美國習(xí)慣用語Lesson 218 - get caught with one's hand in the coo

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當(dāng)一個(gè)人正在做壞事的時(shí)候被人家發(fā)現(xiàn)，這個(gè)人就會(huì)感到很難堪。今天我們要給大家介紹的兩個(gè)習(xí)慣用語都是形容這種局面的。我們先來講第一個(gè)：To get caught with one's hand in the cookie jar. Cookie就是餅乾，甜點(diǎn)心。Cookie jar就是放這些餅乾點(diǎn)心的罐子。To be caught with one's hand in the cookie jar從字面上來解釋，它的意思就是：當(dāng)一個(gè)人的手正在點(diǎn)心罐子里的時(shí)候被人發(fā)現(xiàn)了。

以前許多美國婦女總是為孩子們做一些點(diǎn)心放在罐子里。但是，為了不讓孩子吃的太多，媽媽往往把罐子藏在柜子頂上。這樣孩子就不容易拿到?？墒牵械暮⒆訒?huì)爬到椅子上，去罐子里偷點(diǎn)心。要是媽媽突然走進(jìn)廚房，那就被當(dāng)場發(fā)現(xiàn)。這就是to be caught with one's hand in the cookie jar?，F(xiàn)在，這個(gè)俗語已經(jīng)用得非常普遍，只要是一個(gè)人在做不該做的事的時(shí)候被人當(dāng)場抓到都可以用這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語來形容。我們來舉一個(gè)例子。這是一個(gè)人在說某個(gè)郵局的雇員。

例句1: It's too bad what happened to her, but it's her own fault. One day they caught her with her hand in the cookie jar; she was stealing stamps for personal use and she was fired on the spot.

這個(gè)人說：這件事對她來說是太不幸了，但是這也是她自己不好。有一天，正當(dāng)她在偷郵票給她自己用的時(shí)候被人當(dāng)場抓著。她立即就被解雇了。

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美國的電腦非常普遍。許多家庭也都有個(gè)人用的電腦。在辦公室里，每個(gè)人都有自己的暗號，用了暗號才能打開自己的電腦。下面這個(gè)例子是一個(gè)人說他的同事偷看他的電腦。

例句2: Tom was caught with his hand in the cookie jar when he was sitting at my computer desk reading my files last night. He admitted he stole my code a month ago and tried to find out what I wrote in the outline for the new project.

這人說：昨天晚上，湯姆坐在我的電腦桌子前偷看我電腦里的材料的時(shí)候被我當(dāng)場抓到。他承認(rèn)，他一個(gè)月前偷了我的暗號，想知道我為那個(gè)新的工程寫的大綱里有些什么內(nèi)容。

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下面我們要講的習(xí)慣用語所描寫的情況要比小偷小摸被人發(fā)現(xiàn)更嚴(yán)重。這從字面上就可以顯示出來。這個(gè)習(xí)慣用語就是：To be caught with one's pants down. Pants就是人們穿的褲子。因此，按字面來解釋，to be caught with one's pants down就是一個(gè)人在褲子掉下來的情況下被人發(fā)現(xiàn)。作為俗語，它的意思就是當(dāng)一個(gè)人正在做壞事，做可恥的事的時(shí)候被人發(fā)現(xiàn)了。下面這個(gè)例子是一個(gè)電臺(tái)新聞?dòng)浾邎?bào)導(dǎo)有關(guān)一個(gè)市政府官員在做壞事的時(shí)候被人發(fā)現(xiàn)。這位記者說：

例句3: The road commissioner was arrested today for taking a bribe from the contractor he hired to build the new highway. He was caught with his pants down, on video tape showing him accepting the money.

他說：那個(gè)負(fù)責(zé)公路的專員今天被逮捕，因?yàn)樗邮芤幻麪I造商的賄賂。那是他雇用來建造那條新公路的營造商。他在接受錢的時(shí)候被人錄像錄了下來，當(dāng)場抓住。

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英國電影男明星休.格蘭特最近發(fā)生的一件事最能說明to be caught with one's pants down這個(gè)俗語的意思。這是一個(gè)人在談?wù)撨@件事。

例句4: Actor Hugh Grant was caught with his pants down when he was having sex with a prostitute in the back of his car. He was arrested by Los Angeles police and the media made a fuss of it.

這人說：當(dāng)英國電影演員休.格蘭特跟一個(gè)妓女在他的汽車后座發(fā)生性關(guān)系的時(shí)候當(dāng)場被人抓住。洛山磯的警察逮捕了他，新聞界大肆宣揚(yáng)。