口语课教案(福建省福州市仓山区)
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文档简介
THE CLINK
The name of a prison which was on Clink Street in the Southwark area of London.
Claudie wrote: I always thought that the doors of the cells went "clink" when they shut behind the prisoner. Maybe a more accurate name would be the "clang".
BEAT AROUND THE BUSH
Game birds were scared out of their hiding places under bushes and then killed.
CUT THROUGH THE RED TAPE
Solicitors kept their clients papers in a file folder tied with red ribbon to prevent the papers from falling out. Of course, when they wanted to get at the papers, they would have to cut through the red tape.
Note from Glenn Barry: I read that "red tape" came from the Indian Administrative Service practice of tying files with tape, these were moved by "Peons" by hand from office to office. No senior person would move a file no matter how important because of the caste system. Thus the uneducated lower caste would slow down the movement of files, thus the files were tied up with red tape, having been to India in recent times and seen this still the case I can understand where it came from. One official I went to see had the file we were talking about on the bench behind him but rang his bell for the peon to come, which took some minutes, and then asked him to get the file! This took .2 of a second.
GETTING TANKED
When you drank too much out of the above "tankard" you were said to be "tanked" ... if you got so "tanked" that you passed out, there was a chance that somebody might think you had actually died. Since back then they didn't have experience with taking pulses, they often buried people alive who were actually in a drunken stupor or otherwise comatose.
WET YOUR WHISTLE
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used to blow the whistle to get some service.
BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS
If they REALLY didn't want you to stay very long, they would light "both ends" at the same time!
Bill comments: This had nothing to do with getting rid of guests. When a clerk worked at night, it was hard to see by candle-light. they did not have two candles, they would turn the candle on its side, and light both ends. This gave twice as much light, but burned out in half the time. The phrase, therefore, came to mean someone who worked very hard, but would wear themselves out (what today we call 'burn-out') very quickly.
Rob Flynn says: The phrase is actually 'burning the candle at both ends of the day' i.e. getting up early in the morning (and burning a candle) and going to bed late (and again burning a candle). Which is why we say that someone looking tired and haggard from overwork (or overplay) has been burning the candle at both ends...
NOT FIT TO HOLD A CANDLE TO
A menial household task was holding a candle for someone while they completed some type of activity. Some people were not held in much esteem, therefore they were "not fit to hold a candle to."
GIVING SOMEONE THE COLD SHOULDER
When a guests would over stay their welcome as house guests, the hosts would (instead of feeding them good, warm meals) give their too-long staying guests the worst part of the animal, not warmed, but the COLD SHOULDER.
EATING HUMBLE PIE
Servants at "umble pie" which was made from deer waste while their Master and his guests had the better cuts of meat.
RULE OF THUMB
An old English law declared that a man could not beat his wife with a stick any larger than the diameter of his thumb.
Comment from Lance: When brewing beer, the temperature at which the yeast is added is important. Too cold and the yeast won't work, too hot and it'll die. Before the days of thermometers, a brewer would determine temperature by simply sticking his thumb into the mixture.
Another possibility: As an artist, I always thought that this saying applied to the act of using one's thumb as a judge of scale. You literally use your thumb to act as a ruler to determine the scale of an object in your painting.
Peter wrote: the French word for an inch (puce) is the same as for a thumb. I wonder if the thumb was used as a rough reckoner for inches? Just a thought.
Anthony wrote: this has nothing to do with painting, nor is it anything to do with wife beating, which is just plain old down home American stupidity. It was used by bakers in judging flour, the flour being rubbed between thumb and fingers.
Read what Jesse has to say!
SAVING FACE OR LOSING FACE
The noble ladies and gentlemen of the late 1700s wore much makeup to impress each other. Since they rarely bathed, the makeup would get thicker and thicker. If they sat too close to the heat of the fireplace, the makeup would start to melt. If that happened, a servant would move the screen in front of the fireplace to block the heat, so they wouldn't "lose face."
TIE THE KNOT
Tying the knot of the ropes in the marriage bed.
James in Japan writes: ... the priest performing the wedding would bind the bride and grooms hands with rope during the ceremony. In modern day, you will often see the priest place a sash around their hands rather than rope, and it is from this that the saying comes. Although the practice is not as common as it was, depending on your denomination it is still done.
Karen: This is also from the old marriage custom of actually tying the couple's hands together as part of the ceremony. They were not allowed to untie it until they had consummated the marriage.
Claudie wrote: A Swedish exchange student told me that illiterate sailors and soldiers of yesteryear would send a piece of rope to their sweethearts when they wanted to get married. If the rope came back with a knot in it, that meant she said "yes" to the marriage proposal. He demonstrated this by tying two ornate knots in a length of rope. When the ends were pulled, the knots came together in the middle. Even if this isn't the origin of the expression, it was a charming demonstration.
Mike wrote: Having recently attended a Hindu wedding it would seem that the phrase is a quite literal one where the bride and groom each tie a necklace of flowers to consummate the marriage.
HONEYMOON
It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon".
BLACK MARKET
In medieval England there were nomadic mercenaries who wandered the country side and would sell their services to the highest bidder. These were hardened fighters who lived solitary lives in the wilderness. They did not have the luxury of servants to polish their armor and it would oxidize to a blackish hue, and they came to be known as black knights. At local town festivals they would have exhibition jousting matches in which the winner of the fight would win the loser's weapons and armor. The local gentry, softened by the good life, would lose to these black knights. The nomadic knights didn't have much use for an extra set of armor and would sell it back to them immediately after the fight. The losing nobility would be forced to buy back their armor and this after market came to be known as the "Black Market" (submitted by Gonzalo).
Judith interjects: Isn't it kind of strange that if "black market" is a medieval term, the Oxford English Dictionary doesn't show it as having been first used until 1931 in "The Economist." Come on, this is garbage. Fun garbage maybe, but garbage.
Blackmail
Kenyon wrote that he was told that the term "Black Mail" came from the armor used in Medieval times. The armor which was worn was called maol and it became black (as described in black market). When the two knights were dueling and one attained the upperhand, he would give the other an alternative of life or death as the sword was pointed at his face. This was known as black mailing someone.
Andy in Scotland wrote: Centuries ago, Maol was the silver which was paid in rent in Scotland. Sheep and cattle stealers would steal the cattle and then try to legitimize the theft by threatening to keep the animals unless the owner paid them rent for the grazing the animals had while they were stolen. This became known as Black Maol or Blackmail. We Scots invented Blackmail, something to be proud of ??
British Bobbies
P.J. says: The police force in London was established by Sir Robert Peel. For a time policemen were called 'Peelers' or 'Bobbies men'....hence Bobbies.
A flash in the pan (he/she is nothing but...)
Linda in Seattle: I'd always thought this phrase related to gold panning: a prospector, thinking he'd seen gold dust in the pan, looking more closely discovered it was just a "flash" (of light), not gold. The phrase came to be used to describe something that seemed at first very exciting, but turned out disappointing.
Joy Foy wrote: A musket has a flint attached to the hammer and a small steel pan attached to the side of the barrel just below it. There is a small hole in the barrel, right by the pan, going directly to the main charge of powder in the gun. When loading, one pours powder down the barrel for the main charge, and then puts a small bit in the pan below the flint. When the trigger is pulled, the flint slams down, ignites the powder in the pan, the fire moves through the hole into the barrel, ignites the main charge and the gun goes off. But sometimes there is a misfire: the flint ignites the powder in the pan, but the gun does not go off. All that happens is that there is a "flash' in the pan.
Getting nailed
Phil writes: The saying "I got nailed" or "Be careful, you might get nailed" refer to Jesus when he was "nailed to the cross." A very painful experience.
Andy in Scotland wrote: A few centuries ago in Britain, 'justice' was meted out mostly by hanging or flogging. However there were some crimes for which you could be 'nailed' for. For these crimes you would be taken to the hangman's gibbet and nailed through the earlobe(s) until night. You had two options: you could either stand all day, nailed to the scaffold or else tear your ear from the nail (yuk!). Women could also be nailed through the tongue for spreading malicious gossip.
A few centuries ago in Britain, 'justice' was meted out mostly by hanging or flogging. However there were some crimes for which you could be "nailed" for. For these crimes you would be taken to the hangman's gibbet and nailed through the earlobe(s) until night. You had two options: you could either stand all day, nailed to the scaffold or else tear your ear from the nail. Women could also be nailed through the tongue for spreading malicious gossip.
Ham it up
From Alan: The theatre lights used (see above) gave a green colour. Poor actors could not afford real makeup, so they made their own. It was made of lard (usually rendered bacon or ham fat) mixed with red brick dust. The smeared this on their faces!!!!
Raining cats and dogs
Another source: I have heard two interesting origins of this phrase: 1) In the Pennsylvania Dutch culture of the US there was an expression "Raining cats and ducks," both animals being related to rain. The cat from witch craft and the duck for obvious reason. This phrase was corrupted over the years to Cats and Dogs. 2) Much earlier, there were the Norse gods, and the exact one I don't remember, but the god of storms was also the god of animals. Hence the work of the god in a storm also included animals which were also his province.
In old(e) England, the houses were surrounded with open sewers, big ditches running down the road to channel the rainwater. The houses were low, with low hanging thatched roofs and the dogs and cats used to climb up there, one after the other. In heavy downpours, the said animals would tumble from their perches, past the windows and fall into the ditches compelling the 'tankarded' or 'bombed' residents to exclaim, "Aaargh, it's raining cats and dogs."
Definition from Lawson Tremellen: Before sewers any rain, rubbish, etc. was thrown into a ditch that ran beside the road. When animals died they were also thrown into the ditch. When the heavy rains came the dead cats and dogs would be carried away with the water.
Under the weather
Comment from Frank: "Under the weather" is a nautical term that was originated, I believe, in the British navy. When a sailor was ill, he was kept below decks, and thus, under the weather.
White elephant
Bill writes that in the late 1800s, P.T. Barnum, who then owned "the greatest show on earth," heard of a sacred "white" elephant in India. He sent an agent to buy it sight unseen. When the animal arrived by ship in Bridgeport, CT, Barnum was horrified to see what the Indians considered to be a "white elephant" turned out to be covered with large pink splotches, and was not white at all. The paying public was not impressed and Barnum had to keep his "white elephant" hidden from public view in a stable. Thus the term "white elephant" came to mean something that was generally useless but too valuable (to the owner) to throw away. (By the way, the original "white elephant" later died when the stable caught fire.)
Andy in Scotland wrote: In the UK a white elephant is something which costs a lot to maintain but is of no use at all. In Thailand elephants were put to work for a whole range of tasks, however, white (albino) elephants were considered sacred and therefore were not to be put to work. The poor owner was then left to feed the elephant but get no work from it.
White elephant
Under the weather
Raining cats and dogs
Ham it up
Getting nailed
A flash in the pan
British Bobbies
Blackmail
BLACK MARKET
The name of a prison which was on Clink Street in the Southwark area of London.
Claudie wrote: I always thought that the doors of the cells went "clink" when they shut behind the prisoner. Maybe a more accurate name would be the "clang".
BEAT AROUND THE BUSH
Game birds were scared out of their hiding places under bushes and then killed.
CUT THROUGH THE RED TAPE
Solicitors kept their clients papers in a file folder tied with red ribbon to prevent the papers from falling out. Of course, when they wanted to get at the papers, they would have to cut through the red tape.
Note from Glenn Barry: I read that "red tape" came from the Indian Administrative Service practice of tying files with tape, these were moved by "Peons" by hand from office to office. No senior person would move a file no matter how important because of the caste system. Thus the uneducated lower caste would slow down the movement of files, thus the files were tied up with red tape, having been to India in recent times and seen this still the case I can understand where it came from. One official I went to see had the file we were talking about on the bench behind him but rang his bell for the peon to come, which took some minutes, and then asked him to get the file! This took .2 of a second.
GETTING TANKED
When you drank too much out of the above "tankard" you were said to be "tanked" ... if you got so "tanked" that you passed out, there was a chance that somebody might think you had actually died. Since back then they didn't have experience with taking pulses, they often buried people alive who were actually in a drunken stupor or otherwise comatose.
WET YOUR WHISTLE
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used to blow the whistle to get some service.
BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS
If they REALLY didn't want you to stay very long, they would light "both ends" at the same time!
Bill comments: This had nothing to do with getting rid of guests. When a clerk worked at night, it was hard to see by candle-light. they did not have two candles, they would turn the candle on its side, and light both ends. This gave twice as much light, but burned out in half the time. The phrase, therefore, came to mean someone who worked very hard, but would wear themselves out (what today we call 'burn-out') very quickly.
Rob Flynn says: The phrase is actually 'burning the candle at both ends of the day' i.e. getting up early in the morning (and burning a candle) and going to bed late (and again burning a candle). Which is why we say that someone looking tired and haggard from overwork (or overplay) has been burning the candle at both ends...
NOT FIT TO HOLD A CANDLE TO
A menial household task was holding a candle for someone while they completed some type of activity. Some people were not held in much esteem, therefore they were "not fit to hold a candle to."
GIVING SOMEONE THE COLD SHOULDER
When a guests would over stay their welcome as house guests, the hosts would (instead of feeding them good, warm meals) give their too-long staying guests the worst part of the animal, not warmed, but the COLD SHOULDER.
EATING HUMBLE PIE
Servants at "umble pie" which was made from deer waste while their Master and his guests had the better cuts of meat.
RULE OF THUMB
An old English law declared that a man could not beat his wife with a stick any larger than the diameter of his thumb.
Comment from Lance: When brewing beer, the temperature at which the yeast is added is important. Too cold and the yeast won't work, too hot and it'll die. Before the days of thermometers, a brewer would determine temperature by simply sticking his thumb into the mixture.
Another possibility: As an artist, I always thought that this saying applied to the act of using one's thumb as a judge of scale. You literally use your thumb to act as a ruler to determine the scale of an object in your painting.
Peter wrote: the French word for an inch (puce) is the same as for a thumb. I wonder if the thumb was used as a rough reckoner for inches? Just a thought.
Anthony wrote: this has nothing to do with painting, nor is it anything to do with wife beating, which is just plain old down home American stupidity. It was used by bakers in judging flour, the flour being rubbed between thumb and fingers.
Read what Jesse has to say!
SAVING FACE OR LOSING FACE
The noble ladies and gentlemen of the late 1700s wore much makeup to impress each other. Since they rarely bathed, the makeup would get thicker and thicker. If they sat too close to the heat of the fireplace, the makeup would start to melt. If that happened, a servant would move the screen in front of the fireplace to block the heat, so they wouldn't "lose face."
TIE THE KNOT
Tying the knot of the ropes in the marriage bed.
James in Japan writes: ... the priest performing the wedding would bind the bride and grooms hands with rope during the ceremony. In modern day, you will often see the priest place a sash around their hands rather than rope, and it is from this that the saying comes. Although the practice is not as common as it was, depending on your denomination it is still done.
Karen: This is also from the old marriage custom of actually tying the couple's hands together as part of the ceremony. They were not allowed to untie it until they had consummated the marriage.
Claudie wrote: A Swedish exchange student told me that illiterate sailors and soldiers of yesteryear would send a piece of rope to their sweethearts when they wanted to get married. If the rope came back with a knot in it, that meant she said "yes" to the marriage proposal. He demonstrated this by tying two ornate knots in a length of rope. When the ends were pulled, the knots came together in the middle. Even if this isn't the origin of the expression, it was a charming demonstration.
Mike wrote: Having recently attended a Hindu wedding it would seem that the phrase is a quite literal one where the bride and groom each tie a necklace of flowers to consummate the marriage.
HONEYMOON
It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon".
BLACK MARKET
In medieval England there were nomadic mercenaries who wandered the country side and would sell their services to the highest bidder. These were hardened fighters who lived solitary lives in the wilderness. They did not have the luxury of servants to polish their armor and it would oxidize to a blackish hue, and they came to be known as black knights. At local town festivals they would have exhibition jousting matches in which the winner of the fight would win the loser's weapons and armor. The local gentry, softened by the good life, would lose to these black knights. The nomadic knights didn't have much use for an extra set of armor and would sell it back to them immediately after the fight. The losing nobility would be forced to buy back their armor and this after market came to be known as the "Black Market" (submitted by Gonzalo).
Judith interjects: Isn't it kind of strange that if "black market" is a medieval term, the Oxford English Dictionary doesn't show it as having been first used until 1931 in "The Economist." Come on, this is garbage. Fun garbage maybe, but garbage.
Blackmail
Kenyon wrote that he was told that the term "Black Mail" came from the armor used in Medieval times. The armor which was worn was called maol and it became black (as described in black market). When the two knights were dueling and one attained the upperhand, he would give the other an alternative of life or death as the sword was pointed at his face. This was known as black mailing someone.
Andy in Scotland wrote: Centuries ago, Maol was the silver which was paid in rent in Scotland. Sheep and cattle stealers would steal the cattle and then try to legitimize the theft by threatening to keep the animals unless the owner paid them rent for the grazing the animals had while they were stolen. This became known as Black Maol or Blackmail. We Scots invented Blackmail, something to be proud of ??
British Bobbies
P.J. says: The police force in London was established by Sir Robert Peel. For a time policemen were called 'Peelers' or 'Bobbies men'....hence Bobbies.
A flash in the pan (he/she is nothing but...)
Linda in Seattle: I'd always thought this phrase related to gold panning: a prospector, thinking he'd seen gold dust in the pan, looking more closely discovered it was just a "flash" (of light), not gold. The phrase came to be used to describe something that seemed at first very exciting, but turned out disappointing.
Joy Foy wrote: A musket has a flint attached to the hammer and a small steel pan attached to the side of the barrel just below it. There is a small hole in the barrel, right by the pan, going directly to the main charge of powder in the gun. When loading, one pours powder down the barrel for the main charge, and then puts a small bit in the pan below the flint. When the trigger is pulled, the flint slams down, ignites the powder in the pan, the fire moves through the hole into the barrel, ignites the main charge and the gun goes off. But sometimes there is a misfire: the flint ignites the powder in the pan, but the gun does not go off. All that happens is that there is a "flash' in the pan.
Getting nailed
Phil writes: The saying "I got nailed" or "Be careful, you might get nailed" refer to Jesus when he was "nailed to the cross." A very painful experience.
Andy in Scotland wrote: A few centuries ago in Britain, 'justice' was meted out mostly by hanging or flogging. However there were some crimes for which you could be 'nailed' for. For these crimes you would be taken to the hangman's gibbet and nailed through the earlobe(s) until night. You had two options: you could either stand all day, nailed to the scaffold or else tear your ear from the nail (yuk!). Women could also be nailed through the tongue for spreading malicious gossip.
A few centuries ago in Britain, 'justice' was meted out mostly by hanging or flogging. However there were some crimes for which you could be "nailed" for. For these crimes you would be taken to the hangman's gibbet and nailed through the earlobe(s) until night. You had two options: you could either stand all day, nailed to the scaffold or else tear your ear from the nail. Women could also be nailed through the tongue for spreading malicious gossip.
Ham it up
From Alan: The theatre lights used (see above) gave a green colour. Poor actors could not afford real makeup, so they made their own. It was made of lard (usually rendered bacon or ham fat) mixed with red brick dust. The smeared this on their faces!!!!
Raining cats and dogs
Another source: I have heard two interesting origins of this phrase: 1) In the Pennsylvania Dutch culture of the US there was an expression "Raining cats and ducks," both animals being related to rain. The cat from witch craft and the duck for obvious reason. This phrase was corrupted over the years to Cats and Dogs. 2) Much earlier, there were the Norse gods, and the exact one I don't remember, but the god of storms was also the god of animals. Hence the work of the god in a storm also included animals which were also his province.
In old(e) England, the houses were surrounded with open sewers, big ditches running down the road to channel the rainwater. The houses were low, with low hanging thatched roofs and the dogs and cats used to climb up there, one after the other. In heavy downpours, the said animals would tumble from their perches, past the windows and fall into the ditches compelling the 'tankarded' or 'bombed' residents to exclaim, "Aaargh, it's raining cats and dogs."
Definition from Lawson Tremellen: Before sewers any rain, rubbish, etc. was thrown into a ditch that ran beside the road. When animals died they were also thrown into the ditch. When the heavy rains came the dead cats and dogs would be carried away with the water.
Under the weather
Comment from Frank: "Under the weather" is a nautical term that was originated, I believe, in the British navy. When a sailor was ill, he was kept below decks, and thus, under the weather.
White elephant
Bill writes that in the late 1800s, P.T. Barnum, who then owned "the greatest show on earth," heard of a sacred "white" elephant in India. He sent an agent to buy it sight unseen. When the animal arrived by ship in Bridgeport, CT, Barnum was horrified to see what the Indians considered to be a "white elephant" turned out to be covered with large pink splotches, and was not white at all. The paying public was not impressed and Barnum had to keep his "white elephant" hidden from public view in a stable. Thus the term "white elephant" came to mean something that was generally useless but too valuable (to the owner) to throw away. (By the way, the original "white elephant" later died when the stable caught fire.)
Andy in Scotland wrote: In the UK a white elephant is something which costs a lot to maintain but is of no use at all. In Thailand elephants were put to work for a whole range of tasks, however, white (albino) elephants were considered sacred and therefore were not to be put to work. The poor owner was then left to feed the elephant but get no work from it.
White elephant
Under the weather
Raining cats and dogs
Ham it up
Getting nailed
A flash in the pan
British Bobbies
Blackmail
BLACK MARKET