VOA慢速英語:A Bad Taste in My Mouth

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

現(xiàn)在是美國之音慢速英語詞匯掌故節(jié)目。

People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions using the word mouth. But some of them are not so nice.

嘴巴的用途很多，人們用嘴吃飯、談話、吶喊、唱歌、微笑和親吻。在英語中，有很多包含嘴這個單詞的短語。但其中一些可不太友好。

For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say "Do not bad mouth me."

比如，如果你說某人不好的方面，這個人可能會抗議，說“不要說我壞話”

Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person’s feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell.

有時，人們對朋友和家人說了什么過后他們覺得后悔，因為這傷害了他人的感情?；蛘?，他告訴了某人一些不該告訴的東西。

The speaker might say: "I really put my foot in my mouth this time." If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth. In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.

這個發(fā)言者可能會說：“這次我真的說錯話了”。如果發(fā)生這種情況，這個發(fā)言者可能會感到沮喪。換句話說，他可能為說錯話覺得悲傷。

Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. The other person might protest: "I did not say that. Do not put words in my mouth."

另一種情況是，當(dāng)有人謊稱別人說了什么時。別人可能會抗議：“我沒有這樣說。不要把這個話強加于我。”

Information is often spread through word of mouth. This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other. "How did you hear about that new movie?" someone might ask. "Oh, by word of mouth."? A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. This is an official spokesperson. Government-run media could also be called a mouthpiece.

信息往往是通過口耳相傳傳播，這是人們之間的日常溝通方式。例如朋友之間互相交談， “你是怎么聽說那部新電影的?”有人可能會問。 “哦，通過口耳相傳。”更正式的獲取信息的方式是通過公司或政府的喉舌，這個喉舌是指官方發(fā)言人。政府開辦的媒體也可以被稱為喉舌。

Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. When this happens, the friend might say: "You took the words right out of my mouth!" Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person. He might say that experience "left a bad taste in my mouth." Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog. He might say: "I had my heart in my mouth."

有時某人說出了他朋友正要說的話。發(fā)生這種情況時，他的朋友可能會說：“我也正想這么說。”有時某人跟另一人之間有不愉快的經(jīng)歷，他可能說那種經(jīng)歷“給我留下了一個壞印象”?；蛘吣橙擞幸欢畏浅？膳碌慕?jīng)歷，例如被一只瘋狗追趕，他可能會說，“我的心都快跳到嗓子眼了。”

Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, "was born with a silver spoon in his mouth."

有些人出生在一個非常富有的家庭而有很多錢。有句短語正好形容這種情況。你可能會說這個人“含著金湯匙出生。”

This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.

與富人相反的則是僅能糊口的人，這類人非常貧窮，他的錢剛夠購買生活最需要東西，例如食物。

Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child. The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.

家長有時會扣押孩子的甜食作為孩子說壞話的一種懲罰。例如，如果一個孩子對他的父母說了不該說的東西，他可能會被視為多嘴的孩子。孩子的家長甚至可能會告訴孩子“不要再胡說了”

But enough of all this talk. I have been running my mouth long enough.

這次節(jié)目說得夠多的了，我說起來沒完沒了。

1 Do not bad mouth me.

別說我壞話。 Mouth在這里做動詞，表示“說某人壞話”。例如：I won’t bad mouth Jay even if it kills me.打死我也不說杰伊的壞話。

2 I really put my foot in my mouth this time.

Put one’s foot in one’s mouth這個短語的意思是say something embarrassing, make a faux-pas(失言，說錯話了)。當(dāng)你說了不該說的話時，突然發(fā)覺你說錯話了，就會這么說。例如：“I certainly put my foot in my mouth at the party last night when I asked Mister Brown to say hello to his wife for me. Somehow I’d forgotten that his wife died six months ago.”他說：“我昨晚在聚會上無意中說錯了話。我讓布朗先生替我向他的太太問好。不知怎么回事，我忘了他太太已經(jīng)在半年前去世了。”

3 down in the mouth

Down in the mouth是口語，意思是“沮喪、垂頭喪氣”。 例如：Why do you look so down in the mouth ?(你為什么顯得這樣消沉?)She gets down in the mouth over the least little thing.(她動不動就情緒低落。)類似的短語還有down in the dumps，也是形容情緒低落。

4 Do not put words in my mouth

這個短語的意思是“替某人說出你覺得他該說的話，把話強加于某人”。I never mentioned going away for a holiday: don’t put words into my mouth.(我從來沒有提到過去度假：不要把這個話強加于我!)Now you’re putting words into my mouth. When did I say anything about moving?(你這是強加于人，我什么時候說過我搬家的事?)

5 word of mouth/by word of mouth

Word of mouth就是我們常說的“口碑”。By word of mouth是指人們經(jīng)由一傳十，十傳百的口傳方式得知某件事，也就是藉著口耳相傳，大家告訴大家的意思。例如：A：This restaurant is so small, but it’s always crowded. How did you find out about it?　B：I heard by word of mouth that they had great food.(A：這家餐廳很小，但卻始終客滿。你是怎么知道這家餐廳的?B：我是藉著人家口耳相傳，知道他們賣的東西很好吃的。)

6 mouthpiece

Mouthpiece原意是指(樂器、煙斗等的)嘴兒，銜在嘴中的部分，接近嘴的部分，引申為喉舌、代言人、機關(guān)報。例如：The newspaper is the mouthpiece of the government.(這家報紙是政府的機關(guān)報。)

7 You took the words right out of my mouth

Take the words right out of one’s mouth意思是“說出了某人想說的話，觀點不謀而合”。例如：A: Did you see that girl in our English class. She is really beautiful. B: You took the words right out of my mouth.(A：你看見英語課上那個女孩兒了嗎?她可真漂亮。B：我也正想這么說。)

8 left a bad taste in my mouth

Leave a bad taste in one’s mouth這個短語的意思是“留下壞印象”。例如：Her rudeness to the old man left a bad taste in my mouth.(她對那位老人的粗暴態(tài)度，給我留下很壞的印象。)此外，leave a nasty taste in one’s mouth也可以表達同樣的意思。

9 I had my heart in my mouth

Have/bring one’s heart in one’s mouth是指某事使人非常害怕，就好像心都被提到了嗓子眼。例如：I had my heart in my mouth when the other car ran through the red light and I knew we were about to crash.(當(dāng)我看到那輛車闖紅燈時，我知道我們要撞車了。當(dāng)時我的心都快跳到嗓子眼了。)表達類似意思的t短語還有：make one’s heart leap out of his mouth，one’s heart stood still等。

10 a person, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth意思是某人生在一個很富有的家庭，根本就不用到外面去找工作來謀生。這種說法來源于歐洲的有錢人以前的一種習(xí)慣做法。當(dāng)家長為一個新生嬰兒取名字的時候，他們要舉行一個宗教儀式。在舉行儀式的時候，他們給這個孩子一個銀子做的勺。例如：I’ll tell you the good thing about our boss. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and doesn’t have to work at all. But he really works harder than anybody in the office.(我來告訴你我們老板的優(yōu)點。他出生在一個非常有錢的家庭;他根本不需要工作。但是，他工作非常努力，真是比辦公室里任何人都更加努力。)

11live from hand to mouth

這個短語的意思是“僅能糊口、糊口度日”，也就是我們說的“家無隔宿糧，現(xiàn)賺現(xiàn)吃”。如：He got very little pay so he lived from hand to mouth.(他因薪水微薄所以僅能糊口。)

12 a mouthy child

一個喜歡多話的小孩兒。Mouthy做形容詞意思是someone who talks a lot and says what he thinks even if it is rude用來表示“說大話的”或者“愛說話的，多嘴的”。

13 stop mouthing off

這個短語的意思是“不要再胡說了”。例如If you don’t stop your mouth off, I won’t tell you anything in the future.(如果你還不停止胡說八道，以后我什么也不告訴你了。)

14 running my mouth

Run one’s mouth意思是to talk excessively or foolishly(說得太多，大嘴巴)。在這里作者的意思是他這次說得已經(jīng)夠多了。