-
与身体部位相关的英语习语
1. Head
The head is thought
to be the most important part of the human body.
So a leader is often
compared to a head
(
首脑
). Thus we have Head of
State or the head of a delegation.
The
head
is
where
the
brain
is
located.
It
is
naturally
associated
with
ideas
and
intelligence.
Very often, we
need other people's ideas and opinions when we
want to do something well.
The is
because two heads are better than one
(
三个臭皮匠顶个诸葛亮
).
2.
Eye
The eyes are extremely precious to
us. That is why we say
当心
)!
when we
reminding someone to be
careful.
Not
only
human
beings
and
animals
have
eyes,
many
things
also
have
eyes
the
eyes
of
a
ship,
the eye of a needle,
the eye of a typhoon, and so on.
3.
Ear
The ear is the organ of hearing. A
piece of light music is easy on the ear.
(
悦耳动听
). We
are
usually all ears (
专心聆听
) for
bit news.
When
they
think
somebody
is
overhearing,
English
people
use
either
of
the
two
proverbs:
Walls
have
ears
(
隔墙有耳
)
and
Pitchers
have
ears
(
壶罐有耳
).
They
also
think
that
little
pitchers
have
big
ears(
小孩子耳朵尖
).
Nice
boys
and
girls
respect
other
people.
They
will
not
secretly
listen to others'
private conversations.
4. Nose
The English phrase
面对面
)
对应
) are exactly
the
same. But
English people,
to express
the
same idea,
can say
nose
to
nose
instead. There
is no such
substitute in Chinese.
The
word
nose appears
in many idioms. Here are two
which are
quite similar to
their
Chinese
equivalents:
lead
somebody
by
the
nose
(
牵着某人的鼻子走
)
and
turn
up
one's
nose
at
somebody
or something
(
对某人或某物嗤之一鼻
).
English
people
can
say
as
plain
as
the
nose
in
one's
face
(
一清二楚
)
to
mean
obvious
May be to
them, the nose is the most conspicuous part of the
face.
5. Lip
We have two
lips: the upper lip and the lower lip. If one's
two lips are closed, one cannot
speak.
So
it
goes
without
saying
that
open
your
lips
(
不要开口
)
means
speak
His lips are
sealed. Are his lips really stuck together by wax
or glue? No, his lips are
sealed
when
asked
about
something
that
he
must
keep
secret.
Sometimes
a
top
secret
is
betrayed
because it has
escaped someone's lips
(
脱口而出
). Then the incident
may become a piece of
news that is on
everybody's lips (
众口相传
).
6. Tongue
We all know
we cannot speak without the
tongue.
So
the
tongue is closely related to
speech.
To hold one's tongue
(
保持沉默
) means
(
太多嘴
) is disliked
by all, for he is too talkative. Mother tongue is
not the tongue of
a mother: it is a
person's native language.
you
have
a
moth
below
your
nose
(
你鼻子底下不是有张嘴吗
)?
The
Chinese
say
so
to
blame
a person
who did not say what he should have said. But this
not the right way to express
the
idea
in
English.
English
people
would
say,
have
a
tongue
in
your
head,
haven't
you?
7. Face
Face
has to do with the idea of respect and dignity
both in Chinese and English. You lose
your face (
丢面子
)
if you fail again and again, but a decisive
victory will save your face
(
挽回面子
) after all
your failures.
When you feel unhappy,
you pull a long face (
拉长脸
).
The idea is conveyed in Chinese in
the
same way. But
向后转
)
to
turn
round
and
face
in
the
opposite
direction.
It
is
the
exact
equivalent
of
about
turn
8. Shoulder
The shoulders can bear heavy things.
Your father has a great responsibility for the
family
on his shoulder. When faced with
difficulty, the family should stand shoulder to
shoulder
(
肩并肩
)
to
overcome
it.
You
should
not
turn
a
cold
shoulder
(
不理睬
)
to
your
family
members.
Nor
should
you
give
your
friends
the
cold
shoulder
(
冷落朋友
).
Both
expressions
mean
treating
others coldly.
9. Back
A good host is hospitable to his
guests. But, if guest is tiresome, the host is
glad to see
his back
(
他离开
).
If your
friend has done something really well, you may
give him a pat on the back
(
轻轻
拍背部
) to show
your appreciation.
If
you
turn
your
back
on
somebody
(
不理睬他人
),
you
mean
you
do
not
like
making
friends
with
that person.
10. Heart
The
heart
is
an
extremely
important organ
inside
the
chest.
It
usually stands
for
something
important or the
centre of something, for example, the heart of the
matter (
问题的核心
) or
the heart of mystery.
Many
other expressions make use of the word heart. A
lover can be called a sweet heart
(
情
人
). The Purple
Heart (
紫心徽章
) is a medal
given as an honor to American soldiers wounded
in battle.
If your friend
is in trouble, you may encourage him by saying
不要灰
心
).
11.
Stomach
The stomach is naturally
related to one's appetite. If you dislike heavy
food, you have no
stomach for it
(
反胃
). The word is also
related to one's interests or likings. If you find
something
boring
or
vulgar,
you
have
no
stomach
for
it,
either.
Bad
food
turns
your
stomach.
Similarly, your stomach turns at a bad
joke.
Stomach can also be a verb. Look
at this example:
忍受
) such
rude
words?
12. Arm
Every
person
has
two
arms:
the
right
arm
and
the
left
arm.
The
right
arm
is
usually
stronger,
so we call a good
helper the right arm (
得力助手
).
We all know an arm is not very long.
But when you keep someone at arm's length
(
保持距离
),
the
distance is long enough. For that means you don
not like that person and you try your
best to avoid him or her. We should
indeed keep the bad friends at arm's length.
13. Hand
Quite a number of
phrases formed form the word hand are very similar
to their Chinese
counterparts. Here are
some obvious examples: a fresh hand
(
新手
), short of hands
(
人手
短缺
),
hand
in
hand
(
手拉手
)
and
wash
one's
hands
of
something
(
洗手不干了
).
But
do
not
always
take this for
granted. Study these examples and you will
understand.
He lives from hand to
mouth (He has just enough money to live on). We
gave them a big hand
(We gave them lots
of applause).
14. Finger
How
many
fingers
does
each
of
your
hands
have?
Now
let's
name
them
in
English
from
the
smallest:
the little finger,
the ring finger, the middle finger, the index
finger and thumb.
Each finger has its
own part to play. If your fingers are all thumbs
(
笨拙
), that is too
bad. That means you are very clumsy.
15. Thumb
Chinese
people
turn
up
their
thumbs
to
express
appreciation.
English
people
do
so
to
express
not
only
appreciation
but
also
approval.
Chinese
people
never
turn
their
thumbs
down
to
mean
anything.
But
English
people
do.
They
do
so
to
show
depreciation
disapproval.
Thus
in
English
you
can say,
赞成
) to Jack's
suggestion but they turn thumbs down
(
不
赞成
) to
it.
Similarly, you can warmly praise
someone by saying
真棒
)!
dissatisfaction by saying
差劲
)!
16. Nail
If you see two of your classmates
fighting tooth and nail
(
又抓又咬
), you must stop them
at once. Otherwise, at least one of
them would be hurt.
Nail
also
means
a
thin
pointed
piece
of
metal
for
hammering
into
something.
But
it
is
related
to
the
body
in
this
sentence:
is
as
hard
as
nails
(
结实的象铁打的
).
We
all
hope
that
we are
as strong and healthy as he is.
Then
if I say you have hit the nail on the head
(
中肯，一针见血
), I don not mean
that you
have done something cruel. I
mean that you have said exactly the right thing.
17. Leg
The
word
leg
appears
in
many
colloquial
expressions.
At
a
party,
when
you
feel
like
dancing,
you
can
say
to
a
good
friend
of
yours,
shake
a
leg.
Obviously,
it
means
Let's
dance.
When you want your
fiend to hurry, you can also
The arms and legs are very
important to us. Therefore when asked why you are
not going to
buy something expensive,
you may answer,
really expensive. If
you pull one's leg, it means you make fun of
someone.
18. Toe
To convey the idea
people
don't.
Some people turn their toes out
(
八字脚
) when they walk. Some
turn their toes in.
When faced with
danger, we must be alert and ready for action,
that is to say, we must be
on our toes
(
保持警惕
).
19. Skin
Human beings have skin. So have animals
and plants. The skin can be think or thin. A
think-skinned person, or a person who
has a thin skin, is easily upset or offended while
a thick-skinned person, or a person who
has a think skin, is quite the contrary. Both
expressions are sometimes derogatory
(
贬义
). That is to say,
sometimes the former refers
to a person
who is too sensitive; the latter a person who has
little sense of shame.
20. Hair
Most
people
will
only
think
of
the
hair
on
our
head
when
the
word
hair
is
mentioned.
In
fact,
some animals and
plants also have hair.
A horrible
scene may make a person's hair stand on end
(
毛骨悚然
). But a courageous
person
will not turn a hair
(
不畏惧
) even though he is in
face of danger.
Sometimes, a friend of
yours may be so angry that he may act foolishly.
Then you had better
give him this
advice:
别发脾气