PTE考试：日常英语短语的奇葩来源

　　在日常的交流及阅读外刊的时候，大家最容易被困惑的就是一些习语。而当你深入了解后发现这些习语的背后故事及来源，就是会发现语言的历史。今天课窝网就列举了几个有趣的习语故事，一起来看看吧。

　　1.Pass the buck--- shift the responsibility to someone else 推卸责任

　　We all know that buck is informal American English for a dollar. Indeed, it can also be used for an Australian dollar, a NewZealanddollar, a South African rand, and an Indian rupee – but none of those senses are related to pass the buck.

　　我们都知道buck是美元dollor非正式的美式英语表达。实际上，buck也可用于表达澳元，新西兰元，南非兰特和印度卢布-但所有这些含义都和pass the buck 这个习语没有联系。

　　This particular buck is ‘an article placed as a reminder in front of a player whose turn it is to deal at poker’ – which means passing it make much more sense. This item also gives us the phrase the buck stops here; both figurative phrases have moved far beyond their poker origins.

　　这里的buck是特指“在纸牌游戏中当轮到某人发牌时，放置在玩家面前作为提示的物品”，这样传递这个物品便有了更多的含义。这件物品同样给了我们另一个短语the buck stops here（责无旁贷）；这两个比喻意味的短语，其含义已经远远超出了扑克的起源。

　　2.Turn over a new leaf--- start to actor behave in a better or more responsible way 改过自新

　　It has nothing to do with foliage,but relates to another common use of leaf: one of the pages in a book. A similar derivation gives us to take a leaf out of someone’s book, meaning ‘imitate or emulate someone in a particular way’.

　　这个短语和叶子无关，而和leaf另一个常见的含义有关：书中的一页。类似的引申出to take a leaf out of someone’s book这个短语，表示“模仿某人”。

　　3. Push the envelope--- to approach orextend the limits of what is possible 接近甚至超越限度

　　This envelope isn’t the sort you’d putletters in. Push the envelope was originally aviation slang relating to graphs of aero dynamic performance and exceeding the set of limiting cobinations of speed and altitude.

　　这个信封并不是我们装信的信封。Push the envelope最初是航空俚语，与空气动力性能的图表相关并且超过速度和高度的合并限制。

　　4. Ring the changes--- vary the ways of expressing or doing something 以不同的方式做(或说)同一件事

　　This phrasehas nothing to do with pen and paper. Instead, it came originally with allusion to bell-ringing and the different orders in which a peal of bells may be rung.

　　这个短语和笔纸无关。反而，它来源于钟声和敲钟时不同的顺序。

　　5. Leave someone in the lurch--- leavean associate or friend abruptly and without assistance or support when they arein a difficult situation让某人陷入困境

　　The word lurch in this phrase derives from the French lourche, which is the name of a game resembling back gammon.

　　Lurch在这个短语中源于法语词lourche，是一个游戏名字像西洋双陆棋。

　　6. Lick into shape--- act forcefully tobring someone or something into a fitter, more efficient, or better - organized state 塑造；使成型

　　In Medieval Europe, it was believed that bears’ young were born shapeless, and licking into shape refers to the alleged practice of bears licking their off spring into ursine form.

　　在中世纪的欧洲，人们认为熊生下来是没有形状的，lick the shape指的是熊将他们的后代舔成熊的形状。

　　7. Flash in the pan--- a thing or person whose sudden but brief success it no repeated or repeatable 昙花一现

　　If you’re thinking anything to do with cooking or panning for gold, then you’re barking up the wrong tree: flash in the pan is with allusion to the priming of a fire arm. The flash arises from an explosion of gun powder within the pan, which was a part of the lock that held the priming in old types of gun.

　　如果你想到的是烹饪或者淘金相关，那么你便找错了目标，flashin the pan与火枪的推进器有关。光亮由火药盘内的火药爆炸时产生，火药盘是枪支保险栓的一部分，在老式枪支中用来完成推进。

　　8. Pull out all the stops--- make a very great effort to achieve something 使出浑身解数；全力以赴

　　These stops are organ pipes of a particular tone and range of pitch and the handles which control them; by pulling all the stops out, you would create a louder, more elaborate sound.

　　这里的stops（音栓）指的是管风琴的音调、音高范围和控制这些因素的手柄，通过弹动所有的音栓，可以发出更大、更复杂的声音。

　　以上就是小编为大家分享英语中的一些奇葩的表达来源。更多PTE考试时间、PTE口语难度等问题，可以咨询我们。