“嘴”的故事

何苗

People use their mouths for many things. They eat， talk， shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. So， there are many expressions using the word “mouth” in English. Today， lets start with the word “mouth”.

嘴巴有很多用途，人們用嘴吃飯、談話、吶喊、唱歌、微笑和親吻。因此，英語(yǔ)中有很多表達(dá)中使用了“嘴”這個(gè)詞。今天，我們就從“嘴”這個(gè)詞說(shuō)起吧。

Some of expressions using the word “mouth” in English are not so nice. For example， if you say bad things about a person， the person might protest （抗議；反對(duì)） and say “Do not badmouth me！”

在英語(yǔ)中，有些使用了“嘴”這個(gè)單詞的短語(yǔ)不太友好。比如，如果你說(shuō)某人不好的方面，這個(gè)人可能會(huì)抗議，說(shuō)“不要說(shuō)我壞話”。

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

有時(shí)，在對(duì)朋友或家人說(shuō)了什么過(guò)后，人們覺(jué)得后悔，因?yàn)檫@傷害了別人的感情。或者，他告訴了某人一些不該告訴的東西。這個(gè)發(fā)言者可能會(huì)說(shuō)：“這次我真的說(shuō)錯(cuò)話了”。如果發(fā)生這種情況，這個(gè)發(fā)言者可能會(huì)感到沮喪。換句話說(shuō)，他可能為說(shuō)錯(cuò)話而垂頭喪氣。

Another situation （情況） 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(shuō)了什么時(shí)。別人可能會(huì)抗議：“我沒(méi)有這樣說(shuō)。不要把這個(gè)話強(qiáng)加于我。”

Information （信息） 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 spokes person. Government-run （政府運(yùn)作的） media could also be called “a mouthpiece”.

信息往往是通過(guò)口耳相傳傳播，這是人們之間的日常溝通方式，比如朋友之間互相交談?！澳闶窃趺绰?tīng)說(shuō)那部新電影的？”有人可能會(huì)問(wèn)?！芭?，通過(guò)口耳相傳?！备降墨@取信息的方式是通過(guò)公司或政府的“喉舌”，這個(gè)“喉舌”是指官方發(fā)言人。政府開(kāi)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 “l(fā)eft a bad taste in my mouth”.

有時(shí)某人說(shuō)出了他朋友正要說(shuō)的話。發(fā)生這種情況時(shí)，他的朋友可能會(huì)說(shuō)：“我也正想這么說(shuō)?！庇袝r(shí)某人跟另一人之間有不愉快的經(jīng)歷，他可能說(shuō)那種經(jīng)歷“給我留下了一個(gè)壞印象”。

Or the person might have had a very frightening （可怕的） experience， like being chased by an angry dog. He might say “I had my heart in my mouth”.

或者某人可能有過(guò)一段非常可怕的經(jīng)歷，例如被一只瘋狗追趕，他可能會(huì)說(shuō)，“我的心都快跳到嗓子眼了?！?/p>

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(gè)非常富有的家庭而有很多錢(qián)。有句短語(yǔ)正好形容這種情況。你可能會(huì)說(shuō)這個(gè)人“含著金湯匙出生”。

This rich person is the opposite （相反的） 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(qián)剛夠購(gòu)買(mǎi)生活最需要東西，例如食物。

Parents might sometimes withhold （扣留） 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(zhǎng)有時(shí)會(huì)扣押孩子的甜食作為對(duì)孩子說(shuō)壞話的一種懲罰。例如，如果一個(gè)孩子對(duì)她的父母說(shuō)了不該說(shuō)的東西，她可能會(huì)被視為“多嘴的孩子”。孩子的家長(zhǎng)甚至可能會(huì)告訴孩子“不要再胡說(shuō)了”。

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

這次說(shuō)得夠多的了，我說(shuō)起來(lái)沒(méi)完沒(méi)了。

Now， its your turn to guess the meanings of the expressions about the word “mouth”！ 下面，輪到你來(lái)說(shuō)一說(shuō)文中與“嘴”一詞有關(guān)的表達(dá)方式的意思了！

參 考 釋 義

1. badmouth sb. 說(shuō)某人的壞話

2. put ones foot in ones mouth 失言；說(shuō)錯(cuò)話

注：這個(gè)成語(yǔ)是從另一個(gè)成語(yǔ)“put ones foot in it”衍生出來(lái)的?！癙ut ones foot in it”本來(lái)是指一不小心一腳踩在污水上面，現(xiàn)在英國(guó)人也直接用這個(gè)成語(yǔ)來(lái)表達(dá)“說(shuō)錯(cuò)話”。put ones foot in ones mouth就是一不小心一腳踩在自己的嘴巴上了，也就是說(shuō)錯(cuò)話，美國(guó)人更習(xí)慣這種用法。

3. down in the mouth 垂頭喪氣

4. put words in ones mouth 教某人怎樣講

5. word of mouth 口頭語(yǔ)

6. mouthpiece 喉舌

7. You took the words right out of my mouth. 你說(shuō)出了我想說(shuō)的話。

8. leave a bad taste in ones mouth 給某人留下不好的印象

9. have ones heart in ones mouth 提心吊膽

10. born with a silver spoon in ones mouth 含著金鑰匙出生，表示出生于富貴之家

11. from hand to mouth 朝不保夕；僅能糊口

12. mouthy 愛(ài)說(shuō)話的

13. mouth off 大發(fā)議論；大嘴巴

14. run ones mouth 大嘴巴；說(shuō)得太多