源自莎士比亞作品的10個常用短語大綱

Green-Eyed Monster

嫉妒

The evil Iago plants doubts in Othello`s mind about his wife`s faithfulness, while advising him, "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on." (Othello, Act 3, Scene 3)

邪惡的伊阿古讓奧賽羅對妻子的忠心起了疑心，提醒他說，“噢，大人，要小心嫉妒之心！那可是一隻綠眼的妖魔，它慣於耍弄爪下的獵物。”（《奧賽羅》，第3幕第3場）

In a Pickle

處於困境

In The Tempest, King Alonso asks his jester, Trinculo, "How camest thou in this pickle?" And the drunk Trinculo – who has indeed gotten into trouble – responds "I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last ..." (Act 5, Scene 1)

在《暴風雨》中，那不勒斯國王阿朗索問他的弄臣特林鳩羅，“你怎麼讓自己到這般境地了？”的確深陷困境且已爛醉的特林鳩羅回答說：“我自從上次參見過您之後就一直處於這般境地了…”（第5幕第1場）

One theory has it that the phrase in a pickle entered English from an old Dutch expression that translates as something like "sit in the pickle".

有一種說法認爲in a pickle這個短語來源於一個古代的荷蘭語表達，類似於“坐在鹹菜缸”裏這樣一個說法。

Love Is Blind

愛是盲目的

This phrase has more than one meaning: we overlook flaws in those we love (that`s good), but love can blind us to serious issues (that`s bad).

這個短語的意思是：我們會忽略我們愛的人身上的缺點（這點不錯）；愛會讓我們忽視一些嚴重的問題（這就不好了）。

In The Merchant of Venice, Jessica is shy about her beloved Lorenzo seeing her disguised as a boy, but recognizes that it won`t affect his love for her, saying, "But love is blind and lovers cannot see / The pretty follies that themselves commit ..." (Act 2, Scene 6)

在《威尼斯商人》中，傑西卡不好意思讓深愛的羅倫佐看到她僞裝成一個男孩，不過也意識到這並不妨礙他愛她，她說，“可愛情是盲目的，愛侶們看不到他們自己犯下的那些美麗又愚蠢的錯誤…”（第2幕，第6場）

Salad Days

一個人的青春年少時光

In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra recalls her relationship with Julius Caesar that occurred during, "My salad days, / When I was green in judgment...." (Act 1, Scene 5)

在《安東尼與克莉奧佩特拉》中，克莉奧佩特拉回憶起她與凱撒的那一段感情在“我青春年少的時光，我還不太會看人的時候…”（第1幕第5場）

Originally, English speakers used salad days with Cleopatra`s meaning: a time of youthful inexperience or indiscretion. These days, however, it usually means "an early flourishing period" – in other words, a heyday.

最初，英語使用者只用salad days表示克莉奧佩特拉所說的“青春、稚嫩的時光”。不過現在，這個短語通常表示“鼎盛時期”。

Wear My Heart on My Sleeve

公開表達感情

Discussing his planned betrayal of Othello, the villain Iago says, "But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve / For daws to peck at: I am not what I am." (Othello, Act 1, Scene 1)

在說到對奧賽羅的背叛計劃時，邪惡的伊阿古說，“可是我會敞開心扉，讓鳥兒隨意翻啄：我並不是你們看到的我。”（《奧賽羅》，第1幕第1場）

There`s the Rub

這就是問題所在

In Hamlet`s famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy, "ay, there`s the rub" is the tormented prince`s acknowledgement that death may not end his difficulties because the dead may perhaps still be troubled by dreams. (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1)

在《哈姆雷特》那句著名的“生存或者死亡”獨白中，“唉，這就是問題所在”表示飽受折磨的王子認識到，死亡並不能結束他的痛苦，因爲死人可能仍然會被夢境困擾。（《哈姆雷特》，第3幕第1場）

Cruel to Be Kind

要想善良，必先殘忍；忠言逆耳

"I must be cruel only to be kind; / Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind," says the tormented Hamlet. He has just mistakenly killed Polonius, and it`s clear that he doesn`t know how bad things are going to get. (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4)

飽受折磨的哈姆雷特說：“要想善良，必先殘忍，壞事開了頭，更糟糕的還在後面。”他剛剛誤殺了波洛尼厄斯，而且很明顯他根本不知道事情會糟糕到什麼程度。（《哈姆雷特》，第3幕第4場）

Wild Goose Chase

複雜又無果的追尋或搜索；徒勞無果

In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio likens the rapid exchange of jokes between Romeo and himself to the cross-country horse race of Shakespeare`s time, known as the wild goose chase, in which any number of riders tried to keep up with and accurately follow the lead rider`s course:

在《羅密歐與朱麗葉》中，馬庫修將他和羅密歐之間機智的笑話比拼比做莎士比亞時期的跨境賽馬，即“追野鵝”，比賽中所有騎手都要盡力追上並精準跟隨在騎手領袖的陣型中：

"Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou / hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I / have in my whole five." (Act 2, Scene 4)

“不行啊，如果咱們倆的智商比拼像追野鵝那樣的話，我就完蛋了，因爲你任何一個智慧陣型中的野鵝都比我全部5個陣型裏的多。”（第2幕第4場）

Dogs of War

戰爭的恐懼之處

In Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, a grief-stricken Mark Antony predicts that the instability following Caesar`s murder will result in civil war: "Cry `havoc!` And let slip the dogs of war!" ("Cry havoc" was the military order for soldiers to seize plunder from an enemy.)

在《凱撒大帝》第3幕第1場中，悲傷過度的馬克•安東尼預言稱，凱撒大帝被謀殺後的不穩定局勢會導致內戰：“下令搶劫！讓戰爭的恐懼溜走吧！”（Cry havoc是軍隊中的命令用語，指下令讓士兵從敵人手中搶掠。）

Strange Bedfellows

不可能結盟的兩個人；同牀異夢

When Trinculo seeks shelter from a storm under the cloak of a creature he`s very unsure about – he wonders if it`s a man or a fish – he comments "misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows." (The Tempest, Act 2, Scene 2)

特林鳩羅在一個他不知爲何物的生物的斗篷下躲避暴風雨時，他不知道那是個人還是條魚，他說：“處於悲慘境地，人可以跟任何東西結成聯盟。”（《暴風雨》，第2幕第2場）