【生活英文】表达快乐的习语!Some “happy” idioms!
前两天学了怎样表达快乐,用的是happy, glad, pleased等比较常见的词。周四的习语课,咱们来学一学怎样用习语表达快乐。看看以下句子的习语表达中你会哪几个?
I’m as happy as a clam.
我非常开心。
I’m beside myself with joy.
我高兴得有些情不自禁了。
I’m on top of the world.
我觉得太幸福了。
I’m on cloud nine.
我太高兴了。
I’m in seventh heaven.
我沉浸于极度欢乐中。
I’m walking on air.
我觉得飘飘欲仙。
下面我们来逐个学习:
(as) happy as a clam
非常快乐
clam意为“蛤”,这个习语完整的说法是:as happy as a clam at high tide(像涨潮时的蛤一样高兴)。人们通常在退潮时才去海滩拾蛤,所以涨潮时的蛤不用担心有生命危险,当然开心了。这个成语沿用到后来,at high tide被省略了,人们大多只用前半部分as happy as a clam,以此形容开心到不得了。
I am happy as a clam living all by myself in this little house by the sea.
自己一个人住在海边的小屋里,我非常开心。
I don't need much. Just somewhere to live, some work to do, and a TV to watch, and I'm happy as a clam at high tide.
我不需要太多。只要有个住的地方,有份工作,再有台电视可看,我就非常开心了。
beside oneself with joy
喜不自禁
这个成语的主干是beside oneself (with…),指因快乐或生气等情绪而失去自制力,后面接joy时,就是指“快乐得情不自禁”。
Peter was beside himself with joy – he'd won the award.
彼得高兴得不得了,他获奖了。
顺便说一下,这个结构with后也可接表示其他情绪的词,如:
She was beside herself with anger when I told her what I had done.
我告诉她我做了什么事,她快气疯了。
on top of the world
非常快乐;欢天喜地
Wow, I feel on top of the world.
哇,我感到高兴极了。
Since he got a new job, he's on top of the world.
他找了新工作后高兴极了。
有一首经典英文歌,叫作《Top of the World》,著名乡村音乐歌手Carpenters的代表作之一,来听听这种喜悦的心情吧!
on cloud nine
非常快乐;极其快乐
这个成语的出处未知,不过cloud nine跟汉语中的“九霄云外”有异曲同工之妙,可以把这个成语理解为:高兴得像置身九霄云外。
When I got my promotion, I was on cloud nine.
我得到了提拔,高兴极了。
She just bought her first new car and she's on cloud nine.
她刚买了新车,高兴得不得了。
和这一成语类似的还有一个:
in seventh heaven
身处七重天;极乐;极为幸福
seventh heaven是七重天,在不少西方神话中,神们都是住在七重天上的。所以,in seventh heaven就喻指非常高兴和满意的状态。
Ann was really in seventh heaven when she got a car of her own.
安有了自己的车,她真的是太高兴了。
I'd be in seventh heaven if I had a million dollars.
我要有一百万,我就乐得上天了!
我们再来学一个“上天了”的习语:
walk on air
非常快乐;心满意足
walk on air直译是“在天上走”,表达仿佛登上了天似的极其高兴的心情。
On the last day of school, all the children are walking on air.
上学最后一天,孩子们都高兴极了。
After winning the competition, we were walking on air for days.
赢了那场比赛后,我们高兴了好几天。
一下子掌握了这么多习语,你一定是on top of the world了!
Now it's your time to open your mouth and practice! 张开嘴巴练起来!