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【英語世界】「火」與「危險」掛鈎

2018-01-18
■「火中脂肪」比喻惹上麻煩。網上圖片■「火中脂肪」比喻惹上麻煩。網上圖片

美國記者沃爾夫(Michael Wolff)寫的新書《火與怒:特朗普白宮內幕》(Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House),引起世界各地很多人的興趣。Fire and Fury(火與怒)原是特朗普用來警告朝鮮的字眼,現在成為新書的書名,經常出現於各種傳媒中,相信日後會常常被引用。

提到fire「火」,通常會聯想到「火燒、火光」等等,所以會和「憤怒、危險」扯上關係。常說的play with fire(玩火)意思就是做出有危險或冒險的行為。

She is really playing with fire if she keeps seeing the gangster.

如果她繼續與那黑幫分子交往,她真的是在玩火。

「從煎鍋掉進火堆」每況愈下

再說兩個較為口語化,與fire「火」和「危機」相關的用語,可以在日常生活中應用。

Out of the frying pan into the fire,即是從煎鍋跌進火堆,意思是由一個惡劣或困難的環境去到一個更壞的環境,或者以為已經脫離險境,誰知是落入另一個更危險的境況。

When he couldn't pay the bank loans, he borrowed money from the loan sharks. Surely, he was just going out of the frying pan into the fire.

當他無力償還銀行貸款,便向高利貸借錢。無疑,他只是從煎鍋跳進火堆。

They were glad at first that their unkind boss was leaving. They didn't know that they were actually out of the frying pan into the fire. The new boss was even worse.

當初那個不仁上司離職時,他們感到很高興。他們不知道其實是從煎鍋跌進火堆,新來的上司更差勁。

「火中脂肪」引起麻煩

The fat is in the fire即「脂肪在火中」,意思是危機出現了,形容某人做了一些事情或說了一些話,令人憤怒、不滿,令自己陷入困境,或是發生了一些事,引起了麻煩,後果不堪,有如油脂落到火中,火上加油,令火燒得更旺盛,更難熄滅。

The fat was in the fire when his parents discovered that he had lied to them.

當他父母發現他撒謊,油脂落到火中,麻煩一定少不了。

The case has been widely reported in the media. The fat is in the fire now.

事件已被傳媒廣泛報道,油落到火中,危機已發生了。

此外,還可以說pull the fat out of the fire,可以想像是從火堆取出脂肪,即是在事後採取行動防止或阻止麻煩擴大或問題變大。

We wonder whether there is someone wise enough to pull the fat out of the fire now.

我們在想這時會不會有人有足夠智慧,從火堆中取出脂肪,阻止問題惡化。

火代表危險,處處都有,所以要小心,不要玩火,別讓自己陷於困境,也不要把危機擴大,要把問題解決,就不會出現火與怒。■Lina CHU [ linachu88@gmail.com ]

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