我剛剛從一個(gè)采訪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)回來。我們的嘉賓介紹了她有關(guān)中東地區(qū)沖突的一本新書。拍攝完成后,我注意到,攝像師的情緒好象特別低落,我這才想起他是退伍軍人,在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上失去過很多戰(zhàn)友,一定是剛從嘉賓談到戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上的傷亡,勾起了他很多痛苦的回憶,這也讓我想到了一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語。那就是: close to home.
Close to home這個(gè)短語跟家其實(shí)沒什么關(guān)系;它的意思是“觸及痛處” 。上面的例子中,新書作者談到中東沖突的慘狀,觸及了攝像師心里深層的記憶。
For him, they were close to home. 對(duì)攝像師來說,這段采訪觸及了他的痛處。
下面這個(gè)例子中,我們的法律記者要帶我們?nèi)タ纯匆粋€(gè)叫M.A.D.D., MADD的組織,咱們?nèi)ヂ犅犑窃趺椿厥拢?/P>
例句-1:M.A.D.D. is an organization committed to stopping drunk driving and supporting victims of this terrible crime. It was started in 1980 by a mother who had strong feelings about such issues. Her daughter had been killed by a repeat drunk driver. As with many of MADD's members, this tragedy is very close to home.
這段話是說:“反對(duì)醉駕母親協(xié)會(huì)”這個(gè)組織致力于防止醉酒駕車,并幫助遭遇不幸的受害者。一位母親1980年創(chuàng)建了這個(gè)組織。她女兒就是被一名多次醉酒駕車的人撞死的。對(duì)于這個(gè)組織的成員來說,他們每個(gè)人都對(duì)這類悲劇有著切身的感受。
MADD這個(gè)組織的全稱是Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 所以縮寫是MADD。對(duì)于這位母親來說,the issue of drunk driving is close to home since her own daughter was killed by a drunk driver. 她對(duì)醉酒駕車的害處深有感觸,因?yàn)樗畠壕褪潜灰幻砭岂{車的人撞死的。正是由于這個(gè)協(xié)會(huì)的努力,美國對(duì)醉駕的容忍度變小了,懲罰也更為嚴(yán)厲。
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你有沒有過這種經(jīng)歷呢?有時(shí)候別人無意中說的一句話,做的一件事,談?wù)摰哪硞€(gè)話題都會(huì)觸及你的痛處。下面例子里的這名父親在跟兒子談話時(shí)就遇到了這樣的情形。我們來聽聽看:
例句-2:I wondered what my son was laughing about. He was watching a competition show on TV involving severely heavy people trying to lose weight. I explained to my son how I felt hurt. It was too close to home. I had been very overweight growing up. And I remembered all the ridicule I suffered years ago.
這段話是說:我正納悶我兒子在笑什么,原來他是在看一個(gè)電視真人秀節(jié)目,講的是很多嚴(yán)重肥胖的人比賽減肥。我告訴兒子說,他觸及了我的痛處,因?yàn)槲倚r(shí)候就特別胖,我清楚地記得原來怎樣受到別人的嘲笑。
這確實(shí)挺難受的。不過這位爸爸正好利用這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)教育自己的孩子怎么面對(duì)與自己不一樣的人。在這里,我們還可以在這個(gè)短語前面加上動(dòng)詞hit, hit. To hit close to home 也是一樣的意思。