The Translation of Plants and Animals

Ⅰ. Translation of Animals: sly as a fox ，busy as bees ，a duck’s egg 亚洲四小龙 Four Tigers in Asia 虎年： the year of tiger 羊年：the year of sheep, ram(公羊), ewe(母羊), goat, lamb

1. ass an ass/ a donkey: a foolish person You ass! You stupid ass! How could you do a thing like that?

2. bat 在中国，蝙蝠是幸福的象征 , “五福 (蝠)齐全” 英文中，蝙蝠是丑恶的动物，与黑暗势力相联系。 vampire bat crazy as a bat

You must have been as blind as a bat not to have seen me; I was sitting at the next table. 蝙蝠虽视力弱，却有很好的习性，喜在夜空中飞翔，故习语 as good as bat 走得很快，或健步如飞 They had come as a good bat up the slope and a little out of breath… 他们飞快地走上斜坡，因而有点上气不接下气。

3. bear 中文中熊代表行动迟缓、笨手笨脚 英语中，熊是一种凶猛、残忍的动物 a bad-tempered or bad mannered person 粗鄙之人，鲁莽之人 like a bear with a sore head 脾气暴躁、态度恶劣

Florence and Dorothy were both dancing, but Jeremy, who did not dance, was standing by her, looking as sulky as a bear with a sore head. …他站在她身边，满面怒容。 经济术语中，bear指“行情下跌的”, a bear market 行情下跌的市面，俗称”熊市”

4. bull 牛 中文中，牛是体形庞大，体格强壮，终日劳碌，埋头苦干，无私奉献 英文中，bull 指性情暴烈，桀骜不驯，横冲直撞，雄健好斗 He bellowed like a bull seeking combat. 他像头寻衅好斗的公牛一样吼叫着。

5. cat rain cats and dogs 倾盆大雨、瓢泼大雨 like a cat on hot bricks 如热锅上的蚂蚁 cat喻指 a spiteful or unpleasant woman Mrs. Smith is a perfect cat. 史密斯太太是个地地道道的长舌妇。

The policeman decided to play cat and mouse when he saw the woman steal the dress in the store. 警察发现那女人在商店偷衣服时，他欲擒故纵，并不马上捉住她。 She knew it was an absurd hope—and yet would not let it go…The silence of Dr. Raste had nearly killed it, but it could not be killed; it had more lives than a cat. 她知道这是可笑的希望—但偏偏不肯放弃这种希望…雷斯特医生一言不发，几乎使她绝望，但是这种希望是消灭不了的。它比猫更具有生命力。

6. dog 汉语中的狗大都为贬义，如狼心狗肺，狗仗人势，狗血喷头 英语中也有贬义。 treat someone li ke a dog 虐待某人 live a dog’s live 过着很悲惨的生活

Capitalism has carried over and greatly intensified this feudalistic dog-eat-dog element in social relationship. 资本主义把封建社会中那种人吃人的关系保留下来而且大大加强了它。 Every dog has its day. 凡人皆有得意时 ----(dog指人的时候，相当于fellow)

7. lion 西方认为狮子是百兽之王，喻意“名人、名流之士” I’ll have to beard the lion in his den when I go to ask my boss for a better job. 我要去找老板给我一份较好的工作，到时不得不当面同他理论一番。 (beard the lion in his den指在狮穴捋狮须，喻义“在太岁头上动土”敢于当面抗拒)

He took the lion’s share, and by the time he had finished there was nothing left for the rest of us except for a few crumbs. 最大最好的一份他独自一人吃了，除了一点面包屑，其他什么也没给我们留下。

8. owl 中国人认为猫头鹰是恶运的象征 西方人却把猫头鹰看作智慧鸟,它的形象是沉着、冷静、严肃 as wise as an owl 像猫头鹰一样聪明 as grave as an owl 像猫头鹰一样严肃

Patrick peered owlishly at us through his glasses. He was naturally a night owl. 他天生就是个夜猫子。（owl指惯于夜间活动者）

9. pig 中英文意为，greedy, dirty or bad-mannered person eat like a pig He’d been a pig about money.

10. peacock 中国孔雀是吉祥的象征 西方孔雀“骄傲”、“虚荣” proud as peacock She strutted like a peacock, looking down her nose at everyone. 她昂首阔步，活像个孔雀，谁也瞧不起。

II. Translation of Plants 1. apple apple of my eye 掌上明珠 to polish the apple 表示“送礼、讨好、拍马”之意 Mary is an apple-polisher, she will do anything for the boss.

2. bean 常用来指零星小钱或毫无价值的东西。 He broke my beans a little, but I thought it was worth it. 他使我稍有破费，不过我想这也划得来。 The ring is beans compared with the crown jewels. 与王冠上的宝石相比，这只戒指就只好当作不值分文的东西。

3. lemon 从21世纪以来，lemon用以指令人不满意、质量低劣的产品，尤指新出产但毛病百出的汽车。 His tale brought back memories of my first lemon.

4. nut nut 开始喻指“怪人、疯子、傻子” If a guy always holds a book upside down to read it, he’s considered some kind of nut. 要是谁老是把书倒拿着看，他准被认为是个怪人。

The president was wounded. It must have been one of the nuts. 总统被刺受伤，准是哪一个疯子干的。

在口语中，nut常用来喻指“入迷的人、狂热的人”。 the movie nut 电影迷 He is a Thomas Hardy nut; he has read all his novels. 他是个哈代迷，哈代的小说他都读过。

在商贸英语中，nut指经费或固定投资等。 The producer has raised the nut to 400,000. 制片人已筹集了40万元的经费。 Our nut is high, but our variable expenses are practically nothing. 我们的固定费用很高，但是可变费用实际上是零。

5. orange 用于短语 a sucked orange之中，喻指“血汗被榨干了的人，被充分利用而如今不再需要的人” After working twenty years for the company, Alex was discarded like a sucked orange.

6. peach 喻指年轻貌美的迷人女子，特别出众、令人钦佩的人 She really was a peach. 7. tomato 常用以指“迷人、漂亮的女子” The idea that such a luscious(甘美的) tomato might be mixed up in murder was terrible.

8. pepper pepper具有“精力、活力”的喻义 There was plenty of pepper left in the old man. 那位老人依旧精力充沛。

9. plum Plum喻指“最好的东西”、令人垂涎的东西（尤指声望好、待遇高的轻松工作） They reserved for themselves the choicest plums. 他们把最好的留给自己。 He’s got a plum after the election campaign. 竞选活动之后，他获得了一份薪水高的轻松工作。

10. potato 在日常生活用语中，potato用以喻指“人、人物”或“一美元” Stick their potatoes in every office. 把他们的人安插进每一个办公室。 You can get this wonderful coat for 497 potatoes. 花497个美元，你就可以得到这件漂亮的大衣。

the clean potato喻指“正派的人” …he had long known subconsciously that his father was not “the clean potato” …他很久以来就 模模糊糊地意识到他的父亲不是一个正派的人。

11. spinach 喻指“胡说八道、无用之物” Could you put up with this spinach under such conditions? I say it’s spinach and I say to hell with it.

12. vegetable 植物人 If he had survived the head injuries he got in the crash, he would have been a vegetable for the rest of his life.