纽约英语口语网新版
美国习惯用语
Lesson 89 - PUT ON THE DOG / GO TO THE DOGS

美国人总是说:狗是人的最好的朋友。许多美国人对家里的狗就好像对待家里的人一样好。有钱人还往往会出几千美元去买一只稀有品种的狗,我们今天要讲的一个俗语就和这种现象有密切关系的: to put on the dog。

To put on the dog就是摆排场给别人看。大概一百多年以前,一些有钱的人往往化很多钱去买一只稀有品种的小狗来显示自己很有钱。一些阔太太们经常在接待客人的时候把一只小狗抱在腿上来眩耀自己的阔气。当时耶鲁大学的学生就创造了to put on the dog这一说法来嘲笑那些暴发户。我们来举一个例子吧:

例句-1: Joe Doak is sure putting on the dog since his rich aunt died and left him 10 million dollars. He's bought the biggest house in town and a Mercedes 600, and talks about buying some riding horses.

这句话的意思是:乔多克自从他阿姨去世,留给他一千万美元遗产以后,他可真是摆阔气。他买了城里最大的一栋房子,还有一辆奔驰600型号的汽车。他还在说要买几匹马供他骑马玩呢。

看来有钱的人也不都是那样挥霍的。下面就是一个例子:

例句-2: I had this friend in the army who was the son of one of the richest men in the country. But what I like about him was that he never put on the dog to show off his money.

这句话的中文意思就是:我在部队服役的时候有个朋友,他的爸爸是美国最有钱的人之一。我很喜欢这个朋友,因为他从来也不眩耀自己多么有钱。

******

和to put on the dog意思相反的一个俗语是: to go to the dogs。To go to the dogs这个俗语的意思就是:变得很穷,彻底破落。比如说,在十九世纪的时候,美国西部发现金矿的地区出现了一个又一个新的城镇。许多人到那里去淘金,都想发家致富。可是后来怎么样了呢?

例句-3: As soon as the gold was all gone, these towns went to the dogs almost overnight. Everybody moved away, and these places are ghost towns now, with the wind whistling through the empty houses and shops.

这句话的意思是:等到金子都淘光了,这些城镇一下子就被人遗弃,彻底完蛋了。那里所有的人都走了,剩下的只有风在吹过空房子和商店的时候发出的沙沙声音。

这是社会变迁造成的结局。但是,人为的结局更加悲惨:

例句-4: I always thought my friend Pete had a good future. But then he got hooked on heroin and lost his job and his wife--I never saw a man go to the dogs so fast!

这人说:我总以为我的朋友彼徳是很有前途的。但是后来他吸上了毒品,失去了工作,妻子也走了。我从来没有看到过任何人破落得那么快的!