“衣”言“裳”語(yǔ)

Have you ever considered all the English expressions that include words about clothes？ Lets see if I can name a few off the cuff—or without any preparation.

People wear pants to cover the lower part of their bodies. We sometimes say that people who are restless or nervous have ants in their pants. They might also fly by the seat of their pants—they use their natural sense to do something instead of their learned knowledge. Sometimes， people may get caught with their pants down—they are found doing something they should not be doing. And， in every family， one person takes control. Sometimes a wife tells her husband what to do. Then we say “she wears the pants in the family.”

Pants usually have pockets to hold things. Money that is likely to be spent quickly can burn a hole in your pocket. Sometimes you need a belt to hold up your pants. If you have less money than usual， you may have to tighten your belt—you may have to live on less money and spend your money carefully. But once you have succeeded in budgeting your money， you will have that skill under your belt.

I always praise people who can save their money and not spend too much. I really take my hat off to them. Yet， when it comes to my own money， I spend it at the drop of a hat—immediately， without waiting. And sadly， you cannot pull money out of a hat—you cannot get money by inventing or imagining it.

Boots are a heavy or strong shoes. People who are too big for their boots think they are more important than they really are. I dislike such people. I really do. You can bet your boots on that！ Yet， truly important people are hard to replace. Rarely can you fill their shoes—or replace them with someone equally effective.

My father is an important person. He runs a big company. He wears a suit and tie and a shirt with sleeves that cover his arms. Some people who do not know him well think he is too firm and severe. They think he is a real stuffed shirt. But I know that my father wears his heart on his sleeve—he shows his feelings openly. And， he knows how to keep his shirt on—he stays calm and never gets angry or too excited.

Also， my father has never lost his shirt in a business deal—he is too smart to lose all or most of his money. This is because my father rolls up his sleeves—and prepares to work hard. He often has a special plan or answer to a problem that he can use if he needs it. He is like a person who does magic tricks. We say “he has a card up his sleeve.”

cuff是襯衫的袖口，“off the cuff”意思是“即興的，隨意的，自發(fā)的，臨時(shí)想起的”。當(dāng)你回答一個(gè)問(wèn)題，而對(duì)答案又不太肯定時(shí)，也可以用這個(gè)短語(yǔ)。

“ants in ones pants”從字面上翻譯過(guò)來(lái)是“褲子里有螞蟻”，實(shí)際上是“熱鍋上的螞蟻，坐立不安”的意思。關(guān)于出處，有一種說(shuō)法是，以前到荒山野嶺探險(xiǎn)的人們，為了防備猛獸的襲擊會(huì)作好各種準(zhǔn)備，比如帶上防身的武器等。但他們沒(méi)有料到，猛獸對(duì)他們的威脅并不大，因?yàn)閷?duì)于這些不速之客，猛獸心懷畏懼，早就不見(jiàn)蹤影，倒是草叢里的小昆蟲(chóng)、螞蟻毫無(wú)顧忌地鉆進(jìn)他們的褲腳，在他們的身上亂爬，使他們坐立不安、無(wú)所適從。

在使用無(wú)線電電波、雷達(dá)和空中交通管制系統(tǒng)以前，飛行員只能根據(jù)地面的鐵路、河流和諸如水塔之類(lèi)的標(biāo)記來(lái)決定他們的航向。要是一個(gè)飛行員不得不在云層里飛，或是在天氣不好的情況下飛行的話，那他只能靠自己的猜測(cè)來(lái)決定方向了，因此就有了“fly by the seat of ones pants”，最初就是指的這種情況，飛行員“跟著自己感覺(jué)走”，現(xiàn)在引申為“在做某件事的時(shí)候，沒(méi)有明確的指導(dǎo)，缺乏足夠的知識(shí)”。

“get caught with ones pants down”從字面上解釋就是一個(gè)人在褲子掉下來(lái)的時(shí)候被人抓到的尷尬場(chǎng)景。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)很常見(jiàn)，是“一個(gè)人正在做壞事或做可恥的事情時(shí)正好被人逮個(gè)正著”。

“wear the pants”可不是字面上“穿褲子”的意思那么簡(jiǎn)單。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)非常古老，起源于大概400多年前，按當(dāng)時(shí)的民俗，穿褲子的都是男人，婦女得穿裙子，而養(yǎng)家糊口、當(dāng)家作主的多是男性。當(dāng)然有的家庭里，女人必須擔(dān)當(dāng)起男人的責(zé)任，這時(shí)人們就會(huì)說(shuō)她“wear the pants”，因?yàn)樗袚?dān)了男人的權(quán)利和義務(wù)，逐漸人們就用這個(gè)短語(yǔ)來(lái)指當(dāng)家人。如今，“wear the pants”不光指替代丈夫當(dāng)家作主的女性了，也可以用來(lái)表示主管事務(wù)的男性。

“burn a hole in ones pocket”正如字面上所能理解到的那樣，口袋燒出一個(gè)洞，口袋里的錢(qián)自然掉光了，形容“花錢(qián)如流水，存不住錢(qián)”。

“tighten ones belt”是“勒緊褲腰帶”的意思，引申為“節(jié)省開(kāi)支，勤儉過(guò)日”。

“under ones belt”的來(lái)源與吃有關(guān)，吃飽喝足，在腰帶下的腰腹會(huì)鼓鼓的，如今引申為“達(dá)成某些事項(xiàng)；掌握某些特長(zhǎng)”的意思。

“take ones hat off to”指的是向某人脫帽致敬。

“at the drop of a hat”從字面上看是“帽子一落地”的意思，這其實(shí)是一個(gè)信號(hào)，來(lái)源于以前的決斗，裁判員舉著帽子，然后突然將它往地上一扔，作為決斗雙方可以開(kāi)槍的信號(hào)。如今，“at the drop of a hat”指的是“必要的時(shí)候立即行動(dòng)”，也可以指“脾氣暴躁的人”。

“put sth. out of a hat”字面解釋是“從個(gè)帽子里拿出某些東西來(lái)”。魔術(shù)師們會(huì)變這樣一個(gè)戲法，從一個(gè)看似什么都沒(méi)有的空帽子里面變出讓人意想不到的東西來(lái)，而“put sth. out of a hat”由此引申為“找到一個(gè)意想不到的方法來(lái)解決面臨的困境”。

“too big for ones boots”指的是“自恃過(guò)高，把自己當(dāng)成很重要的人”。

“bet ones boots”指的是“敢拿一切來(lái)打賭”，以前人們好不容易才能得到一雙靴子，這對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)是很寶貴的東西，因此打賭的人必定是有把握才會(huì)這么做。

“fill ones shoes”指的是“代替某人的地位”。

“a stuffed shirt”的意思是“愛(ài)擺架子，表現(xiàn)得神氣十足的人”。他們既傲慢，又頑固，自以為了不起，參加任何社交活動(dòng)都屬于不受歡迎的一類(lèi)人。

“wear ones heart on ones sleeve”起源于中世紀(jì)，騎士們將愛(ài)慕的女士送給他們的緞帶系在袖子上，這是“十分坦率，勇敢流露自己的情感”的意思。

“keep ones shirt on”的意思是勸告別人要有耐心，別太過(guò)于緊張。在更多的場(chǎng)合中，這個(gè)短語(yǔ)指的是“保持冷靜，在對(duì)情況有足夠了解以前不要發(fā)火”。

“l(fā)ose ones shirt”并不是指某人丟失了襯衣，而是指“某人失去了他所有的一切”。

“roll up ones sleeves”指的是“卷起袖子，作好準(zhǔn)備開(kāi)始努力工作”。

“have a card up sleeve”比喻“手中握有王牌、解救危機(jī)的好辦法”。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)起源于16世紀(jì)，那時(shí)候人們的衣服沒(méi)有口袋，就把東西放在袖子里，而賭徒會(huì)把王牌藏在袖子里作弊。后來(lái)這個(gè)短語(yǔ)的貶義色彩逐漸消退，有了“錦囊妙計(jì)” 的意思。