讓外國人摸不着頭腦的12個美國短語(上)大綱

Shoot the breeze

閒扯

When Americans "shoot the breeze," they talk about unimportant things for a long time.

如果美國人shoot the breeze，他們會長時間地說一些雞毛蒜皮的事情。

This phrase pertains to late-19th-century slang when "breeze" meant "rumor." By the 1910s, the windy word came to mean "empty chatter."

這一短語和19世紀末期的一個俚語有關，當時breeze有謠言的意思。到20世紀10年代，breeze的意思就變成了“空談、廢話”。

Ballpark figure

約略的數字

"Ballpark figure" is a sports-related phrase.

Ballpark figure是一個和體育有關的短語。

No, a "ballpark figure" isn't a synonym for "baseball player." It's actually a financial term referring to a rough numerical estimate.

不，ballpark figure不是baseball player（棒球選手）的同義詞。實際上，它是一個金融詞語，指的是估算出的大概數字。

Sounds like a broken record

一遍又一遍地重複

If someone "sounds like a broken record," they are probably repeating themselves. When a record is broken, it repeats the same line over and over again.

如果某人sounds like a broken record（聽起來像一張破唱片），意思是他們在重複自己的觀點。一張唱片壞掉時，它會一遍又一遍地重複同一句歌詞。

A bat out of hell

飛速移動的人或物

If someone is moving extremely fast, they are called "a bat out of hell."

如果某人移動得非常迅速，他們就被稱爲a bat out of hell（來自地獄的蝙蝠）。

People use "a bat out of hell" when someone or something is moving especially fast. Since bats typically like the dark and avoid light, they would fly quickly away from hell that is presumably lit by flames. The saying became so popular that American singer Meat Loaf titled one of his most famous songs "Bat Out of Hell."

人們用a bat out of hell來形容飛速移動的人或物。因爲蝙蝠喜黑避光，所以它們會飛快地逃離火焰地獄。這一說法非常流行，美國歌手密特·勞弗最著名的一首歌就叫《來自地獄的蝙蝠》。

It's not rocket science

這很好懂

When something is easy to understand, they might say "it's not rocket science."

如果某事很容易理解，美國人就會說it's not rocket science（這不是火箭科學），意思是這不是高深的事。

This phrase, which gained popularity in the 1980s towards the end of the Cold War, refers to when something isn't that difficult to understand.

這個短語是在20世紀80年代冷戰末期流行起來的，用來形容那些不難理解的事物。

For the birds

微不足道

If something is trivial or worthless, Americans say it's "for the birds." The phrase was first used as US army slang during World War II.

如果事物微不足道或沒有價值，美國人會說這是for the birds（給鳥吃的）。二戰期間美軍最早開始使用這個俚語。