首先,我们要介绍的是“The shoe is on the other foot”。
The shoe is on the other foot的意思是:形势已经完全不同了。下面这个例子就能够说明the shoe is on the other foot在日常会话中是怎么用的:
例句-1: "Back in school we made fun of Jones because we thought he spent too much time studying instead of having fun. Now the shoe is on the other foot -- he’s made lots of money and the rest of us are just barely making enough to feed our families."
这句话翻成中文就是说:“以前在学校里念书的时候,我们老是笑话琼斯,认为他这个人老是念书,不会玩。可是,现在情况就完全不同了。他赚了不少钱,而我们这些人的收入只够维持家计而已。”
下面的一个例子是一个球迷在夸耀当地的棒球队:
例句-2: "For the last ten years the Tigers have been the worst team in the league: we’ve finished down at the bottom. But now the shoe is on the other foot: we have all these good young players and we’re beating everybody else in the whole league."
这句话的意思是:“我们这个地方的球队老虎队十年前是参加联赛的所有球队中最次的一个,比赛结果老是最后一名。现在可不同了。我们球队的队员都很年轻,球艺也好。他们把其他球队一个个全打败了。”
现在我们来讲一个和手套有关的习惯用语: To work hand in glove
To work hand in glove的意思是密切合作。我们来举个例子吧:
例句-3: "The local police are working hand in glove with the FBI to find the bank robbers."
这是说:“当地的警察正在和联邦调查局密切合作设法找到那些抢劫银行的罪犯。”
Hand in glove这个词汇也经常用在反面的场合,形容一些人合谋犯罪等。下面就是一个例子:
例句-4: "I read in the paper about this customs officer they arrested at the airport. They caught him working hand in glove with a gang of smugglers to bring diamonds into the country without paying duty."
这个人说:“我在报纸上看到有关那个在机场被逮捕的海关官员的消息。他们发现他和一些走私者密切合作,把钻石带进来而不缴关税。”
上面我们讲了两个美国人常用的词汇。第一个是 the shoe is on the other foot,这是指情况完全不同的意思。另外一个是 to work hand in glove,这是密切合作的意思。