get sb's goat,不要理解为“取得某人的山羊”

无数的经验告诉我们,若一些短语或词组的意思很奇怪或不符合逻辑,那么它肯定是一个习语,比如 put one's feet up,它不是“抬起某人的双脚”的意思,因为这个很离谱,它的寓意是“放松,好好休息一下”,例如:

You go home and put your feet up.

你回家好好休息一下。

After a day of gardening I'm ready to put my feet up.

经过一天的园艺工作,我已经准备好好休息一下。

又如 eat crow,不要理解为“吃乌鸦”,因为那给人的感觉很奇怪,它的寓意是“被迫认错或收回自己的话”,通常会引起很大的羞愧,例如:

I think Ellen is a perfectionist because the thought of having to eat crow terrifies her.

我认为艾伦是个完美主义者,因为一想到要承认错误,她就害怕。

When it became clear that they had arrested the wrong person, the police had to eat crow.

很明显警察抓错人了,他们只好被迫认错。

同样,get sb's goat 不要理解为“取得某人的山羊”,它是一个习语,跟山羊没有关系,用来比喻激怒或惹恼某人,例如:

She got my goat the moment she said my mother was no good at parenting.

她一说我母亲不善于育儿,我就生气了。

Why are you so sad – who’s got your goat?
你为什么这么伤心-谁惹你生气了?
Although I don’t want to get your goat but I’ve lost your phone – somewhere.
虽然我不想惹你生气,但我把你的电话丢了——在什么地方。
The newcomer in our class is very intolerant – you can easily get her goat.
我们班的新来的人很难容忍,你很容易激怒她。
Abusing and shouting at home by kids often get my goat.
孩子们在家里辱骂和大喊大叫常常使我恼火。
解析:abusing 和 shouting 是两个独立的动名词,所以它们合起来作主语,谓语动词用复数。

其实,用来比喻类似惹某人生气的单词或短语还很多,常见的还有:

一、常见表生气的单词

1、angry 发怒的,愤怒的,生气的等,例如:

The passengers grew angry about the delay.

延误使乘客气愤起来。

2、irritate 使烦恼,尤指不断重复的事情,例如:
He irritated me beyond measure.
他使我非常生气。
解析:beyond measure 译为“极其,非常”。

二、常见表生气的短语

1、drive sb crazy/mad/insane  把人逼得发疯 / 发狂 / 失去理智,例如:

They're building a house next door and the noise is driving us all crazy.

他们在隔壁盖房子,噪音把我们都逼疯了。

2、in a fit of anger 气头上,一时气愤,例如:

When she didn't get her way, she drove off in a fit of anger. 当她不能随心所欲时,一气之下开车走了。

3、bite one's head off,非常生某人的气,例如:

I'm very sorry I lost my temper. I didn't mean to bite your head off.

很抱歉我发脾气了。我不是故意要生你的气。

4、in a huff 怒气冲冲,例如:
She flounced out of my room in a huff。
她愤愤地冲出我的房间。
5、piss sb off 使生气,使厌烦,例如:
Her attitude really pisses me off.
她的态度让我厌烦极了。
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