习惯的力量大家是有目共睹,好的习惯让人终身受益,不好的习惯不仅让自己备受折磨,其不好的影响也可能波及身边的人。成功就是无数的好习惯造就的成果,因此要培养好习惯,戒掉恶习。
说到习惯,自然而然就想到 habit,它常用作名词;habit 意为“习惯”时,是可数名词,例如:
You need to change your eating habits.
你得改变你的饮食习惯。
I'm not in the habit of letting strangers into my apartment.
我不习惯让陌生人进我家。
I only do it out of habit.
习惯的养成不是一朝一夕,但是一旦养成,就基本上是一辈子的事了。那么养成或形成习惯怎么表达呢?常见的有 develop/form a habit,或 make a habit of,例如:It's never too late to develop a reading habit.It is important that you should form a good habit.I'd prefer you not to make a habit of it.
无论是好的习惯还是坏的习惯,它们一旦被养成,要戒掉它们,夸张点讲是比登天还难,但是一些恶习是无论如何都要戒掉的,因为你不戒掉它们,它们就会戒掉你。”戒掉习惯“最常用的表达方式是 break a (the) habit 或 give up a (the) habit,通常戒掉的都是不好的习惯,比如抽烟或喝酒等,例如:
It's easier to develop a good habit than it is to break a bad habit.I struggled to break the habit of biting my nails, but getting regular manicures helped.Giving up the habit of smoking is not only helpful for yourself but also helpful for your family.
跟 break a (the) habit 类似,kick a (the, one's) habit 也表达“戒掉习惯”的意思;Kick a (the, one's) habit 的字面意思是“踢掉习惯”,很明显它不符合常理,因此它被来比喻戒掉习惯,例如:Unfortunately, the nature of addiction means that kicking the habit isn't as simple as just wanting to stop.不幸的是,上瘾的本质意味着戒掉这个习惯并不是简单的想戒就能戒掉。Teenagers spent a lot of time surfing on social media. They just can’t kick the habit.青少年花了很多时间在社交媒体上。他们就是不能戒掉这个习惯。I've really been trying to kick my habit of compulsive shopping lately, but it's a lot harder than I thought it would be.我最近真的在努力改掉强迫购物的习惯,但这比我想象的要困难得多。
跟习语 kick the habit 的性质有点类似的还有 kick 的另一个习语 kick the bucket,它的字面意思“踢桶”符合常理,但它还可以用来比喻死掉,因此有的时候不要望文生义,例如:All the money goes to her when the old man kicks the bucket.Any plant under my care kicks the bucket in about a week.因此惧怕一些熟词生义,因为你要么懂,要么不懂;懂的话,顺理成章,不懂的话,最好不要望文生义,除非有很大的把握。
1. manicure [ˈmænɪkjʊə(r)] 意为“指甲护理,修剪”等2. compulsive [kəmˈpʌlsɪv] 意为“难控制的,禁不住的”等