成语的直译与意译(选自上海翻译).doc

Al 矮子里拔将军 直：pick a general from among the dwarfs 意：select someone for lack of a better one; select from among the mediocre/ run-of-millBl 八字还没一撇 直：Not even the first stroke of the character “八” has happened. 意：Nothing tangible is in sight. Things arent even starting to take place yet. There is no sign of anything happening yet. Things are still up in the air.l 班门弄斧 直：Wield the axe before Lu Ban (the ancient master carpenter). 意：display ones learning or parade ones skill in the presence of an expert; teach ones grannie how to suck egges; bring coal to Newcastlel 杯弓蛇影 直：mistake the shadow of a bow in the cup for a snake 意：self-created suspicion; imaginary fears; be extremely nervous and suspiciousl 杯水车薪 直：try to put out a carload of burnig firewood with a cup of water 意：a useless attempt; a drop in the bucket; utterly inadequate measurel 背水一战 直：fight with ones back to the river or wall 意：fight to win or die; fight a last-ditch battle; put up a desperate fightl 冰冻三尺， 直：It takes more than one cold day to freeze three feet of ice.非一日之寒 意：The trouble is deep-rooted; Rome was not built in a day.l 兵来将挡， 直：stop an advancing army with troops and onrushing water with earth水来土掩 意：counter move for move; counter measure for measurel 不以规矩， 直：You cannot draw squares and circles without the campass and square.不成方圆 意：Nothing can be accomplished without norms and standards.Cl 草木皆兵 直：take every grass and tree as an enemy soldier 意：a state of extreme nervousness, as if surrounded by enemiesl 沧海桑田 直：Seas change into mulberry fields. 意：Time brings great change to the world.(饱经沧桑： have experienced many vicissitudes of life)l 赤膊上阵 直：go into battle stripped to the waist 意：take personal charge and go it alone despite opposition; Throw away all disguise and tactics; come out into the open as a result of desperation or foolhardinessl 此地无银 直：The 300 taels of silver are not buried here (a sign put up by the man in the 三百两 folk tale over the place where he had hidden the money)意：A clumsy self-exposing performance or denial; A guilty person gives himself away by conspicuously protesting his innocence; Protest ones innocence too much.l 吹胡子瞪眼 直：froth at the mouth and glare with rage 意：snort and stare in anger; fume with ragel 唇亡齿寒 直：If the lips are gone, the teeth will be exposed. 意：If one of two interdependent things falls, the other is in danger.l 吹毛求疵 直：blow upon the hair trying to discover a flaw 意：find fault with; pick holes inl 寸有所长， 直：An inch has its length and a foot sometmes falls short.尺有所短 意：Everybody has his strennths and weaknesses.Dl 打肿脸 直：Try to look fat by slapping ones face till its swollen.充胖子 Boast about ones pink cheek after having been slapped. 意：Do something beyond ones means in order to look impressive; try to satisfy ones vanity when one cannot really afford to do sol 当一天和尚 直：go on tolling the bell as long as one remains a monk.撞一天钟 意：do the minimum required or do as little as possible to get by; do the least that is expected of one; take a passive attitude towards ones workl 调虎离山 直：lure the tiger out of his mountain or lair 意：tempt or entice somebody into leaving his vantage groundl 叠床架屋 直：pile one bed upon another or build one house on top of another 意：needless duplication; repetition and superfluityl 东方不亮 直：When there is dark in the east, it is light in the west; 西方亮， When things are dark in the south, there is still light in the north.黑了南方 有北方 意：There is alsways plenty of room for manoeuvring.EFl 放长线 直：throw a long line to catch a big fish钓大鱼 意：devise a long-term plan to secure something bigl 翻手为云 直：produce clouds with one turn of the hand and rain with another覆手为雨 意：wield ones power capriciously; be shifty and capricious; be tricky and deceitfull 放马后炮 直：fire belated shots 意：comment on something when it is already over; fail to give timely advice; be a Monday morning quarterbackl 风声鹤唳 直：scared by the moan of the wind and the cry of the cranes, and seeing the草木皆兵 enemy in every bush and tree 意：describing the extreme nervousness of a fleeing armys suspicion of danger at the slightest soundl 风调雨顺 直：The elements are propitious, the country is prosperous and the people are 国泰民安 at peace. 意：favorable climate, prosperity and peacel 风雨同舟 直：in the same storm-tossed boat 意：stand together through thick and thin; share weal and woe; help each other in distress; share the same fate with; cast in ones lot withl 佛面蛇心 直：have a Buddhas face but a vipers heart 意：be honey-lipped but evil at heart; be a malicious hypocritel 佛要金装 直：As Buddha needs a gilt statue, man needs fine clothes.人要衣装 意：Fine feather make fine birds; Fine clothes make the man.l 釜底抽薪 直：pull out the burning firewood from under a cauldron 意：take drastic measures to deal with a critical situation; cut the ground from under somebodys feet; tackle the root cause l 赴汤蹈火 直：be ready to jump into boiling water and plunge into raging fire 意：go through hell and high water; be ready to risk ones lifeGl 肝脑涂地 直：be ready to dash ones brains out or scatter ones innards on the ground 意：be ready to lay down ones life for a cause; be willing to repay a favor with extreme sacrificel 赶鸭子上架 直：drive a duck onto a perch 意：make somebody do something entirely beyond himl 隔岸观火 直：watch a fire from the other side of a river 意：look on at somebodys misfortune with indifference; show no concern for anothers troublel 狗咬吕洞宾 直： snarl and snap at L Dongbin (one of the eight immortals in Chinese mythology) 意：mistake a good man for a bad one(狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心。 Like the dog that bit L Dongbin, you bite the hand that feeds you.)l 狗嘴里吐不出 直：No ivory can come out of a dogs mouth.象牙 意：A filthy mouth cant utter decent hanguage; You cant expect anything nice from a foul mouth.l 孤掌难鸣 直：It is impossible to clap with one hand. 意：It is difficult to achieve without support.l 瓜熟蒂落 直：When a melon is ripe, it falls off its stem. 意：Issues will be resolved when conditions are ripe.Hl 海底捞月 直：try to fish out the moon from the bottom of the sea 意：strive for the impossible or illusory; a fruitless effort or futile attemptl 海水不可斗量 直：The sea cannot be measured with a bushel. 意：Great minds cannot be fathomed.l 害群之马 直：an evil horse that does harm to the herd 意：one who brings disgrace on or constitutes a danger to ones group; a black sheepl 寒窗 直：cold window 意：hard conditions under which a poor scholar studiesl 汗牛充栋 直：enough books to make the pack-ox sweat or to fill a house to the rafters 意：immense number of booksl 好马不吃 直：A spirited horse will not turn back to graze on an old pasture.回头草 意：A true man will not pick up what he has discarded.l 和尚打伞， 直：Like a Buddhist monk holding an umbrella, thre is no hair (发, a 无法无天 homophone for 法 law) nor heaven. 意：defy laws human and divine; be absolutely lawless; run wildl 和风细雨 直：like a gentle breeze and light rain 意：in a gentle and mild wayl 红白喜事 直：red and white affairs 意：weddings and funeralsl 呼风唤雨 直：summon the wind and the rain; bid wind and rain to come 意：control the forces of nature; exercise magic powersl 狐狸尾巴 直：foxs tail 意：something that gives away a persons real character or evil intensionsl 虎踞龙盘 直：like a coiling dragon and crouching tiger 意：a forbidding strategic pointl 虎头蛇尾 直：with a tigers head but a snakes tail 意：with a fine start and a poor finishl 画龙点睛 直：Bring the painted dragon to life by putting in the pupils of its eyes 意：add the finishing touch; add a touch that brings a work of art to life; bring out the crucial point; add a word or two to clinch the point; The revelation comes in the last paragraph.l 画饼充饥 直：Draw a cake to satisfy ones hunger. 意：feed on illusions; console oneself with false hopel 画蛇添足 直：Draw a snake with feet added to it. 意：Ruin the effect by adding what is superfluous; Doing something entirely unnecessary.l 火中取栗 直：Pull chestnut out of the fire. 意：to be a cats paw for somebody; use others as your cats pawJl 借花献佛 直：Present Buddha with borrowed flowers. 意：Borrow something to make a gift of it.l 金玉其外 直：rubbish coated in gold and jade败絮其中 意：Fair without, foul withinKl 靠山吃山， 直：Those living on a mountain get their living from the mountain; Those near靠水吃水 the water live off the water. 意：Make full use of resources abundant in the localities.l 刻舟求剑 直：Cut a mark on the gunwall of a moving boat to indicate where ones sword dropped into the water. 意：Take measures or act without reagard to changing circumstances.l 口蜜腹剑 直：honey-mouthed but dagger-hearted; with honey on ones lips and murder in ones heart 意：hypocritical and sinister;hypocritical and malignant(这个人口