voamsyy 2015--词汇典故:什么是你的致命弱点?

What Is Your Achilles' Heel? 词汇典故:什么是你的致命弱点?

Hello! And welcome to Words and Their Stories, a VOA Learning¹ English program about American expressions. 

The Greek poet Homer has given us many phrases. A famous one is “Achilles’ heel.”

On your body, your Achilles’ heel is the tendon on the back of your ankle. In spoken English, your Achilles’ heel is your weak spot. You can say either “Achilles’ heel” or “Achilles’(s) heel.” Both are correct.

The Greek story of Achilles’ heel is the one Homer tells in the long poem called “The Iliad.” Here is how the story goes.

When Achilles was a baby his mother bathed him in the river Styx. She believed the river had magical powers. Bathing her son in its waters, she thought, would make Achilles immortal², deathless, like a god.

But one part of his body did not get wet: his heel, where his mother held him. His heel, therefore, was the one spot where Achilles could be hurt.

Achilles grew up. He became a great warrior³. During the Trojan War, he fought with the Greek army.

None of the Trojan weapons was able to hurt Achilles. The god Apollo, however, knew of Achilles’ weak spot. Apollo told the prince of Troy, named Paris, all about it. While not actually written in “The Iliad,” legend says Paris shot an arrow at Achilles’ heel and killed him.

We all have an Achilles’ heel. Even the toughest among us has a weak spot. This weakness may change as we get older. For many young people their ego⁴, or over-confidence, could be their Achilles’ heel. For others perhaps greed⁵ is their Achilles’ heel.

If I am trying to lose weight but love to eat ice cream, you could say that my love of ice cream is my Achilles’ heel.

And for many people, love is their Achilles’ heel. Love leaves us helpless⁶. Love makes us weak. People in love may find themselves doing foolish things. They may open themselves up to hurt or embarrassment⁷.

And a person who is head over heels in love is really in a weak position. This phrase, however, does not come from Greek literature. It was first used in the 14th century to mean turning a cartwheel or somersault.

Today, head over heels means something that is not in its natural state or something that is felt very deeply or strongly. It is usually used to describe someone who has fallen – possibly foolishly – in love.

Head over heels gives a clear picture of one who has fallen deeply and passionately⁸ in love. Close your eyes and picture what a person may look like if he or she is spinning like a wheel, turning over and over.

That is heads over heels.

Let’s hear this expression used in an example:

Hey, have you noticed something different about John recently?

What do you mean?

Well, he is usually such a good student. But lately he never has his assignments done. And he seems unable to focus in class.   

Well, you know he has a new girlfriend. And he is head over heels in love with her.

Oh. That explains why he has been acting⁹ so strange lately.

Perhaps being head over heels in love has never been your Achilles’ heel, but you can probably imagine how powerful the feeling is. Like in this song by Tears for Fears, something just happens and you are head over heels.

Something happens and I’m head over heels, I never find out (un)till I’m head over heels …

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

3 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

4 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

5 greed   

n.贪食，贪心，贪婪

参考例句：

• His greed knows no limits.他的贪心永无止境。
• Greed was his only motive for stealing.贪婪是他盗窃的唯一动机。

6 helpless   

adj.无助的，无依无靠的；不能自力的

参考例句：

• The other team was helpless and we had a real field day.对方队很弱，我们轻易取胜。
• They felt helpless to do anything about it.他们对这事感到无能为力。

7 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

8 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。