我们已经讲过一些和身体各部份有关的习惯用语,如:头,背,眼睛,手臂等。我们也讲过和皮肤有关的俗语。今天我们再给大家介绍两个由skin这个字组成的习惯用语。第一个是:no skin off my nose。
No skin off my nose,从字面上解释是:不会从我鼻子上掉皮。但是,你要是在跟别人讲话的时候用这个俗语的话,你真正的意思是:这件事不是你的问题,也不是你的麻烦,而你也不在乎。我们来举个例子看看no skin off my nose在日常生活中是怎么用的。这是一个人在谈他以前的女朋友:
"Hey, it's no skin off my nose if Susie's going out now with that guy! I don't care what she does -- I broke up with her a month ago, when I met Karen. Karen's a lot more my style."
"Look, it's no skin off my nose if you want to get tattooed all over, kid. But it's stupid to begin with, and besides Mother and Dad will be very upset when they see what you've done."
下面我们要给大家介绍的一个习惯用语很简单,但是在某种情况下却很重要。这个俗语是:to save one's skin。
To save one's skin的意思从表面看来是:救了某人的皮。但是,实际的意思是:安全地逃出了危险的境地,没有受到伤害。下面我们要举的例子是说一个人的儿子发生了车祸。这位爸爸说:
"My son was in a bad auto accident last week. The other car went through a red light and smashed into him. It wrecked his car, but he was wearing his seat belt and that saved his skin -- he walked away without a scratch."
"I was in real trouble last night: I had to type up a term paper to turn in to my English teacher this morning and my typewriter broke down. But the girl next door loaned me her typewriter; she really saved my skin."