時差N小時:空中樓閣 To Build Castles In The Air

　　Castles are usually enormous structures requiringstrong foundations and the use of heavyconstruction materials such as stone. If thefoundations are not strong enough, the castle couldcollapse. The idea of building a castle in the air-with no foundation at all-is, of course,ridiculous. That is why this idiom is used todescribe ideas that are not realistic, as if they aredreams or fantasies. So when someone describes aplan or course of action that we believe may beimpossible to achieve, we tell him, "You're buildingcastles in the air."

　　城堡通常是一個很大的建筑，需要有堅實的基礎(chǔ)，還要用到大量石頭之類的建筑材料。如果城堡的基礎(chǔ)不夠牢固，很可能會坍塌。建立在空中的城堡是沒有基礎(chǔ)的。因此，“在空中建城堡”當(dāng)然是一個很荒謬的想法。因此，我們可以使用這個成語形容那些不太現(xiàn)實的想法——因為這種想法往往是夢想或幻想罷了。所以，當(dāng)有人描述一個計劃或行動時，我們覺得那是不可能實現(xiàn)的，就可以告訴他：“你的想法就如空中樓閣一樣。”

　　A similar idiom is "building castles in the sand." We know that, on a beach, sand castles areinevitably and easily destroyed by the tide. They are not built to last a long time. So when wesay someone is "building castles in the sand," we mean they are creating something that won'tendure very long.

　　類似的一個成語是“在沙灘上建城堡。”我們知道，沙灘上的城堡不可避免地而且很容易被海浪摧毀，不可能持久。所以，我們說有人是“在沙灘上建城堡”，意思就是他們正在創(chuàng)造的東西持續(xù)不了多長時間。