英漢互譯術語(英漢語習語互譯)
2023-05-27 11:24:03
【英語習語】
(not) get a word in edgeways
【習語注釋】
edgeway表示「邊緣通道;路邊;路側」,get a word in edgeways的意思是「join a conversation in which another is speaking continually and leaving little opportunity for others」,即「加入一個某人不停地講話而不給別人留機會的談話」,即「插嘴;插話」。
【習語運用】
When Mary starts talking, no one else can get a word in edgeways.
瑪麗講起話來,別人誰也插不上嘴。
He spent all the time talking and they could not get a word in edgeways.
他一直說個不停,他們都插不上嘴。
Honestly, that man could talk the hind legs off a donkey. I couldn't get a word in edgeways.
坦率地說,那個男人簡直是口若懸河,我一句都插不上。
【閒話習語】
該習語有一個變體說法,即「get a word in edgewise」,源自十九世紀的英國。該習語最早的意思是「edging sideways through a crowd, seeking small gaps in which to proceed through the throng」,即「側身穿過人群,尋找穿過人群的小空隙」。該習語當前含義的相關用法較早出現在David Abercromby所寫的《話語藝術》(Art of Converse,1683)裡:
Without giving them so much time as to edge in a word.
而該習語本身的書面運用較早出現在話劇《多佛之夜》(A night at Dover,1821)裡:
Sir F. (Aside.) Curse me, if I can get a word in edgeways!
那麼,你還知道英語裡「插不上嘴」的其它說法嗎?歡迎留言探討。
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