VOA慢速英语2011.05.07 喵喵, 起源, 英语

Rebecca949

Two old and funny expressions describe something that is the best or finest. Americans might say that something is the cat's meow and the cat's pajamas.
● “the cat’s meow”和“the cat’s pajamas”都表示不同凡响的、极好的人或物，两者都大有典故。一般来说，当猫很高兴或看到好东西的时候，它都会喵喵叫，因此“the cat’s meow”不难理解。而“the cat’s pajamas”便不是直译过来的“猫的睡袍”的意思了。其实这个短语起源于20世纪20年代，那个时候pajamas(睡袍)是相当时尚的东西，因此爱猫的英美人就用“the cat’s pajamas”来形容那些紧跟潮流、与众不同的事物。
Children might call a child who is easily frightened a fraidy cat or a scaredy cat. A copycat is someone who acts just like someone else or copies another person's work. A fat cat is a person with a lot of money.
● 很多短语都用猫来形容某一类人：比如：“a fraidy cat”和“a scaredy cat”表示胆小鬼；“a copycat”表示模仿者，抄袭者；而“a fat cat”则指大亨、阔佬， 一般都带有一些贬低的意味。
You may have known that cats spend most of their time sleeping. Sometimes people sleep for a short time during the day. This is called a cat nap.
● 我们常看到猫在白天里懒洋洋趴着睡觉猫嗜睡是出了名的。因此,“，a cat nap”就是指日间小憩，午睡。
____________________________ If you are not able to speak or answer a question someone might ask if the cat has got your tongue.
● “The cat has got your tongue.”直译成“猫咬了你的舌头”似乎有些莫名其妙,它其实表示“瞬间说不出话来,不知道说什么好”的意思。这个短语如今被广泛地使用,但关于它的出处却没有一个统一的说法。有一个说法是,在中东,作为一种惩罚的方式,人们会把说谎者的舌头割掉去喂猫;而另外一个比较靠谱的说法则是,中世纪时,巫师这一职业被视为邪恶的象征,通常会被处死。所以,如果一个巫师被人发现,他就会派他的猫出去咬断这个人的舌头,让他不能说话。

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gaodaiyongbbs

回复 1# Rebecca949


    i think the local linggo must be learned

miolove

yihui926

thanks very much,cheer!

mhwang

thank you for your sharing, you are a good man

zhen7564

amazon496

If you tell about sth that was suppose to be a secret, we say you let the cat out of the bed.

fish0611

if you tell about sth that was supposed to be a secret,we say you let the cat out of the bed

fangnan

If you tell about something that was suppose to ba a secret, we say you let the cat out of the bed.

如果记得

回复 1# Rebecca949


    If you talk about something there was surporting to lead a secret.

marcher999

I  really envy the two friends above. I'm only able to understand a part of the article after  has listened to it many times.

多啦

If you tell about something that was supposed to be a secret, we say you let the cat out of the bag.

fjwbigben

If you tell about something that was supposed to be a secret, we say you let the cat out of the bag.

慕容清苒

if you tell about something that was supposed to be a secret

gaodaiyongbbs

it is hard to understand,

shenjunqun

怎么不可以听啊？