Lesson 112 - SMELL FISHY / FISH FOR COMPLIMENTS

to smell fishy¹

to fish for compliments³

新鲜的鱼营养很丰富，味道又鲜美。可惜的是，鱼很容易变质，时间放长了，它就会发臭。今天我们要讲的第一个俗语就和鱼有关，这就是to smell fishy。

Fish就是鱼，fish后面加一个y，就成了fishy，也就是fish的形容词。To smell fishy的意思是在某一件事情上你感到不太对头，似乎有人在进行欺骗，这时候你就可以说: "It smells fishy."

我们现在来举个例子：

例句-1: "Somebody offered to sell me some beach property⁴ in Florida at a good cheap price. But the deal smelled fishy so I went down to take a look. Sure enough, every time the tide came in, the land was under three feet of water."

这个人说："有一个人要把佛罗里达州海滨的土地卖给我，价钱很便宜。但是，我总觉得这笔交易有点不对头，所以就到那里去看了一看。果然，每当潮水来的时候，这块地就被三英尺深的水淹没了。"

下面这个例句是一个人在报上看到出售旧汽车的广告，价钱实在便宜，便宜得都让人觉得不太对头了。你猜是怎么回事？

例句-2: "It appeared to be a real bargain, but I smelled something fishy because the man was in such a hurry to sell it. I was right--later on I found out the car was stolen."

这人说："价钱可真是便宜，可是这人那么急急忙忙要卖掉让我感到不太对头。我还真是没错，后来我才发现那辆车是偷来的。"

你可知道，在陆地上，鱼虽然钓不到，但是人们往往想钓别的东西，例如：to fish for compliments。Compliments就是赞扬或者恭维。To fish for compliments就是用一种巧妙的方法来让别人恭维你、赞扬你。下面就是一个例子：

例句-3: "Do you notice how Dora always fishes for compliments? She keeps asking the men in the office what they think of her new hairdo, or whether they think her new dress is the right color for her."

这个人说："你有没有注意到多拉是怎么让别人恭维她的？她在办公室里老是问一些男的同事，他们喜不喜欢她的发式，或者她的新衣服的颜色对她是不是合适。"

下面是一个作家在和一个人说话，他很可能是想要那个人说几句赞扬他的话，尽管他不承认。先听听他是怎么说的，然后你来作判断吧。

例句-4: "I hope you don't think I'm fishing for a compliment², but have you had a chance to read my new book? The reviews are good, but I'd like to hear what you think about it."

他说："我希望你不要以为我是要你恭维我。不过，你有没有看过我的新书？书评倒写的都很好，但是我很想听听你的意见。"

我们今天讲了两个俗语：to smell fishy和to fish for compliments。To smell fishy是觉得不太对头，to fish for compliments是设法让别人赞扬你。

「美国习惯用语」第一百一十二课就讲到这里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。再见。

1 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

2 compliment   

n.[pl.]问候，致意；n./v. 称赞，恭维

参考例句：

• The manager paid her a compliment on her work.经理赞扬了她的工作。
• Your presence is a great compliment.承蒙光临，不胜荣幸。

3 compliments   

n.问候，道贺，致意；赞美（话）( compliment的名词复数 )；向…送礼以表示敬意；问候；致意v.表扬，恭维( compliment的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He ladles out compliments to everyone, but he's not really sincere. 他见人就大加吹捧，但并非出于诚意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You pay her a few compliments and she immediately rises above herself. 你只要稍许赞扬她几句，她即会沾沾自喜。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 property   

n.财产，所有物，所有权，性质，特性，（小）道具

参考例句：

• He has made over his property to a hospital.他已将财产转交给了一家医院。
• Oil has the property of floating on water.油有浮在水上的特性。