152. 把点子打掉
《说岳全传》说藩王柴桂跟岳飞争做武状元,比箭的时候,岳飞先射,第一箭就射穿了透箭靶,连射九箭,「俱从一孔而出」,柴桂不必下场就知道输定了。美国人会说,Yueh Fei easily knocked the spots off Chai Kuei(岳飞轻易胜了柴桂)。
Knock the spots off直译是「把点子打掉」,为甚么有「轻易胜过」的意思呢?这据说也是和射击比赛有关的。参赛的枪手用纸牌做靶子,谁把纸牌上的红点、黑桃之类点子打掉(Knock the spots off the card),谁就获胜。所以,knock the spots off somebody/something等于「远远胜过某人或某件事物」了,例如:She has put several days of careful research into her report, which explains why it knocks the spots off everyone else's(她这份报告,是花了好几天仔细查考的成果,自然远远胜过别人的了)。 |
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