谚语、惯用语

不管张三李四。
Every Tom, Dick and Harry. *举出常用的男孩名，表示“不论谁都……”、“不管张三还是李四”。虽然没有女孩名，但男女都可用。
My daughter had a homestay in America. (我女儿为体验当地生活，去美国了。)
So did every Tom, Dick and Harry. (不管谁都能去啊。)
I like sexy girls. (我喜欢性感的女人。)
So does every Tom, Dick and Harry. (无论谁都是这样的。)

一波未平一波又起。
Out of the frying pan into the fire. *frying pan “平底炒菜锅”，直译是菜从锅里炒出来又掉进了火里。

舍名求实。
I live to eat.
Pudding rather than praise. *不太常用的说法。

瞎猫碰上了死耗子。
Every dog has his day.
Bob won the lottery. (鲍勃中了头彩。)
Every dog has his day. (瞎猫碰上了死耗子。)
Everyone has good days.
Everyone gets lucky sometimes. (谁都会有走运的时候。)
A flying crow always gets something. *不太常用的说法。

说曹操，曹操到。
Speak of the devil. *“说到恶魔，恶魔就来”。源自谚语Speak of the devil and he will appear。
Speak of the devil.常用于口语中。
Here comes John! (约翰来了。)
Speak of the devil. (真是说到曹操，曹操到。)

情人眼里出西施。
Love is blind. *直译是“爱情是盲目的”。表示人们一旦谈恋爱，就会失去正确的判断能力，无法冷静地看待事物。

一举两得。
Kill two birds with one stone. *直译是“一石可以打中两只鸟”，即“一举两得”。

不闻凶讯便是吉。
No news is good news.
I haven't heard from John lately. (好久没有约翰的消息了。)
Well, no news is good news. (是啊，不闻凶讯便是吉。)

光阴似箭。
Time flies. *表示时间像飞一样地过去了。Tim flies是Time flies when you are having fun.的省略说法。即“越高兴时间过得越快”。

时间就是金钱。
Time is money.

百艺不如一艺精。
Jack of all trades, master of none. *Jack是男子名，一般表示“某人或男人”。此句的意思是什么事都去做的人没有一件事是能精通的。

三思而后行。
Look before you leap. *直译“飞之前先看看”，表示“付诸于行动前要慎重地考虑，做好准备”。

百闻不如一见。
Seeing is believing. *“眼见为实”，即只有自己亲眼所见，才能信服。

无风不起浪。
There is no smoke without fire. *传闻总是有出处的，“无火的地方不冒烟”。

诚实总是上策。
Honesty is the best policy. *常以为不正当行为能获得好处，但从长远来看，结果是采取正当行为才是上策。

晚做总比不做强。
Better late than never.

男孩子就是男孩子嘛!
Boys will be boys.
John got into a fight again. (约翰又打架了。)
Boys will be boys. (男孩子就是男孩子嘛!)

知识就是力量。
Knowledge is power.
Knowledge is power. (知识就是力量。)
That's why he's so successful. (所以他才成功。)

冰冻三尺非一日之寒。/罗马不是一天就建成的。
Rome was not built in a day. *要做大事不是一朝一夕就可以成功的。

条条大路通罗马。
All roads lead to Rome. *为达到同一目的，可以采取多种手段。
There are many roads to success. (有许多办法可以取得成功。) *常用语。

入乡随俗。
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. *“在罗马就要照罗马人做的去做”。即“到另一个地方就要遵从那里的风俗习惯”。口语中常省略成Do as the Romans do.

熟能生巧。
Practice makes perfect. *任何事情都反复练习是成功的秘诀。

历史总在重演。
History repeats itself.
Another war started. (又一场战争开始了。)
History repeats itself. (历史总在重演。)

祸不单行，福无双至。
When it rains, it (always) pours.

功夫不负有心人。
Where there's a will, there's a way. *有坚强的意志和决心的话，无论有多大的困难都能克服。

行动比语言更响亮。
Actions speak louder than words.
(钱财等)来得容易去得快。

Easy come, easy go. *轻易得来的钱财，是不被珍惜的。来得容易，去得也容易。

血浓于水。
Blood is thicker than water.

有其父必有其子。
Like father, like son. *父子相似的意思。
Like mother, like daughter. (有其母必有其女。)

恋爱和战争都是不择手段的。
All's fair in love and war. *在恋爱和战争中任何策略都是正当的。

美貌不过一张皮。
Beauty is only skin deep. *“再漂亮的美女削去一层皮后就和丑女无二样”，即“看人不能只看外表而要重视内涵”。
Beauty is but skin deep.

东西总是人家的好。
The grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence). *直译是“(篱笆)那边的草总是绿的”。

不劳则不获。
You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. *直译是“不打碎鸡蛋就做不成蛋包饭”。意思是做任何事如果不努力，不付出牺牲，不投资的话，是得不到结果的。

流水不腐，户枢不蠹。
A rolling stone gathers no moss. *不断活动的石头是不会长上像青苔这类东西的。即“能不断保持新鲜”。也可以把它看做相反的意思，“不断变换工作和搬家的人，没有熟练的事情，也存不下钱”。

患难见真情。
A friend in need is a friend indeed. *in need “遇到难处，贫穷”，indeed 是“真正的”，这两个词押韵，给人以节奏感。

只会工作不会玩的人是没意思的人。
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. *这句可以译成“只让学习不让玩的孩子会变成愚蠢的孩子”。

事实胜于雄辩。
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. *直译是“不吃布丁不知道布丁的味道”。即“不实际去试试，是不会知道它的真正的价值”。

岁月不待人。
Time and tide wait for no man. *tide 是“潮水”，此处与time同义，表示时间。

越快越好。
The sooner, the better.
When should I come over? (什么时候来合适?)
The sooner, the better. (越快越好。)

正好。
On the nose.
How many people came to the party? (有多少人来参加晚会?)
A hundred people, on the nose. (正好100人。)
Exactly.
On the dot.

捉迷藏。
Hide-and-seek
Let's play hide-and-seek. (我们玩捉迷藏吧。)
Okay. (好吧。)

未完待续。
to be continued *用于电视连续剧等的最后，表示“待续”。

一个巴掌拍不响。
It takes two to tango. *直译是“跳探戈舞是两个人的事儿”。
Joe is always starting arguments with Sue. (乔总是和苏争论不休。)
Well, I think it takes two to tango. (不过，我是觉得一个巴掌拍不响。)
Both sides must be blamed.
They are the same.
They are both responsible.
They are both wrong.
Both of them should be blamed.

尽快。
As soon as possible. *缩写是ASAP。
Should I mail this letter to you? (我可以把这封信寄给你吗?)
Yes. As soon as possible. (对，请尽快寄来。) *电话中的对话。

随便吃。
All-you-can-eat.
buffet
smorgasbord
Eat as much as you like.
Eat as much as you wish. *作为句子应为“你想吃多少就吃多少”。

多项选择。
multiple-choice
multiple-choice questions (多项选择题)

各就各位，预备，跑!
Ready, get set, go!
On your mark, get set, go!

从头到尾。
from A to Z. *是开始字母A到最后一个字母Z，即“从开始到最后”、“完全”的意思。
I don't know anything about driving. (我一点也不懂驾驶。)
I'll teach you from A to Z. (我会从头到尾教你的。)
entirely (完全地)
completely (完全地)

始终/一直/一贯
all long *用于“从一开始我就说过吧”等句子中，表示“从开始就……”。
So, she is married. (所以，她结婚了。)
I've been telling you that all along. (我从一开始就告诉你了。)
from the very beginning
all this time
since the start

就我的记忆来说……
As far as I can remember,...
What's John's last name? (约翰姓什么来着?)
As far as I can remember, it begins with M. (就我的记忆来说，它的第一个字母是M。)
To the best of my memory,...
As far as I know,... (就我所知……)
If my memory serves me right,... (如果我没记错的话，……)

以牙还牙，针锋相对。
Tit for tat.
John kicked me, so I gave him tit for tat.(约翰踢我，所以我以牙还牙。)

这是我为什么在这儿的原因。
That's what I'm here for.
What are you studying at Harvard? (你在哈佛大学学什么?)
Economics. That's what I'm here for. (学经济，这就是我为什么在这儿学习的原因。)

2+3等于5。
Two and three is five.
Two plus three is five.
Two and three makes five.
Two and three equals five.

我们有天壤之别。
We're as different as night and day.
We're completely different. (我们俩完全不同。)
We have nothing in common. (我们没有任何共同点。)

东施效颦。(机械模仿。)
Monkey see, monkey do.
She just bought a new car just like yours. (她也买了一辆跟你一样的车。)
Well, monkey see, monkey do. (是嘛，真是东施效颦。)

以先后顺序为准。
First come, first served. *“按到达的先后顺序”、“按报名顺序”，直译是“第一个来的，第一个得到供应”。
Do you take reservations? (你预订了吗?)
No, first come, first served. (没有，先来的先得。)
On a first-come, first-served basis.

过时了。
It's out of date.
Look at my camera. (你看我的照相机。)
But it's out of date already. (可它都过时了。)
It's old-fashioned.
It's outdated.
It's behind the times.

电视有长处，也有短处。
TV has its merits and demerits.
TV has its good and bad points.
There are good and bad points about TV.

我利用了他的弱点。
I took advantage of his weakness. *take advantage of...“利用……”。

我长了不少见识。
I've learned something.
The TV show was interesting. (那个电视节目很有意思。)
Yeah, and I've learned something. (是呀，我长了不少见识。)
I've learned something new. (我学到了一些新东西。)

那会引起火灾呀!
It's a fire hazard. *hazard表示“人力无法躲避的危险”。
Look at John's toy! (快看约翰的玩具。)
It's a fire hazard. (那会引起火灾呀!)
It could catch on fire easily. (这很容易着火。)
It could cause a fire.

什么事都有可能发生。
Anything could happen.
There's no knowing what may happen.
You never know. (任何事情都是很难预料的。)
Anything's possible.
It could happen to you. (对你来说什么都有可能发生。)

将来可以用来作参考。
for future reference
You should keep the book for future reference. (你该把这本书收好，以便将来作为参考。)

在我背后。
behind my back *意为“在我听不到的地方”、“看不到的地方”，用于当人们四处活动，偷偷摸摸地说一些坏话时。
Everyone is laughing at me behind my back. (大家都在背后笑话我。)
How do you know? (你怎么知道的?)
secretly (秘密地)
in my absence (在我不在的时候。)
without my knowledge (背着我)

换换心情。
for a change *“偶尔地”、“换心情”、“追求变化”、“变化一下”、“别开生面的”、“下次”等情况时用。
Let's take a walk for a change. (我们去散散步换换心情吧。)
Okay, let's. (好吧，走。)
instead (别这样!)

有钱能使鬼推磨。
Money talks. *金钱是给与势力和权力的东西。表示金钱的力量非常大。
Jane married a millionaire. (简和一个大富翁结婚了。)
Money talks. (真是有钱能使鬼推磨。)
Money talks, bullshit walks. 比较随便的说法。

别说丧气话。
Never say die. *直译“绝不言死”。无论遇到什么情况也不能绝望，始终要尽最大的努力，坚定信心抱有希望地坚持下去的意思。

过去的事情让它过去吧。
Let bygones be bygones. *表示“过去的事情就让流水冲走吧”、“过去的事情再责备也不管用了”。

有总比没有强。
Better than nothing. *东西也许不多，不那么充分，但总比一点儿没有强。

酒肉朋友。
A fair-weather friend. *直译是“好天气下的朋友”、“顺利时才与你交往的朋友”。与“A friend in need is a friend indeed”(患难之交见真情)正好相反。

滴水汇成河。
Every little bit helps. *无论多么小的善行，其行为都是宝贵的，无论多么小的事情，只要汇集在一起，都能起到大的作用。