However, you would not want to call your teacher a horse!

[00:00.30]Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.#
这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故。#
[00:07.76]Today, we tell about “horse” expressions.#
今天我们来讲述一下关于”horse”的表达方式。#
[00:12.38]In the past,many people depended on horses for transportation, farming and other kinds of work.#
在过去，许多人的交通，耕作和其他活动主要依赖马。#
[00:21.77]A lot of people still like to ride horses.#
现在，仍然有很多人喜欢骑马。#
[00:25.95]And horse racing is also popular.#
赛马运动也非常流行。#
[00:29.87]So it is not surprising that Americans still use expressions about the animals.#
所以，美国人仍然喜欢使用与马有关的表达方式很正常。#
[00:37.48]Long ago,people who were rich or important rode horses that were very tall.#
很久以前，有钱人或者重要人物经常骑着高头大马。#
[00:46.17]Today,if a girl acts like she is better than everyone else,you might say she should “get off her high horse.”#
今天，如果一个女孩子表现的好像她比其他人都优越，你可以跟她说“别摆架子”(get off her high horse)。#
[00:56.82]Yesterday,my children wanted me to take them to the playground.#
昨天，我的孩子想让我带大门去操场上玩。#
[01:02.66]But I had to finish my work, so I told them to “hold your horses” ,wait until I finish what I am doing.#
但是我必须先完成工作，所以我告诉他们“耐心一点”(hold your horses),等我完成手头的工作。#
[01:12.82]My two boys like to compete against each other and play in a violent way.#
我的两个儿子经常相互竞争，以比较暴力的方式玩耍。#
[01:19.79]I always tell them to stop “horsing around” or someone could get hurt.#
我老是告诉他们“别闹了”(stop horsing around)，否则会有人受伤的。#
[01:26.29]We live in a small town.#
我们住在一个小镇上。#
[01:29.99]It does not have any exciting activities to offer visitors.#
没有任何激动人心的活动可以提供给游客。#
[01:36.00]My children call it a “one-horse town.”#
我的孩子称这个小镇为“乡村小镇”(one-horse town)。#
[01:40.18]Last night, I got a telephone call while I was watching my favorite television show.#
昨天晚上，我正在看最喜欢的电视节目的时候收到一个电话。#
[01:48.22]I decided not to answer it because “wild horses could not drag me away” from the television,#
我准备不接电话，因为八抬大轿都不能把我从电视机前拉走(wild horses could not drag me away)。#
[01:56.48]there was nothing that could stop me from doing what I wanted to do.#
任何事情都休想阻止我做自己想做的事。#
[02:02.66]Sometimes you get information “straight from the horse’s mouth.”#
有时候你“从可靠的方面获得信息”(straight from the horse’s mouth)。#
[02:09.07]It comes directly from the person who knows most about the subject and is the best source.#
这些消息直接来自最了解情况的人，是最好的消息来源。#
[02:16.82]Let us say your teacher tells you there is going to be a test tomorrow.#
比如说，老师告诉你明天举行测验，#
[02:24.07]You could say you got the information “straight from the horse’s mouth.”#
你可以说你得到了“最可靠的消息。”(straight from the horse’s mouth)#
[02:30.88]However, you would not want to call your teacher a horse!#
然而，你并不是想把老师说成是马！