精通母語的人覺得國語博大精深，長期深耕英語的人也會覺得英語博大精深。一個簡單的英語句子，不同的人翻譯出來的結(jié)果可能很接近，但是有的翻譯真的是達(dá)到了信達(dá)雅的境界，甚至是畫龍點睛的效果，讓人賞心悅目和佩服不已。因此學(xué)可以無術(shù)，但不可不博。
在英語中，有的短語不僅本身有意義，而且還有其他寓意，如 deliver the goods，字面上是“交貨”，它還可以用來比喻不負(fù)眾望或符合要求等，例如：
We'll deliver the goods as soon as we can. He's the best graphic designer we have, so I'm confident that he can deliver the goods for this ad campaign.他是我們最好的平面設(shè)計師，所以我相信這次的廣告活動他會不負(fù)眾望。
有的短語本身沒有意義或意思不符合常理，主要用作其他寓意，如 face the music，不要理解為”面對音樂“，可以譯為“承擔(dān)后果，接受批評”等，例如：
If she lied to me, then she'll just have to face the music.
If we do nothing to curb this pollution, I guarantee we will face the music in the future.如果我們不采取任何措施來遏制這種污染，我保證我們將來要承擔(dān)后果。還有如習(xí)語 kick the can down the road，不要望文生義把它理解為“沿路往下踢罐子”，它主要用作寓意，譯為“拖延，延緩”等，指推遲一個確定的行動、決定或解決辦法，通常是通過實施一個短期的來代替，例如：看來國會將在債務(wù)上限問題上再次拖延，但他們最終必須找到一個持久的解決方案。I don't think we should kick the can down the road and let our grandkids solve that problem.我認(rèn)為我們不應(yīng)該拖延，讓我們的孫子解決這個問題。
表示“拖延或延緩”最常見的表達(dá)方式是用單詞 delay，postone，stall 和 defer，其中 delay 即可以作動詞，也可以作名詞，例如：
My plane was delayed by an hour.Heavy snow delayed the start of the game.We apologize for the delay in answering your letter.This situation needs to be tackled without delay. We'll have to postpone the meeting until next week.They are still stalling on the deal.他們?nèi)栽谕蠒r間，而不急于達(dá)成協(xié)議。
The judge accused the prosecutor of stalling for time.The department deferred the decision for six months.She had applied for deferred admission to college.
短語動詞中也有不少可以表示“拖延或延遲”，如 put off，put back 和 push back 等，例如：
The meeting has been put off for a week.I can't put off going to the dentist any longer.They decided to put back the release date of their war film as a sign of respect to the victims of the attack.他們決定推遲戰(zhàn)爭影片的上映日期，以表示對襲擊受害者的敬意。News conferences due to be held by both men have been put back. They decided to push back the release date of their war film as a sign of respect to the victims of the attack.他們決定推遲戰(zhàn)爭影片的上映日期，以示對襲擊受害者的尊重。The start of the game was pushed back from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
跟剛才描述的習(xí)語 kick the can down the road 類似，英語中還有一個習(xí)語 drag one's feet，它的字面意思是“拖某人的腳”，很明顯也可以用來表示“拖延或拖拖拉拉”，例如：
Please stop dragging your feet, you're going to wear out the soles of your shoes. 別再拖拖拉拉了，你的鞋底會磨壞的。 He knows he should see a doctor, but he’s dragging his feet. 他知道他應(yīng)該去看醫(yī)生，但他在拖拖拉拉。 我相信還有更多類似的表達(dá)方式，學(xué)習(xí)本來就是要分門別類，把類似的或相近的串起來，形成穩(wěn)固的記憶鏈條，且終生不易脫落。
詞或詞組分析：
1. prosecutor [?pr?s?kju?t?(r)] 公訴人，檢察官 2. accuse sb (of sth) 控告，控訴，譴責(zé)She accused him of lying.The government was accused of incompetence.
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