口语步步高兔年话“兔”

◎王静云

2023 年1 月22 日开始就是农历癸卯年了。在中国传统文化中，兔子是祥瑞之兽，象征吉祥、长寿。而兔子在西方也有多种不同的含义，英语中就有不少含rabbit 的习语，一起来看看吧！

1. rabbit 兔子；唠叨。例如：

The rabbit got up and took some hops.

兔子直起身子，蹦跳了几下。

Good luck getting a word today—Tom and Ted sure can rabbit.

今天插到话了可真走运——汤姆和泰德可真唠叨。

2. rabbit on 唠唠叨叨；喋喋不休。例如：

What are you rabbiting on about?

你在唠叨什么？

What on earth is she rabbiting on about today?

她今天究竟在喋喋不休什么？

3. (as) timid as a rabbit 胆小如兔，形容非常紧张、害羞或害怕。例如：

I can’t believe John actually had the temerity to demand a raise. He’s always been timid as a rabbit!

我不敢相信约翰真的有胆量要求加薪。他总是胆小如兔！

4. rabbit punch 兔子拳，指对头部或颈后部的可能致命的打击。例如：

Rabbit punches can cause serious brain and spinal injuries, not to mention death.Therefore, they’re banned from most fighting sports.

兔子拳能导致严重的大脑和脊髓损伤，甚至死亡。因此，在大多数格斗运动中都禁止使用。

5. horse and rabbit stew 指既包含不愉快或粗鲁的情况又包含令人愉快的或有益的情况，通常前者比后者的比例更大。例如：

I appreciate William inviting me to go with him to the theater, but having to listen to those opera singers would be horse and rabbit stew.

我很感激威廉邀请我和他一起去剧院，但不得不听那些歌剧歌手表演，那就有点不愉快了。

6. (like) a rabbit (caught) in the headlights 兔子在迎面而来的车辆前僵硬在原地，比喻处于惊讶、恐惧或困惑的状态。例如：

He froze like a rabbit in the headlights when I caught him taking money out of the register.

当我发现他从收银机里拿钱时，他惊恐万分。

Mary turned into a rabbit in the headlights when she forgot her lines in the middle of the play.

当玛丽在剧中忘词时，她惊恐地僵在原地。

7. pull a rabbit out of a hat 从帽子里变出一只活兔子，比喻用魔法一样，做出令人刮目相看、惊讶或看似不可能的事情。例如：

The caterer really pulled a rabbit out of a hat by producing 100 cupcakes with just 20 minutes’ notice.

餐饮服务商只需提前20 分钟接到通知，就可以生产100 个纸杯蛋糕，真令人惊讶。

Unless someone can pull a rabbit out of a hat, we’re out of solutions.

除非有人能做出令人刮目相看的事情，否则我们就没有办法了。

8. rabbit hole 兔子洞，比喻特别奇怪、复杂或混乱的情况或旅程。例如：

Are you sure that you are ready to go down the rabbit hole of owning your own business? It is a huge responsibility full of unexpected challenges.

你确定你准备好进入拥有自己企业的兔子洞了吗？这是一项巨大的责任，充满了意想不到的挑战。

9. work the rabbit’s foot on (someone) 欺骗（某人）。例如：

You can’t work the rabbit’s foot on me.

你可不能欺骗我。

I can’t believe he worked the rabbit’s foot on thousands of people into buying a faulty product!

我不敢相信他竟然欺骗了成千上万的人购买有问题的产品！

10. the rabbit died/kill the rabbit 兔子死了/杀死兔子，指怀孕了。例如：

I saw Carol shopping for maternity clothes in the mall the other day. I guess the rabbit died!

前几天，我看到卡罗尔在商场里买孕妇装。我猜她怀孕了！

Grandmother told me that my mother had killed the rabbit. When I asked what she meant, she said that there would soon be another baby in our family.

祖母告诉我，我母亲“杀死了兔子”。当我问她这是什么意思时，她说我们家很快就会有另一个孩子！

11. breed like rabbits 像兔子一样迅速繁衍后代。例如：

Business processes are volatile and they breed like rabbits.

业务过程变动就像是兔子繁衍那样躁动不安。

The Greens have ten children. They really breed like rabbits. 格林家有十个孩子，他们家孩子可真多！

12. let the dog see the rabbit 给参加者机会。例如：

“Give him a chance: let the dog see the rabbit,” was one of the interruptions.

“给它一个机会：就像让狗看见兔子一样。”是其中的打断声音之一。

13. pants rabbits 体虱。例如：

You gotta stop sleeping out, Harry, or you’ll end up with pants rabbits—or worse!

哈利，你不要再在外面睡觉了，否则你将会有体虱——或者更糟！

Bart is sure scratching a lot. Do you think he’s got pants rabbits?

巴特挠个不停，你认为他有体虱吗？

14. rabbit food 指沙拉蔬菜，通常是生的蔬菜。例如：

Care for any rabbit food? It’s good for you!

喜欢沙拉蔬菜吗？它们对你有好处！

Rabbit food tends to have a lot of vitamin C.

生蔬菜往往富含大量维生素C。

15. if you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one 如果你同时追两只兔子，你一只也抓不到，比喻如果你试图同时完成或追求两件不同的事情，你两者都会失败。例如：

You can’t look for that file and dictate a message at the same time. Didn’t your mum ever tell you that if you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one?

你不能在查找文件的同时又口述消息。你妈妈没有告诉过你吗，如果你同时追两只兔子，你一只也抓不到吗？

If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one, so first things first.

如果你同时追两只兔子，你不会抓住任何一只，所以先做重要的事情。