第437期:学一个好玩又实用的俚语表达Smell A Rat

 　　今天我们来学习一个比较有趣的英语俗语表达：smell a rat, 直译过来是闻到老鼠的意思，但其实它真实的意思是什么呢？中文当中，有不少关于老鼠的表达，比如过街老鼠-人人喊打；一粒老鼠屎-坏了一锅汤，鼠目寸光等，可见提到老鼠，大多数是比较负面的表达，引起人们的也是比较负面的情绪， 因为确实，想到老鼠这种生物，大多数人还是会比较不舒服的。英语当中，和rat相关的表达，也基本上是带贬义的。今天要学到的“smell a rat”这个短语只的就是感到事情不对劲，有异样的意思。

　　New Words:

　　trickery n.欺骗，哄骗，耍花招;

　　deception¹ n.骗局; 瞒骗，欺诈;

　　sniff² vt.嗅; 发现; 鄙视地说;

　　terrier n. 一种活泼的小狗；

　　odor n. 气味；名声

　　out of place adj.不合适的；不相称的；不在适当的位置

　　by mistake 无意地

　　have something to do with sth./sb.: 和某事/某物相关

　　Meaning:

　　?sense that something is not right ( 感觉某事不对劲 )

　　?suspect trickery or deception（怀疑有猫腻，骗局）

　　Origin:

　　No one is certain when or where this phrase originated, however if you have ever smelt³ a dead rat in a wall, you know that the odor is horrible, indicating that something is definitely out of place. The term probably comes from the days when rats were more common, and when prize terriers were used to sniff them out and kill them.

　　没有人能确定这个短语起源于何时何地，但是如果你曾经在墙里闻到一只死老鼠的味道，你就知道气味有多么可怕，这个短语就表明了肯定有些事情不对劲。这个短语可能来自老鼠更常见的年代，当时的猎犬靠嗅觉找到老鼠并且杀死这些它们。

　　Example:

　　1.When he made that offer, I smelt a rat. It sounded too good to be true.

　　当他提出这个提议的时候，我就觉得不太对劲。听起来好的不太真实。

　　2.His wife smelt a rat when he suddenly started working late for the past few weeks.

　　他在过去几周突然开始工作到很晚，他老婆感到不太对劲。

　　3.I don't think these files were deleted by mistake. I smell a rat. Maybe he has something to do with it.

　　我不觉得这些物件是误删的，我觉得有些不太对劲。也许这和他有关。

　　4.He smelt a rat when his wife said she didn't want to go on a vacation with him.

　　当他的妻子说不想和他一起去度假时，他就觉得肯定有猫腻。

　　5.I smelt a rat when I found some items missing from my desk.

　　当我发现我桌上有些东西丢了的时候，我就觉得不太对劲。

1 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

2 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

3 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。