美国习惯用语 第22讲

To twist someone's arm
To charge someone an arm and a leg

今天我们要讲的两个习惯用语是由 arm,也就是手臂和leg,也就是腿这两个字组成的。我们要介绍的第一个词汇是:To twist someone's arm。Twist是拧,用力扭转的意思。一个人要是给别人把手臂拧到身后去那是很难受的。To twist someone's arm这个习惯用语的意思也正是如此,它是指给某人施加压力,迫使他做你要他做的事。下面这个例子是一个学生说的话:

例句-1: "I didn't want see that movie about Mozart, but my roomate twisted my arm. I'm glad he did -- it was a great show."

他说:“我本来不想去看那个有关莫扎特的电影的。可是,我同房间的同学硬逼着要我去。不过,看了电影后我倒很高兴,因为那个电影太好了。”

这个学生还算运气,尽管他本来不愿意,可是结果还不错。但是,被迫做的事往往会产生不愉快的结局。请听下面这位爸爸说的话:

例句-2:"My son has been twisting my arm to let him take my car out on a date ever since he got his driver's license. This weekend, I finally let him take it. And now it's in the body shop for a thousand dallars of repairs: he had an accident on the way to pick up his girlfriend."

他说:“自从我儿子拿到驾驶执照以来,他一直闹着要开我的车去赴约会。这个周末,我终于答应了。可是,他在去接女朋友的路上出了车祸,现在我的车正在车库里修,要花一千美元呢。”


下面我们要讲的一个俗语里既有 arm 也有 leg:To charge someone an arm and a leg。Charge就是要多少价钱的意思。任何东西要你付出一只手臂,还加上一条腿恐怕要价也太高了一点,很不值得。很明显,to charge someone an arm and a leg的意思就是要价太高。下面这句话就是一个例子:

例句-3: "Don't go to that fancy new restaurant. The food isn't very good and they charge you an arm and a leg for it!"

这个人说:“别上那个新开的高级饭馆去。他们的菜并不好,而价钱倒贵得要命。”

在美国,一般人都很怕去看牙大夫。这不仅是为了怕痛,而是他们要价都很高,动一点小手术就是好几百美元,有的甚至要几千美元。下面这句话就反应了这个情况:

例句-4: "Say, if you need a dentist, you might want to try my brother. He's fresh out of dental school and trying to set up a practice. But he does good work, and he won't charge you an arm and a leg for it like most other dentists."


这个人说:“喂,要是你想找牙大夫,你可以上我弟弟那里去试一下。他刚毕业,正在设法开业。可是,他技术很好,也不会像其他许多牙大夫那样收费很高。”

现在我们来复习一下今天讲的两个习惯用语。
第一个是 to twist someone's arm,那是强迫某人做你要他做的事。
第二个是 to charge someone an arm and a leg,这是指要价太高。

「美国习惯用语」第二十二讲就到里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。再见。

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