当我们都试着去翻箱倒柜去找某个东西的时候,会发现其他很多东西,它们不但不在自己的记忆深处,而且也不再有使用的价值。有些东西虽然贵重,但华而不实(while elephant 或 eye candy),也有的东西不但不贵重,而且有的时候还是多余的,也就是无用之物,因此要养成定期清理没用的东西的好习惯。
White elephant 除了“白象”的意思,还可以用来比喻华而不实或没有实用的东西,相当于 eye candy,例如:
He's not an eyesore, more like eye candy!
表示某物没用、不能工作或不能满足需要的可以用单词 useless,unnecessary 或 superfluous ,但是我们不能用它们来形容人没用,例如:
Without fuel, the vehicles will become useless for moving supplies.I thought a lot of the violence in the movie was totally unnecessary.This new computer system is completely unnecessary and a misuse of taxpayers' money.这种新的计算机系统是完全没有必要的,是滥用纳税人的钱。
superfluous:
My presence at the afternoon's proceedings was superfluous.
我去参加下午的活动是多此一举。
The report was marred by a mass of superfluous detail.
报告被大量多余的细节所破坏。
注意:当表达 sb is useless (at sth) 时,指的是这个人差劲的或不擅长的,例如:
当要表达做某事没用时,可以用 it's useless to do sth 或 it's no use doing sth 等,例如:it's useless to do sth/it's useless doing sth:It's useless to speculate without more information.She knew it was useless to protest.It's useless worrying about it.It's no use arguing with a drunk.
那么如何用英语形容一个人没用呢?上面提到的 eye candy 就可以,还有就是 third wheel 或 fifth wheel;它们的表面意思是“第三个轮胎或第五个轮胎”,相对于两轮或四轮的车来说,第三或五个轮胎平时都是多余或没用的,因此它们可用来比喻没有的人或物,意为“多余的人,无用之物”等,例如:I felt like a fifth wheel when I couldn’t speak English well with my English teacher.当我不能和我的英语老师很流畅地讲英语时,我感觉自己是多余的人。I didn't realize that the party was for couples only, so when I showed up alone, I felt like a fifth wheel.我没有意识到聚会只为情侣举办,所以当我一个人出现的时候,我觉得自己很多余。Bill always begs to come on camping trips with us, but really he's a fifth wheel.比尔总是请求和我们一起去野营,但说真的,他是多余的。I quit my bank job and am preparing for civil service. Now I feel like I am a third wheel.我辞去了银行的工作,准备当公务员。现在我觉得我是没用的人。