"布朗尼加分"口語課堂:have a lot of nerve
嗨，大家好。歡迎您和Rose一起繼續學習地道英語。今天我們要講的是一隻很惱人的鴿子。惱人的主要原因就是，它have a lot of nerve，怎麼都嚇不走。文中一共使用了五個和病痛、醫藥有關的習慣用語。請大家嘗試猜測一下它們的引申意義吧。
I like birds. They're beautiful when they fly. Many of them have lovely colours. But I was sick and tired of that pigeon. It caused too much trouble.
It really had a lot of nerve. Every morning it came to my backyard and ate all the baby lettuces one by one. It was very careful to eat the best. It took great pains to do so. And so I decided to stop its mischief. I wanted to give the bird a taste of its own medicine.
I built the ugliest-looking scarecrow you ever saw. Would it work. I really wasn't sure. I felt it in my bones that the bird might know it was a trick.
The next day, there in the middle of the yard was the pigeon pulling out straws from the hat on my scarecrow. And I could see that more lettuce had been eaten.
儘管我喜歡鳥，但是對於一隻鴿子卻feel sick and tired of。其實從字面上大家也看的出，這個短語表示“非常討厭，厭煩”的意思。那麼，這隻鴿子之所以這麼讓人心煩，原因是它had a lot of nerve。Nerve神經，have a lot nerve意思是act so badly and impolitely that it actually takes courage to do so. 也就是很有膽子做不好的不禮貌的事兒。我們常常將它翻譯爲“有臉做某事，臉皮很厚”。來看一個例子，體會一下它的含義。You have a lot of nerve asking for more money when you never repaid your first loan. 你還真有臉要錢。你上次的欠款都沒還。
這隻鳥的確夠讓人頭疼了，總能選出最好的菜把它吃掉。能做到這點，一定是take great pains to do了。雖然這個短語中又pain疼痛一詞，但短語的意思是，“大費苦心，大費周章”的意思。再比如：Parents take great pains over their children's education. 父母對孩子的教育煞費苦心。
不能讓這隻鴿子繼續糟蹋自己的菜，於是決定give the bird a taste of its own medicine. 讓這隻鳥常常自己的藥的滋味。翻譯爲“以牙還牙”。再比如：My boyfriend always arrives late. Last night I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine by keeping him waiting for half an hour. 我的男朋友總是遲到。昨晚，我決定以牙還牙治他一下，讓他也等半個小時。
既然決定懲罰它，就馬上付諸行動吧。於是我做了一個奇醜無比的稻草人。可是，看着這個草人，我卻feel in my bones that it might not work. feel it in one's bones意思是know something, often before seeing it or before it happens. 也就是“預感到，本能地覺得”的意思了。再比如：Something good was bound to happen; he could feel in his bones. 他本能地覺得一定會有好事兒發生。
故事的結果依舊無奈，更多的好生菜被那隻鴿子吃掉。想辦法的事兒就留給菜地主人，我們來聽今天的問題。When you take great pains to do something, how do you do it?
