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走馬觀花
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英語說－－舉棋不定/左右為難／進退維穀／風箱裏的老鼠
一周末朋友幾個出遊，在崎嶇的山間小路上，車開著開著前麵出現一截很陡的坡，試了幾次小吉普無法爬上去。大家很沮喪，有的說掉頭，有的不甘願。一“美”友唉聲歎氣道：Now what? We are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
回家查了字典，原來 between a rock and a hard place 意思是：Faced with a choice between two unpleasant alternatives, or two evils。相當於漢語裏的：左右為難，進退維穀，進退兩難
GoEnglish.com是這樣解釋的：
To say that one is stuck "between a rock and a hard place" stresses that there are two forces which are restricting one's movement. Often it is the opposite direction of these forces that causes the sticking point. One is unable for some particular reason to do something that one would like to do, such as act or not act in a certain way.
從字麵意思看，一邊是岩石，一邊是很硬的地方，你被夾在裏麵，行動受到限製。在這種情況下，很難決定你到底該怎麽做，陷入左右為難，進退維穀等境況。該成語常和be caught連用，還可以同be stuck搭配。
I'd like to help you but I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.
我想幫你的忙，但我實在是左右為難。
You've got me between a rock and a hard place; I'll sell it to you at the price you quoted.
做人實在難；算了，我就按你報的價賣給你吧。
在美國，為什麽‘左右為難，進退維穀’等之意用between a rock and a hard place來表達呢？
請看www.phrases.org.uk裏摘錄的一段說明：
US origin. The earliest known printed reference is Dialect Notes V, 1921:
"To be between a rock and a hard place, ..to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic in California."
The 'recent panics' referred to in that citation are undoubtedly the events surrounding the Bisbee deportations of 1917. In Bisbee, Arizona, in the early years of the 20th century, a dispute between copper mining companies and mineworkers developed. In 1917, the workers, some of whom had organized in labour unions, approached the company management with a list of demands for better pay and conditions. These were refused and subsequently many workers at the Bisbee mines were forcibly deported to New Mexico.
It's tempting to surmise, given that the mineworkers were faced with a choice between harsh and underpaid work at the rock-face on the one hand and unemployment and poverty on the other, that this is the source of the phrase.
原來，這種表達源自20世紀初的1917年的美國。當時，亞利桑那州的Bisbee銅礦礦工要求工廠提高工資，改善工作環境，遭到廠方的拒絕。結果，很多工人被驅逐到新墨西哥州。這些可憐的礦工被置於進退兩難的境地。要麽繼續幹苦工，要麽失業，真是進退維穀。
相同的說法還有：between the devil and the deep blue sea
一般人認為該語原為航海用語，十八世紀中葉開始被接受使用。語中的devil 實際並不是指魔鬼，而是指船隻靠吃水線附近部位的裂縫。受命修補此處裂縫是十分危險的工作， 一不小心就可能墜入波濤洶湧的大海，由此產生該成語， 意指“進退兩難，進退維穀”。......it referred not to the devil of hellfire and brimstone but to a seam around a ship's hull near the waterline. A sailor attempting to caulk this seam in heavy seas was in danger of falling overboard and drowning ----to mean any dilemma in which one faced danger. It became a cliche about the middle of the eighteenth century.
Example：
If we pay the rent to the landlady, we won't have any money for food; we are between the devil and the deep blue sea.
如果把房租付給女房東，我們就沒錢買食物，真是進退兩難。
He finds it very difficult to please both his wife and his mother. He is often caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
他覺得很難同時讓他的太太和他的母親都感到高興，他常常是風箱裏的老鼠－－兩頭受氣。
另一表達相同喻意的古老成語是：between Scylla and Charybdis
出自希臘神話。斯庫拉（Scylla）是一個6頭女妖，居住在墨西拿（Messina）海峽的岩礁上。她有12隻腳，每個頭有三排利齒，隨時準備撕咬獵物。但她原先是一美麗仙女，為英雄歌勞可思鍾愛，後她的情敵女巫喀爾克吃醋，將她變成麵目猙獰的妖怪。在她對麵的靠西西裏島的一邊，住著另一個女妖卡瑞布狄斯（Charybdis），她每天三次吞吐海水，形成巨大旋渦。這兩個妖物嚴重地危害著往來的船隻。據此，該成語就用來形容“左右為難”。
In Homer's Odyssey, the hero must sail a narrow passage between Scylla, a monster on a rock, and Charybdis, a fatal whirlpool. If he avoids one evil, he must run into the other. 荷馬史詩《奧德塞》裏，這位英雄必須駕船駛過這狹窄通道。如果避開一個女妖，必定撞上另一個，進退兩難。
Example：
One doctor tells me that only an operation can save my life, shile another says that my heart will never stand the chloroform, so I am between Scylla and Charybdis, and don't know what to do.
一位醫生對我說，隻有動一次手術才能挽救我的生命；而另一位醫生則說，我的心髒承受不了麻醉劑。我舉棋不定，不知如何是好。
He would have preferred to be on good terms with both his wife and his mother, but the effort of pleasing one without offending the other was like steering between Scylla and Charybdis.
他本願和妻子與母親都處好關係，但要討好一方而不得罪另一方簡直如同駕船在斯庫拉和卡瑞布狄斯間航行，左右為難。
參考：張向陽主編的《最新實用英語典故詞典》
Cliches----Christine Ammer
一周末朋友幾個出遊，在崎嶇的山間小路上，車開著開著前麵出現一截很陡的坡，試了幾次小吉普無法爬上去。大家很沮喪，有的說掉頭，有的不甘願。一“美”友唉聲歎氣道：Now what? We are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
回家查了字典，原來 between a rock and a hard place 意思是：Faced with a choice between two unpleasant alternatives, or two evils。相當於漢語裏的：左右為難，進退維穀，進退兩難
GoEnglish.com是這樣解釋的：
To say that one is stuck "between a rock and a hard place" stresses that there are two forces which are restricting one's movement. Often it is the opposite direction of these forces that causes the sticking point. One is unable for some particular reason to do something that one would like to do, such as act or not act in a certain way.
從字麵意思看，一邊是岩石，一邊是很硬的地方，你被夾在裏麵，行動受到限製。在這種情況下，很難決定你到底該怎麽做，陷入左右為難，進退維穀等境況。該成語常和be caught連用，還可以同be stuck搭配。
I'd like to help you but I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.
我想幫你的忙，但我實在是左右為難。
You've got me between a rock and a hard place; I'll sell it to you at the price you quoted.
做人實在難；算了，我就按你報的價賣給你吧。
在美國，為什麽‘左右為難，進退維穀’等之意用between a rock and a hard place來表達呢？
請看www.phrases.org.uk裏摘錄的一段說明：
US origin. The earliest known printed reference is Dialect Notes V, 1921:
"To be between a rock and a hard place, ..to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic in California."
The 'recent panics' referred to in that citation are undoubtedly the events surrounding the Bisbee deportations of 1917. In Bisbee, Arizona, in the early years of the 20th century, a dispute between copper mining companies and mineworkers developed. In 1917, the workers, some of whom had organized in labour unions, approached the company management with a list of demands for better pay and conditions. These were refused and subsequently many workers at the Bisbee mines were forcibly deported to New Mexico.
It's tempting to surmise, given that the mineworkers were faced with a choice between harsh and underpaid work at the rock-face on the one hand and unemployment and poverty on the other, that this is the source of the phrase.
原來，這種表達源自20世紀初的1917年的美國。當時，亞利桑那州的Bisbee銅礦礦工要求工廠提高工資，改善工作環境，遭到廠方的拒絕。結果，很多工人被驅逐到新墨西哥州。這些可憐的礦工被置於進退兩難的境地。要麽繼續幹苦工，要麽失業，真是進退維穀。
相同的說法還有：between the devil and the deep blue sea
一般人認為該語原為航海用語，十八世紀中葉開始被接受使用。語中的devil 實際並不是指魔鬼，而是指船隻靠吃水線附近部位的裂縫。受命修補此處裂縫是十分危險的工作， 一不小心就可能墜入波濤洶湧的大海，由此產生該成語， 意指“進退兩難，進退維穀”。......it referred not to the devil of hellfire and brimstone but to a seam around a ship's hull near the waterline. A sailor attempting to caulk this seam in heavy seas was in danger of falling overboard and drowning ----to mean any dilemma in which one faced danger. It became a cliche about the middle of the eighteenth century.
Example：
If we pay the rent to the landlady, we won't have any money for food; we are between the devil and the deep blue sea.
如果把房租付給女房東，我們就沒錢買食物，真是進退兩難。
He finds it very difficult to please both his wife and his mother. He is often caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
他覺得很難同時讓他的太太和他的母親都感到高興，他常常是風箱裏的老鼠－－兩頭受氣。
另一表達相同喻意的古老成語是：between Scylla and Charybdis
出自希臘神話。斯庫拉（Scylla）是一個6頭女妖，居住在墨西拿（Messina）海峽的岩礁上。她有12隻腳，每個頭有三排利齒，隨時準備撕咬獵物。但她原先是一美麗仙女，為英雄歌勞可思鍾愛，後她的情敵女巫喀爾克吃醋，將她變成麵目猙獰的妖怪。在她對麵的靠西西裏島的一邊，住著另一個女妖卡瑞布狄斯（Charybdis），她每天三次吞吐海水，形成巨大旋渦。這兩個妖物嚴重地危害著往來的船隻。據此，該成語就用來形容“左右為難”。
In Homer's Odyssey, the hero must sail a narrow passage between Scylla, a monster on a rock, and Charybdis, a fatal whirlpool. If he avoids one evil, he must run into the other. 荷馬史詩《奧德塞》裏，這位英雄必須駕船駛過這狹窄通道。如果避開一個女妖，必定撞上另一個，進退兩難。
Example：
One doctor tells me that only an operation can save my life, shile another says that my heart will never stand the chloroform, so I am between Scylla and Charybdis, and don't know what to do.
一位醫生對我說，隻有動一次手術才能挽救我的生命；而另一位醫生則說，我的心髒承受不了麻醉劑。我舉棋不定，不知如何是好。
He would have preferred to be on good terms with both his wife and his mother, but the effort of pleasing one without offending the other was like steering between Scylla and Charybdis.
他本願和妻子與母親都處好關係，但要討好一方而不得罪另一方簡直如同駕船在斯庫拉和卡瑞布狄斯間航行，左右為難。
參考：張向陽主編的《最新實用英語典故詞典》
Cliches----Christine Ammer
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