

似曾相識是指你認為自己以前見過什麼，做過什麼，或者經歷過什麼，而當你現在去做的時候，卻覺得非常非常熟悉，就好像你以前做過一樣，甚至可能是上輩子的事。

So, in a past life, you ask the prettiest girl in school to go on a date, and now you're going up to her, and for some reason, you feel like, wait, I've done this before.

所以，在前世，你約了學校裡最漂亮的女生，現在你要去找她，出於某種原因，你覺得，等等，我以前也這麼做過。

Maybe you're a little bit more nervous, maybe you're a little bit less nervous, but it seems very familiar to you, so you go ahead and do it.

也許你更緊張一點，也許你不那麼緊張，但這對你來說似乎很熟悉，所以你就去做了。

If some of you have seen the movie The Matrix, you remember when the cat moved in front of Neo, and then the cat moved again?

如果有人看過電影《黑客帝國》，你還記得貓在尼奧面前移動，然後貓又移動的情景嗎？

But we use it in everyday life when something seems very, very familiar.

但在日常生活中，當一件事情看起來非常非常熟悉時，我們就會用到它。

This is not from the Bible, but we relate it to the Bible.

這並非出自《聖經》，但我們將其與《聖經》聯繫起來。

A Bible thumper is a person who... this is thumping, basically hitting, so he keeps hitting the Bible.

一個 "聖經砰砰者 "是一個......這就是 "砰砰"，基本上就是敲打，所以他不停地敲打聖經。

Basically, we say this about a person who tries to push a religion on other people, or somebody who always quotes from the Bible.

基本上，我們會這樣說一個試圖把宗教強加給其他人的人，或者一個總是引用《聖經》的人。

So, if you go to certain places in the US, for example, there are a lot of Bible thumpers.

是以，如果你去美國的某些地方，比如說，那裡有很多 "聖經砰砰者"。

People who are always talking about what the Bible says, or that everybody should go to church and study the Bible, and stuff like that.

那些總是談論《聖經》說了什麼，或者每個人都應該去教堂學習《聖經》之類的人。

Not the best word, but sometimes you'll see... you'll hear people using this about politicians who are a little bit too religious, who want people to do things a certain way, or somebody who's a little bit too good, like not... doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, doesn't do anything.

這不是一個最好的詞，但有時你會看到......你會聽到人們用這個詞來形容那些有點過於虔誠的政客，他們希望人們按照某種方式做事，或者某個人有點過於善良，比如不......不抽菸、不喝酒、不做任何事。

Oh, he's probably a Bible thumper, because he lives by the Bible, so that's an expression you might hear as well.

哦，他可能是《聖經》的踐行者，因為他以《聖經》為生，所以你可能也會聽到這種說法。

Now, technically, it's not a real law, but Murphy's Law states that if anything bad can happen, it probably will happen.

現在，從技術上講，這並不是一條真正的定律，但墨菲定律指出，如果有任何壞事可能發生，那麼它很可能就會發生。

So, people usually say this after something bad has happened.

所以，人們通常是在發生了不好的事情之後才會這麼說。

So, I was on my way to a job interview, and on my way I got a flat tire, and I missed the job interview, and I didn't get the job.

於是，我在去面試的路上爆了胎，錯過了面試，也沒得到那份工作。

And I told my friend about it, and he goes, well, you know, Murphy's Law, what are you going to do?

我把這件事告訴了我的朋友，他說，墨菲定律，你打算怎麼辦？

基本上，不算太壞，運氣不好。

Nothing you can do about it, but people often quote this law.

你對此無能為力，但人們經常引用這條法律。

If something bad can happen, it probably will.

如果壞事可能發生，它就可能會發生。

A very common expression, and especially in business situations, the blind leading the blind.

一個很常見的說法，尤其是在商業場合，就是盲人帶盲人。

So, a blind person obviously can't lead another blind person, because neither of them knows where they're going.

是以，一個盲人顯然無法帶領另一個盲人，因為他們都不知道自己要去哪裡。

So, in business, if you have somebody, like a manager, who's not very good at his job, but he is responsible for training new employees who don't know what's going on because they're new, we say, oh, look, the blind leading the blind.

是以，在企業中，如果有一個人，比如經理，工作能力不強，但他負責培訓新員工，而這些新員工因為是新手而不知道發生了什麼，我們就會說，哦，看，盲人帶瞎子。

So, we're saying that both of them don't know what they're doing.

所以，我們說他們兩個都不知道自己在做什麼。

But the blind is the first one, the second one is the one who needs to learn something, and following the one who doesn't know how to teach.

但盲人是第一個，第二個是需要學習一些東西的人，而跟在後面的是不知道如何教的人。

So, when we say the writing is on the wall, it means it's very easy to assume something is going to happen.

是以，當我們說牆上有字跡時，意思是很容易假定會發生什麼事。

It's almost, it's a very strong prediction.

這幾乎是一個非常有力的預測。

So, I see, like a co-worker, let's say I go to business again, a co-worker is fighting with the boss.

所以，我看到，就像一個同事，比方說我又去出差了，一個同事正在和老闆吵架。

So, like, the next time it happens, everybody's saying, she shouldn't do that, I mean, the writing is on the wall, she's going to get fired soon, right?

所以，下次再發生這種事 大家都會說，她不應該這麼做 我是說，字已經寫在牆上了 她很快就會被炒魷魚的，對吧？

It's very obvious what is going to happen.

接下來會發生什麼，顯而易見。

Very easy to predict what is going to happen based on what is happening now.

根據現在發生的事情，預測將要發生的事情非常容易。

So, if somebody says the writing is on the wall, it's already, the future is already understood, basically, the prediction is already clear.

是以，如果有人說 "牆上有字"，那就意味著未來已經被理解了，基本上，預測已經很明確了。

Next, chasing rainbows or chasing a pot of gold.

其次是追逐彩虹或追逐一桶金。

Basically, technically they actually go together, you're chasing a rainbow to find the pot of gold, but people say he's chasing rainbow or he's chasing a pot of gold.

基本上，從技術上講，它們其實是一起的，你在追逐彩虹，尋找金罐，但人們說他在追逐彩虹，或者他在追逐金罐。

Now, let me, before I get into that, let me introduce you to leprechaun.

現在，讓我先向你們介紹一下妖精。

The leprechaun is like a little guy who goes, who chases after the rainbow.

妖精就像一個追逐彩虹的小傢伙。

So, he thinks at the end of the rainbow, there's a pot of gold.

所以，他認為彩虹的盡頭就是金礦。

So, people who are chasing a pot of gold or people who are chasing the rainbow or people who chase the leprechaun are trying to get something, but they are fantasizing.

所以，追逐金罐的人，追逐彩虹的人，追逐妖精的人，都是為了得到什麼，但他們是在幻想。

They're not going to get that thing they want.

他們不會得到他們想要的東西。

So, a person, let's say for example, a person has absolutely limited or very, very basic understanding of computers.

是以，比方說，一個人對計算機的瞭解絕對有限，或者非常、非常基礎。

He likes computers, he likes to go on the computer and do stuff, but he doesn't know programming, he doesn't know hardware, he doesn't know software.

他喜歡電腦，喜歡上機操作，但他不懂編程，不懂硬件，也不懂軟件。

So, this person thinks, oh, you know what?

所以，這個人想，哦，你知道嗎？

I should apply to MIT or I should apply to the University of Waterloo in Canada.

我應該申請麻省理工學院，還是申請加拿大滑鐵盧大學？

These are like, in the whole world, these are like two of the top schools for computer science in the world.

在全世界範圍內，這兩所學校都是計算機科學領域最頂尖的學校。

So, this guy obviously is not going to be accepted.

所以，這傢伙顯然不會被接受。

The people who are going to these schools can already build computers.

這些學校的學生已經會造電腦了。

They're just going to learn even more things.

So, we say he's applying to MIT, he's chasing rainbows.

所以，我們說他在申請麻省理工學院，他在追逐彩虹。

It means he's chasing a dream that he will never find, he will never reach.

這意味著他在追逐一個永遠找不到、永遠達不到的夢想。