【明報專訊】上月「語文KOL」介紹了8個跟食物有關的英文成語，由蘋果 (A) 到馬鈴薯 (H)，今次會談談另外7個英文成語。大部分都是日常用語，屬於「 不謹嚴的一般用法」 (informal standard usage) ，在學校寫作時要慎用。

◆N : nuts about something or someone

(to be great in love with or very enthusiastic about an object, activity, or person)

意思：迷戀；癡迷

例：He's nuts about this singer.

他十分迷戀這位歌手。

(圖1)

◆O : out to lunch

(to be crazy, mad, or temporarily not in command of one's mental faculties)

意思：發瘋；失去理智

例：She has been out to lunch since her mother passed away.

自從她母親離世，她開始變得瘋狂。

◆P : piece of cake

(something that is very easy to do, obtain, or achieve)

意思：非常容易的事情

例：The test was a piece of cake.

這個測驗很容易。

(圖2)

◆S : spill the beans

(to divulge secret information or disclose something confidential)

意思：洩漏秘密

例：The child didn't mean to spill the beans.

那小孩不是有心把秘密說出來。

◆T : take something with a pinch (grain) of salt

(to not completely believe something or believe only part of something, because it is unlikely to be true or it is exaggerated)

意思：對……半信半疑；對……有所懷疑；不要盡信

例：We take what he says with a pinch of salt.

我們對他所說的話有所懷疑。

◆U : use your noodle

(to use one's own intellectual ability or think rationally ("noodle" here is slang for a person's head))

例：Use your noodle! You can make it!

動動腦筋！你做得到的！

◆W : wake up and smell the coffee

(to become aware of the realities of a situation, especially in an unpleasant situation)

意思：認清形勢；正視目前的情�G；覺悟；瞭解實情

例： When are you going to wake up and smell the coffee?

你打算何時才醒覺？

(圖3)

■知多□

上回提及英語中我們稱美食家或對飲食有研究的人為gourmet。Gourmet一字源自法文，也可作形容詞之用，意思是「高品質的」，例如：高級餐廳 (gourmet restaurant) 和高級食材 (gourmet ingredients)。最後談談一個跟 gourmet很相似的字 gourmand，但這個字帶有貶意，解作「貪吃的人」。

圖：資料圖片

文：詠絮才 - 香港大學哲學博士 ，曾於不同大學及大專院校任教英語、翻譯和語言學科，研究興趣包括應用語言學、翻譯研究與英語教學等。

[語文同樂 第292期]