VOA朗讀: Mouth Expressions

 

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People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions using the word mouth. But some of them are not so nice.

For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say "Do not bad mouth me."

Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person's feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell.

The speaker might say: "I really put my foot in my mouth this time." If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth. In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.

Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. The other person might protest: "I did not say that. Do not put words in my mouth."
Information is often spread through word of mouth. This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other. "How did you hear about that new movie?" someone might ask. "Oh, by word of mouth."? A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. This is an official spokesperson. Government-run media could also be called a mouthpiece.

Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. When this happens, the friend might say: "You took the words right out of my mouth!" Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person. He might say that experience "left a bad taste in my mouth." Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog. He might say: "I had my heart in my mouth."

Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, "was born with a silver spoon in his mouth."

This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.

Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child. The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.
But enough of all this talk. I have been running my mouth long enough.

1 Do not bad mouth me.
別說我壞話。 Mouth在這裏做動詞，表示“說某人壞話”。例如：I won’t bad mouth Jay even if it kills me.打死我也不說傑伊的壞話。
2 I really put my foot in my mouth this time.
Put one’s foot in one’s mouth這個短語的意思是say something embarrassing, make a faux-pas（失言，說錯話了）。當你說了不該說的話時，突然發覺你說錯話了，就會這麽說。例如：“I certainly put my foot in my mouth at the party last night when I asked Mister Brown to say hello to his wife for me. Somehow I’d forgotten that his wife died six months ago.”他說：“我昨晚在聚會上無意中說錯了話。我讓布朗先生替我向他的太太問好。不知怎麽回事，我忘了他太太已經在半年前去世了。”
3 down in the mouth
Down in the mouth是口語，意思是“沮喪、垂頭喪氣”。 例如：Why do you look so down in the mouth ?（你為什麽顯得這樣消沉?）She gets down in the mouth over the least little thing.（她動不動就情緒低落。）類似的短語還有down in the dumps，也是形容情緒低落。
4 Do not put words in my mouth
這個短語的意思是“替某人說出你覺得他該說的話，把話強加於某人”。I never mentioned going away for a holiday: don’t put words into my mouth.（我從來沒有提到過去度假：不要把這個話強加於我！）Now you’re putting words into my mouth. When did I say anything about moving？(你這是強加於人，我什麽時候說過我搬家的事？)
5 word of mouth/by word of mouth
Word of mouth就是我們常說的“口碑”。By word of mouth是指人們經由一傳十，十傳百的口傳方式得知某件事，也就是藉著口耳相傳，大家告訴大家的意思。例如：A：This restaurant is so small, but it’s always crowded. How did you find out about it?　B：I heard by word of mouth that they had great food.（A：這家餐廳很小，但卻始終客滿。你是怎麽知道這家餐廳的？B：我是藉著人家口耳相傳，知道他們賣的東西很好吃的。）
6 mouthpiece
Mouthpiece原意是指（樂器、煙鬥等的）嘴兒，銜在嘴中的部分，接近嘴的部分，引申為喉舌、代言人、機關報。例如：The newspaper is the mouthpiece of the government.（這家報紙是政府的機關報。）
7 You took the words right out of my mouth
Take the words right out of one’s mouth意思是“說出了某人想說的話，觀點不謀而合”。例如：A: Did you see that girl in our English class. She is really beautiful. B: You took the words right out of my mouth.（A：你看見英語課上那個女孩兒了嗎？她可真漂亮。B：我也正想這麽說。）
8 left a bad taste in my mouth
Leave a bad taste in one’s mouth這個短語的意思是“留下壞印象”。例如：Her rudeness to the old man left a bad taste in my mouth.（她對那位老人的粗暴態度，給我留下很壞的印象。）此外，leave a nasty taste in one’s mouth也可以表達同樣的意思。
9 I had my heart in my mouth
Have/bring one’s heart in one’s mouth是指某事使人非常害怕，就好像心都被提到了嗓子眼。例如：I had my heart in my mouth when the other car ran through the red light and I knew we were about to crash．(當我看到那輛車闖紅燈時，我知道我們要撞車了。當時我的心都快跳到嗓子眼了。)表達類似意思的t短語還有：make one’s heart leap out of his mouth，one’s heart stood still等。
10 a person, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth意思是某人生在一個很富有的家庭，根本就不用到外麵去找工作來謀生。這種說法來源於歐洲的有錢人以前的一種習慣做法。當家長為一個新生嬰兒取名字的時候，他們要舉行一個宗教儀式。在舉行儀式的時候，他們給這個孩子一個銀子做的勺。例如：I’ll tell you the good thing about our boss. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and doesn’t have to work at all. But he really works harder than anybody in the office.（我來告訴你我們老板的優點。他出生在一個非常有錢的家庭；他根本不需要工作。但是，他工作非常努力，真是比辦公室裏任何人都更加努力。）
11live from hand to mouth
這個短語的意思是“僅能糊口、糊口度日”，也就是我們說的“家無隔宿糧，現賺現吃”。如：He got very little pay so he lived from hand to mouth.（他因薪水微薄所以僅能糊口。）
12 a mouthy child
一個喜歡多話的小孩兒。Mouthy做形容詞意思是someone who talks a lot and says what he thinks even if it is rude用來表示“說大話的”或者“愛說話的，多嘴的”。
13 stop mouthing off
這個短語的意思是“不要再胡說了”。例如If you don’t stop your mouth off, I won’t tell you anything in the future.（如果你還不停止胡說八道，以後我什麽也不告訴你了。）
14 running my mouth
Run one’s mouth意思是to talk excessively or foolishly（說得太多，大嘴巴）。在這裏作者的意思是他這次說得已經夠多了。