爱看“绯闻女孩”的网友们对其中流言的传播方式一定记忆深刻。转瞬之间,一条消息就可以通过网络,手机传的尽人皆知。虽然流言只是流言,但凡事都有因才有果,也就是我们常说的“无风不起浪”了。那么,汉语当中的这个“风”和“浪”,在英语当中是由哪两个词来对应的呢?
There’s no smoke without fire, 无火不生烟,怎么样,与“无风不起浪”算是殊途同归了吧。Proverbs serve to express general truths in a short and colorful way, for example, There 's no smoke without fire , meaning that there is generally some truth in even the wildest rumors.
谚语能用简明生动丰富多彩的方式表达普遍的真理。例如:“无火不生烟”,说的就是,即使是言过其实的流言蜚语,一般说来也总会有点真实的成分在里面的。
再来看一个小对话:
A: There’s a rumor that the Prime Minister is going to resign, but I can’t believe it. 有个传言说首相要辞职,我根本不相信。
B: Well, you know what they say---there’s no smoke without fire. 你知道有句老话吧,无风不起浪。
A: You mean it’s possible? 你的意思是这是真的了?
B: I mean nothing. 我什么意思也没有。
政客模棱两可的谈话方式。再来看一个例子:
The story is all over the town. It is being spread by someone or by some people. There’s no smoke without fire. 这个传说遍及全镇。有人,或者有些人还在散布。真是无风不起浪。
There’s no smoke without fire. 一个比较简单易记,又很常用的谚语。希望在日常的英语交流中您能学以致用,让鲜活的习语、谚语为您的表达增色。好了,Rose与您相约下期“布朗尼加分”口语课堂。