英語(yǔ)中，有很多描述人物類(lèi)型、性格與特征的習(xí)語(yǔ)和慣用語(yǔ)，這些地道的成語(yǔ)不僅形象生動(dòng)，而且簡(jiǎn)單易記。
Types of People 人物類(lèi)型
Does it matter if someone says you're no rocket scientist? Yes, it does! This phrase means not very intelligent.
如果某人說(shuō)你是no rocket scientist時(shí)要緊嗎？當(dāng)然要緊！因?yàn)樵摱陶Z(yǔ)的意思是“不很聰明”。
例句：He was no rocket scientist with computers. 他對(duì)計(jì)算機(jī)不太靈光。
What if a newspaper describes a politician as a dark horse? This means nobody knows much about him.
要是報(bào)紙把某一政客描述為dark horse呢？這說(shuō)明“沒(méi)有人很了解他”。
例句：Our congressman had been in Washington 20 years and thought we'd
keep voting for him forever. This year, though, the other party
nominated a dark horse out of nowhere. He kept telling voters it was
time for a change and he won the election.
我們的國(guó)會(huì)議員已經(jīng)在華盛頓二十年了，他以為我們會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)投他的票。然而，今年另一個(gè)黨提名了一個(gè)不知從那兒冒出來(lái)的人，誰(shuí)也不認(rèn)識(shí)他。他不斷地告訴選民，現(xiàn)在是進(jìn)行改變的時(shí)候了。結(jié)果他當(dāng)選了。
And a party pooper? This means a person who spoils enjoyable
activities by refusing to join in. This idiom is also useful in
apologies:"I'm sorry to be a party pooper, but I have to go home now."
那
么party pooper呢？這是指“拒絕加入愉快的聚會(huì)或活動(dòng)，而使人掃興的人”。該短語(yǔ)在道歉時(shí)也很有用：I'm sorry to be a
party pooper, but I have to go home now.（真抱歉要掃大家的興了，可我現(xiàn)在就得回家了。）
例句：If you are not interested, don't accept the invitation. If you do
accept it, have fun and don't be a party pooper. That's the basic
decorum. 如果你沒(méi)興趣，就不要接受邀請(qǐng)。如果你決定去了，就痛痛快快地玩，別做掃興的人。這是基本的禮儀。
Brains and beauty 智慧與美麗
A Hollywood actress once met the British philosopher, Bertrand
Russell. Whereas he was quite ugly, she turned heads wherever she went.
She was rather full of herself and said to Russell, "They say I'm the
most beautiful woman in the world, and I hear you're the smartest man.
Imagine if we had a child with your brains and my beauty." Russell, who
was never lost for words, replied, "Imagine if it had my beauty and
your brains."
一位好萊塢女明星遇見(jiàn)了英國(guó)哲學(xué)家伯特蘭羅素。他非常丑陋，而她則無(wú)論到哪里都回頭率頗高。她相當(dāng)自得，便對(duì)羅素
說(shuō)：“他們說(shuō)我是世界上最漂亮的女人，而我聽(tīng)說(shuō)你是最聰明的男人。想象一下，要是我們有個(gè)孩子有你的智慧跟我的美麗，那該是什么樣子。”向來(lái)善于應(yīng)對(duì)的羅
素回答道：“想象一下，要是他長(zhǎng)得像我而頭腦又像你呢？”
turned heads：吸引很多人回頭
full of oneself：過(guò)于自得
lost for words：無(wú)以應(yīng)對(duì)