這里有一群經(jīng)常使用的日常短語，它們的來源卻會(huì)驚得你虎軀一震~到底是那些“妖孽”短語？快快來收了它們吧！

1.Pass the buck----shift the responsibility to someone else 推卸責(zé)任

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

我們都知道buck是美元dollor非正式的美式英語表達(dá)。實(shí)際上，buck也可用于表達(dá)澳元，新西蘭元，南非蘭特和印度盧布-但所有這些含義都和pass the buck 這個(gè)習(xí)語沒有聯(lián)系。

This particular buck is ‘a(chǎn)n 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.

這里的buck是特指“在紙牌游戲中當(dāng)輪到某人發(fā)牌時(shí)，放置在玩家面前作為提示的物品”，這樣傳遞這個(gè)物品便有了更多的含義。這件物品同樣給了我們另一個(gè)短語the buck stops here（責(zé)無旁貸）；這兩個(gè)比喻意味的短語，其含義已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出了撲克的起源。

2.Turn over a new leaf----start to act or behave in a better or more responsible way 改過自新

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’.

這個(gè)短語和葉子無關(guān)，而和leaf另一個(gè)常見的含義有關(guān)：書中的一頁。類似的引申出to take a leaf out of someone’s book這個(gè)短語，表示“模仿某人”。

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

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

這個(gè)信封并不是我們裝信的信封。Push the envelope最初是航空俚語，與空氣動(dòng)力性能的圖表相關(guān)并且超過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(或說)同一件事

This phrase?has 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.

這個(gè)短語和筆紙無關(guān)。反而，它來源于鐘聲和敲鐘時(shí)不同的順序。

5. Leave someone in the lurch----leave an associate or friend abruptly and without assistance or support when they are in a difficult situation讓? 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 backgammon.

Lurch在這個(gè)短語中源于法語詞lourche，是一個(gè)游戲名字像西洋雙陸棋。

6. Lick into shape----act forcefully to bring 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 offspring into ursine form.

在中世紀(jì)的歐洲，人們認(rèn)為熊生下來是沒有形狀的，lick the shape指的是熊將他們的后代舔成熊的形狀。

7. Flash in the pan----a thing or person whose sudden but brief success it no repeated or repeatable? 曇花一現(xiàn)

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 firearm. The flash arises from an explosion of gunpowder within the pan, which was a part of the lock that held the priming in old types of gun.

如果你想到的是烹飪或者淘金相關(guān)，那么你便找錯(cuò)了目標(biāo)，flash in the pan與火槍的推進(jìn)器有關(guān)。光亮由火藥盤內(nèi)的火藥爆炸時(shí)產(chǎn)生，火藥盤是槍支保險(xiǎn)栓的一部分，在老式槍支中用來完成推進(jìn)。

8. Pull out all the stops----make a very great effort to achieve something? 使出渾身解數(shù)；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.

這里的stops（音栓）指的是管風(fēng)琴的音調(diào)、音高范圍和控制這些因素的手柄，通過彈動(dòng)所有的音栓，可以發(fā)出更大、更復(fù)雜的聲音。

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