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“单词背后的故事”是一个电台节目,通过讲故事和举例子,让英语学习者更系统地了解到英语习语的意思与用法。当然,要学以致用才能真正掌握这些习语哦。小时候常常看到戏猴者拖着三只猴子玩把戏。非常厌恶,觉得人类太邪恶了——可怜的猴子啊,怎么连跟monkey有关的习语也似乎带点贬义?Ready? Go!
Monkeys are very similar to us in many ways. Most have ten fingers and ten toes and brains much like ours. We enjoy watching them, because they often act like us. In fact, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution says that monkeys and humans share a common ancestor.
Song writer William Gilbert in the musical “Princess Ida” wrote, “Darwinian man, though well behaved, at best, is only a monkey shaved.” His words, sung to Sir Arthur Sullivan注’s music, make listeners smile. Well, monkeys make us smile too, because they are creatures full of playful tricks. This is why many monkey expressions are about tricky people or playful acts.
One of these expressions is “1)monkeyshines,” meaning tricks or foolish acts. The meaning is clear if you have ever watched a group of monkeys playfully chasing each other, pulling tails, stealing food, doing tricks. So when a teacher says to a group of students, “Stop those monkeyshines right now!” You know that the boys and girls are playing instead of studying.
You might hear that same teacher warn a student not to 2)monkey around with a valuable piece of equipment. You “monkey around” with something when you do not know what you are doing. You are touching or playing with something you should leave alone. Also, you can monkey around when you feel like doing something but have no firm idea of what to do. For example, you tell your friend you are going to spend the day monkeying around with your car. Well, you do not have any job or goal in mind it is just a way to pass the time.
3)Monkey business usually means secret, maybe illegal activities. A news report may say there is monkey business involved in building the new airport, with some officials getting secret payments from builders. You may 4)make a monkey out of someone when you make that person look foolish. Some people make a monkey out of themselves by acting foolish or silly. If one monkey has fun, imagine how much fun a barrel of monkeys can have. If your friend says he 5)had more fun than a barrel of monkeys at your party, you know that he had a really a good time.
6)Monkey suits are common names for clothes or uniforms soldiers wear. In earlier years in many American cities, you would find men playing musical hand organs on the street. Dancing to the music would be the man’s small monkey, dressed in a tight-fitting colorful jacket similar to a military uniform. So people began to call a military uniform a monkey suit.
Notes
1) monkeyshine 恶作剧
2) monkey around (美俚)游手好闲,捣蛋胡闹
3) monkey business 欺骗,胡闹,猢狲把戏
4) make a monkey our of sb. 轻侮,愚弄、戏弄或嘲弄某人,使某人出丑
5) be / have more fun than a barrel of monkeys 形容非常有趣愉快,欢天喜地
6) monkey suit (俚)军服,(男用)礼服
Monkeys are very similar to us in many ways. Most have ten fingers and ten toes and brains much like ours. We enjoy watching them, because they often act like us. In fact, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution says that monkeys and humans share a common ancestor.
Song writer William Gilbert in the musical “Princess Ida” wrote, “Darwinian man, though well behaved, at best, is only a monkey shaved.” His words, sung to Sir Arthur Sullivan注’s music, make listeners smile. Well, monkeys make us smile too, because they are creatures full of playful tricks. This is why many monkey expressions are about tricky people or playful acts.
One of these expressions is “1)monkeyshines,” meaning tricks or foolish acts. The meaning is clear if you have ever watched a group of monkeys playfully chasing each other, pulling tails, stealing food, doing tricks. So when a teacher says to a group of students, “Stop those monkeyshines right now!” You know that the boys and girls are playing instead of studying.
You might hear that same teacher warn a student not to 2)monkey around with a valuable piece of equipment. You “monkey around” with something when you do not know what you are doing. You are touching or playing with something you should leave alone. Also, you can monkey around when you feel like doing something but have no firm idea of what to do. For example, you tell your friend you are going to spend the day monkeying around with your car. Well, you do not have any job or goal in mind it is just a way to pass the time.
3)Monkey business usually means secret, maybe illegal activities. A news report may say there is monkey business involved in building the new airport, with some officials getting secret payments from builders. You may 4)make a monkey out of someone when you make that person look foolish. Some people make a monkey out of themselves by acting foolish or silly. If one monkey has fun, imagine how much fun a barrel of monkeys can have. If your friend says he 5)had more fun than a barrel of monkeys at your party, you know that he had a really a good time.
6)Monkey suits are common names for clothes or uniforms soldiers wear. In earlier years in many American cities, you would find men playing musical hand organs on the street. Dancing to the music would be the man’s small monkey, dressed in a tight-fitting colorful jacket similar to a military uniform. So people began to call a military uniform a monkey suit.
Notes
1) monkeyshine 恶作剧
2) monkey around (美俚)游手好闲,捣蛋胡闹
3) monkey business 欺骗,胡闹,猢狲把戏
4) make a monkey our of sb. 轻侮,愚弄、戏弄或嘲弄某人,使某人出丑
5) be / have more fun than a barrel of monkeys 形容非常有趣愉快,欢天喜地
6) monkey suit (俚)军服,(男用)礼服