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What does that mean? 你真的瞭解這個慣用語嗎?
【英文學習】
很多字詞並非表面所見的意思，字詞的組合會產生不同的解釋。這樣的慣用法，我們稱之為「比喻」。一個成功的比喻，作者本身必須相當瞭解字詞的源起。以下的句子為讀者介紹一個比喻及其來源。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“The war hardened those who survived it, with any actual hero an accidental one and The Grim Reaper seemingly everywhere, grimly harvesting his exhausted crop of souls.”
「從真正的英雄到無名英雄，戰爭讓倖存者變得無動於衷，死神似乎無處不在，冷酷地收割筋疲力竭的靈魂。」
The Grim Reaper image of death dates from the bubonic plague of the 14th century that killed millions of people around the world. In dealing with such an enormous loss of human life, some artists turned death into a sinister, skeletal presence in a loose-fitting robe that employed a scythe as a weapon to end the lives of human beings. It was a more gruesome representation of the macabre than was practiced by, say, the Norse culture, which portrayed death as beautiful women. Some other cultures speak of angels appearing to call home the souls of people.
死神的形象源自十四世紀的鼠疫，那場瘟疫奪去數百萬人的生命。有些藝術家在描述這場死亡浩劫時，將死亡轉化為一個陰森凶險的骷髏架，披著寬鬆的長袍，手持鐮刀為武器，奪走人命。斯堪地納維亞將死亡描述為美女，有些文化則將死亡描述為天使出現，將人的靈魂召喚回家，相較之下這個死亡的表徵則相當可怕。
It is not surprising that the writer of this passage called upon the image of The Grim Reaper to illustrate the wholesale death of the battlefield. After awhile, war carnage becomes impersonal to those who are in close proximity to it and The Grim Reaper is anything but personal. Also, it is appropriate to use this image because war is fought with weapons and the scythe is a wicked one and can be utilized to “grimly harvest” victims in bunches, just as modern weapons of war do. The Grim Reaper is cliché, of course; an original allusion or image would have been better yet.
以死神的意象形容戰場大規模的死亡，並不令人意外。對親臨戰場上大屠殺的人來說，過了一陣子看待死亡就能不帶感情，而死神卻似乎如影隨形。此外，由於戰爭是武器間的爭鬥，鐮刀就是邪惡的武器，能用來冷酷地收穫許多受難者的靈魂，就像現代戰爭中的武器，因此死神在此是個適切的意象。當然，死神這個形容缺乏新意，更原創的比喻或意象會更好。
Imagery buries itself in language and takes on new meaning. The transplanted and transformed sets of words are called “figures of speech.” For a figure of speech to be effective, however, a writer must first understand the original meaning of the phrase. The following sentence contains a common figure of speech. Its original meaning is explained.
“The war hardened those who survived it, with any actual hero an accidental one and The Grim Reaper seemingly everywhere, grimly harvesting his exhausted crop of souls.”
「從真正的英雄到無名英雄，戰爭讓倖存者變得無動於衷，死神似乎無處不在，冷酷地收割筋疲力竭的靈魂。」
The Grim Reaper image of death dates from the bubonic plague of the 14th century that killed millions of people around the world. In dealing with such an enormous loss of human life, some artists turned death into a sinister, skeletal presence in a loose-fitting robe that employed a scythe as a weapon to end the lives of human beings. It was a more gruesome representation of the macabre than was practiced by, say, the Norse culture, which portrayed death as beautiful women. Some other cultures speak of angels appearing to call home the souls of people.
死神的形象源自十四世紀的鼠疫，那場瘟疫奪去數百萬人的生命。有些藝術家在描述這場死亡浩劫時，將死亡轉化為一個陰森凶險的骷髏架，披著寬鬆的長袍，手持鐮刀為武器，奪走人命。斯堪地納維亞將死亡描述為美女，有些文化則將死亡描述為天使出現，將人的靈魂召喚回家，相較之下這個死亡的表徵則相當可怕。
It is not surprising that the writer of this passage called upon the image of The Grim Reaper to illustrate the wholesale death of the battlefield. After awhile, war carnage becomes impersonal to those who are in close proximity to it and The Grim Reaper is anything but personal. Also, it is appropriate to use this image because war is fought with weapons and the scythe is a wicked one and can be utilized to “grimly harvest” victims in bunches, just as modern weapons of war do. The Grim Reaper is cliché, of course; an original allusion or image would have been better yet.
以死神的意象形容戰場大規模的死亡，並不令人意外。對親臨戰場上大屠殺的人來說，過了一陣子看待死亡就能不帶感情，而死神卻似乎如影隨形。此外，由於戰爭是武器間的爭鬥，鐮刀就是邪惡的武器，能用來冷酷地收穫許多受難者的靈魂，就像現代戰爭中的武器，因此死神在此是個適切的意象。當然，死神這個形容缺乏新意，更原創的比喻或意象會更好。
