当别人说put your foot in it时,要注意它的真正意思

当别人说 take a chill pill 的时候,不是真的叫你去吃冷静药丸,它跟药丸没有关系,同样地,当别人说 put your foot in it 时,要弄清楚是不是真的要把自己的脚放在什么里面。

Take a chill pill 跟“药丸”没有关系,它来表达让某人冷静,它不是叫某人去服镇静丸的意思,可以意为“冷静一下,镇定下来,放松一下”等,例如:

Take a chill pill, will you? Panicking about being late won't make me drive any faster.

冷静一下,好吗?担心迟到不会让我开得更快。

I sent the student to the principal's office after she told me to take a chill pill.

在她叫我冷静后,我把那个学生送到校长办公室去了。

习语 put your foot in it 常用来比喻无意中说或做某事使某人不安、冒犯或难堪等,通常跟“脚”没有关系,它相当于美式的 put your foot in your mouth,意为“(在语言或行为上)使人不安,冒犯别人,使人尴尬”,例如:

put your foot in it:

Martin put his foot in it today. He was moaning about having no bonuses this year, and the boss was standing right behind him. How awkward!

马丁冒犯到别人了。他抱怨今年没有奖金,老板就站在他身后。多尴尬啊!

I really put my foot in it with Ella. I didn't know she'd split up with Tom.

我真的冒犯了埃拉。我不知道她和汤姆分手了。

put your foot in your mouth:

The president is always putting his foot in his mouth. He embarrasses himself and his party every time he speaks.

总统总是让人尴尬。他每次讲话都使自己和他的党难堪。

I suggest you that don’t put your foot in your mouth at the party and look stupid.

我建议你不要在聚会上使人难堪和看起来很愚蠢。


由此可见 put your foot in it 很像两个单词的结合体,它们是 embarass 和 offend。跟 put your foot in it 让所表示的人感到的尴尬有点类似,embarrass 有的时候所表示出来的尴尬也不是某人有意识的,通常指在社交场合,对应的形容词是 embarrassing 和 embarassed,例如:

I didn't want to embarrass him by kissing him in front of his friends.

我并没想当着他的朋友吻他而使他感到难堪。

His clumsiness embarrassed him.

他因自己的笨拙而感到尴尬。

It was so embarrassing having to sing in public.
非得在众人面前唱歌太令人难为情了。
He felt embarrassed at being the centre of attention.
他因自己成为众人注目的中心而感到很尴尬。

但是 offend 表示出来的冒犯却是有意识的,它们的结果都同样会让对方感到难过或生气,对应的形容词是 offensive,例如:
A TV interviewer must be careful not to offend.
电视采访者必须小心别得罪人。
I didn't dare say anything for fear of offending him.
我什么都不敢说,怕得罪他。
His comments were deeply offensive to a large number of single mothers.
他的评论严重触怒了众多的单身母亲。

有的人对别人的冒犯通常都是粗心大意造成的,就是没有在正确的地点说正确的话,虽然不是故意的,但造成的影响不好,因此习语 put your foot in it 常常指因为一个人粗心大意或轻率的性格而造成的错误,也即 blunder 或 indiscretion,例如:
He talked to the press in a moment of indiscretion.
他一时冲动对新闻界发表了讲话。
I made a blunder by getting his name wrong.
我把他的名字弄错了,犯了个粗心的错。
病出口入,祸出口出,任何时候千万无缘无故不要夸夸其谈和大放阙词,少说话,多做事,要说也只说该说的,最好是经过斟酌的言辞。

词或词组辨析:
moan 意为“呻吟”
clumsiness 意为“笨拙,笨重“等
indiscretion 意为”不慎的言行,轻率“等
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