昙花 ,仙人掌科昙花属植物,从花渐渐展开开始,过1-2小时又慢慢地枯萎了,整个过程仅4个小时左右,故有昙花一现之说,所以它比喻美好的事物或景象出现了一下,很快就消失。
因此要用英语表达这个成语,一定要体现速度之快,那看来只有光的速度可以胜任了。Flash 作动词或名词时,都可以意为“闪光”等,表示的是一种突然的亮光,亮了一会儿就消失了,例如:
Stop flashing that light in my eyes.Lightning flashed in the distance.
那么 flash 足以用来描述速度之快了,因此我们可以用 flash in the pan 来表达“昙花一现”,它来源于旧时的燧发枪或明火枪(flintlock),指装在平锅(pan)里的火药在子弹未被发射的情况下燃烧,产生了一些噪音和烟雾。现在常用来比喻短暂的成功或成就等,例如:With only one hit song, it was obvious that the young pop star was going to be just another flash in the pan.由于只有一首热门歌曲,很明显这位年轻的流行歌星将是昙花一现。I'm afraid that my success as a painter was just a flash in the pan.Tom had hoped to be a major film star, but his career was only a flash in the pan.汤姆本希望成为一名大电影明星,但他的事业只是昙花一现。
我们还可以用一个很形象的习语 here today and gone tomorrow 来表示“昙花一现”,例如:I can't believe I've already spent the money I got for my birthday. Here today, gone tomorrow!我不敢相信我已经把我生日得到的钱花光了。真是昙花一现啊!A lot of new internet companies are here today and gone tomorrow.每个人只要做好充分的准备,就都会发光发热,而且要持续的有努力输出,才能确保长远的光热。