評論
打印
【直擊主題】
There's a phrase which expresses that "a bad person or a poor thing in a group would do harm to others or take abjective influence to the members in the whole group , or even the worst is that it or he would ruin the entire group." What's it? Let's listen to a simple situational dialogue and find it .
【對話原聲 美語發(fā)音】
A : I'm so bored. I don't like my new job.
B : What did you say? You're not satisfied with your new job.
A : Yeah, I do.
B : What do you want? Your new job sounds too good to be true- interesting work, high pay, short hours. Is there any fly in the ointment?
A : But I have no freedom.
【答疑解惑】
With the development of language, in modern English it's used to express " an unpleasant thing of a pleasant thing" 表示美中不足的意思，or express " something small spoils your fun" 表示使人掃興的事情，and refers to " the flaw , inconvenience ,or impediment in an arrangement", 表示事情中的麻煩，缺陷或是障礙。However, all of the above meanings come from it's original meaning I've mentioned. And now listen again and try to hunt it.
A : I'm so boring. I don't like my new job.
B : What did you say? You're not satisfied with your new job.
A : Yeah, I do.
B : What do you want? Your new job sounds too good to be true- interesting work, high pay, short hours. Is there any fly in the ointment?
A : But I have no freedom.
All right, this time have you found it? [There is a silence.] Come on , have a shot! It doesn't matter if you are right or wrong and what I would like is your active participation. [Juliet, it seems that it's a fly in the ointment. ] Yeah, dead right. It is "a fly in the ointment ". This phrase comes from 【圣經(jīng)：舊約】《傳道書》第十章. The original sentence is " Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary and send forth a stinking savour ;so doth a little folly him that is in reputation and honor ." "Fly " 是蒼蠅的意思, "ointment " 是藥膏，油膏的意思， a fly in the ointment 字面上的意思就是“藥膏里的蒼蠅”， the front part of sentence above in the Bible意思是說: 一只死蒼蠅使得做香的油膏發(fā)出臭氣， 本來做香的油膏是有香氣的，由于一只死蒼蠅而使全部的油膏發(fā)臭，這就是有點像我們中文里說的：一顆老鼠屎攪壞一鍋湯。Something like " a black sheep" which is a slang , 這有點兒像這個俚語的意思：a black sheep , 意思是：害群之馬，敗家子，敗類，可不要把它認為是一只黑色的綿羊。Let's look at another part part of the above sentence from the Bible, 后面的意思是：這樣，一點愚昧，也能敗壞他的智慧和榮譽。可見 the Bible 都是 perfectionism 的說教。可是現(xiàn)實生活中，人無完人，物無完物，everything has one more face. 因此, a fly in the ointment 就有了“美中不足，”“使人掃興的事”，“事情中的缺陷，麻煩，或障礙等”的意思。
【學(xué)以致用】
Let's look at more example sentences with the phrase "a fly in the ointment " . Another fly in the ointment was that Xiangzi had nearly got into a fight that morning when the rickshaw pullers were having their feast.還有點美中不足的地方,早晨給車夫們擺飯的時節(jié),祥子幾乎和人打起來。 This is the sentence from a well-known literature called《駱駝祥子》written by Laoshe, a Chinese famous writer. It was a very good party. The only fly in the ointment was that the host got drunk and started abusing everybody!那是一個非常好的聚會,美中不足的是,主人喝醉了,并開始辱罵每一個人。
【視野拓展】
Talking of " a fly in the ointment " which means " an unpleasant of a pleasant thing " , we have more expressions which are as follows: to spoil the fun; to be a wet blanker ( this is slang ); to kill joy; to dampen interest.
