美国习惯用语 第86讲

to let the cat out of the bag

look like the cat that ate the canary

今天我们要给大家介绍的习惯用语是和猫，也就是cat有关的。以后我们还要讲和狗，就是dog有关的俗语。

我们先给大家介绍：to let the cat out of the bag。从字面上来解释，to let the cat out of the bag的意思是：让那只猫从口袋里出来。但是，它的实际意思是：在不小心的情况下泻露了秘密。下面这个例子就能说明这个俗语的意思：

例句-1: "I bought a nice wrist watch as a surprise for my wife's birthday. But I'm afraid I let the cat out of the bag--I hid it under my socks and she found it when she was putting my clean clothes away."

这位丈夫说：“我给我太太买了一只很好的手表作为生日礼。我把手表藏在我的袜子底下，可是当我太太替我把乾净衣服放好的时候，她发现了那只手表。所以，我的秘密恐怕已经泻露了。”

生日礼物被发现还不是什么严重的事，可是下面这个例子就不是开玩笑的事了：

例句-2: "It was supposed to be a secret that we were firing our accountant for stealing money. But one of the secretaries saw the memo and let the cat out of the bag by telling her friends."

这个人说的是办公室里的秘密。他说：“我们解雇了我们的会计，因为他偷钱。这件事原来是应该是保密的。但是，一个秘书看见了一张有关这件事的条子，然后就告诉了她的朋友，这样就泻露了秘密。”

下面我们要讲的一个和cat有关的俗语是：look like the cat that ate the canary。Canary就是金丝雀。Look like the cat that ate the canary这个俗语是用来形容一个人显得非常满足，就像一只猫终于实现了它长期来的愿望，把鸟笼打开，把里面那只可怜的金丝雀吃了一样地感到满足。下面的例子说的是两个朋友去赛马，其中之一是个老手，可是却输了，而那个新手却赢了。这个老手说：

例句-3: "My friend didn't listen to my advice and he bet twenty dollars on the horse. Why, I couldn't believe my eyes! The horse won by a nose and my friend came back with the two thousand bucks he'd just won, looking like the cat that ate the canary."

他说：“我的朋友没有听我的劝告，在那个马身上压了二十美元。我真是难以相信我的眼睛。那匹马跑得快了一点点就赢了。我那朋友拿了他刚赢的二千块美元回来，得意非凡。”

我们再来看看一个刚被提升的人是如何的得意：

例句-4: "Say, I think Mister Green in Personnel just got that promotion he's been wanting so much. I saw him walk out of the boss's office like the cat that just ate the canary."

这是一位同事在说话：“喂，人事处那个格林先生好像升了一级，这是他迫切期望的。我看见他从老板的办公室出来，一副心满意足的样子。”

我们今天讲了两个和cat有关的俗语：to let the cat out of the bag和look like the cat that ate the canary。To let the cat out of the bag形容一个人在不小心的情况下泻露了秘密。To look like the cat that ate the canary形容一个人显得非常满足的样子。

「美国习惯用语」第八十七课就讲到这里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。