帽子是一个藏东西的好地方,不管是把一封信放在帽子底下不让别人看到,还是戴上一顶帽子把自己的秃顶遮起来。下面我们要讲的一个俗语就是这个意思:to keep something under your hat。
To keep something under your hat的意思就是:我要告诉你一个秘密,但是千万不要告诉任何人。例如,下面这个女子正在告诉她的朋友有关另一个朋友的秘密,她说:
1): "Mary told me her husband is seeing another woman and she's thinking about leaving him but please keep it under your hat."
她说:“玛丽告诉我她的丈夫有外遇。玛丽正在考虑跟她丈夫分手。不过,请你千万不要对别人说。”
世界上要保密的事好像很多。下面又是一个例子:
2 ) :"Can you keep a secret? The boss's secretary just told me he's leaving for another job. She told me not to tell anybody else, so keep it under your hat."
这个人说:“你能保密吗?我们老板的秘书刚刚告诉我老板要上别处去工作了。他的秘书叫我不要对任何人说,所以你得保密呀!”