VOA慢速英语：词汇掌故：结合寒冷和肢体的词汇

'Cold Feet' and Other Cold Body Expressions

词汇掌故：结合寒冷和肢体的词汇

And now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目。

Cold weather has a great effect on how our minds and our bodies work. Perhaps that is why we have so many expressions that combine the word "cold" with body parts.

寒冷天气对我们的头脑和肢体工作有很大影响。可能这也就是有这么多词汇将肢体和寒冷这个单词相结合的原因。

The most straightforward example is the adjective coldhearted. Just as it sounds, a coldhearted person is distant and, well, cold. An action can be coldhearted as well. This would be one that shows no love or sympathy.

最直接的例子就是“冷酷的(coldhearted)”这个形容词。正如它的读音，冷酷的人是冷淡和冷漠的。某种行为也能称之为冷酷的，这是指表现出没有爱心或同情的行为。

There are many songs about coldhearted men or coldhearted women who, without feeling, broke the hearts of their lovers.

有很多的歌曲是关于无情男女，他们缺乏感情，伤了他们爱人的心。

In the 1988 song, Cold Hearted, Paula Abdul sings about the coldhearted man who broke her heart.

在这首1988年这首《Cold Hearted》中，保拉·阿卜杜勒(Paula Abdul)唱到了那个伤了她心的无情男人。

He's a coldhearted snake, look into his eyes,

他冷血无情，看着他的眼睛

Oh, oh he's been telling lies. He's a lover boy at play,

噢，他一直在说谎。他是欢场上的美男子

He don't play by the rules oh, oh, oh ...

他不守常理。

The song was a huge hit.

这首歌很受欢迎。

It seems a trend may have been set. In 2010, the Zac Brown Band released a song with the exact same name.

似乎某种趋势可能早已定下。2010年，扎克·布朗乐队发行了一首同名歌曲

Pretty little words covered your dark and crooked heart

花言巧语掩盖了你阴暗和扭曲的心

With a forked tongue I fell in love,

我在谎言中坠入爱河

Then I fell apart

然后我的心被撕裂

You are so

你是如此的

Cold hearted

冷酷无情

Other similar adjectives often get a hyphen, like cold-blooded. Reptiles, amphibians and most fish are cold-blooded animals. This means they are unable to control their own body temperature. Mammals, on the other hand, are warm-blooded -- well, for the most part. There are some people in the world you could call cold-blooded.

其它类似的形容词通常会加上连字符，例如冷血(cold-blooded)。爬行动物、两栖动物和大部分鱼类都是冷血动物，这意味它们无法控制自己的体温。另一方面，哺乳动物大部分都是恒温动物。世界上有些人你可以称之为冷血动物。

People who show no emotions or feelings are often described as cold-blooded. Cold-blooded people are hard to get close to. And they often do terrible things, on purpose.

没有表达出情绪或感情的人通常被称之为冷血者。冷血者很难接近，他们经常故意地搞出可怕的事情。

For example, the police might look for someone they call a cold-blooded killer. The person killed someone without any understandable cause - not in self-defense, fear or even anger. Killing for no reason is often called cold-blooded.

例如，警方可能在搜捕他们所谓的冷血杀手。这个人不可理喻地杀了某人，而不是出于自卫、恐怕或哪怕是愤怒。无故杀人通常被称之为冷血。

Okay, enough of cold-blooded people. Let's go back to fish!

好吧，冷血者说得够多了，让我们继续说鱼。

As we said earlier, most are cold-blooded. So, calling a striped bass or rainbow trout a "cold fish" is fine. They would not be insulted...if they could be insulted.

正如我们前面所说，大部分鱼都是冷血动物。所以，将一条银花鲈鱼或虹鳟鱼称之为冷血动物(cold fish)没错。它们不会受到侮辱--如果他们能够受到侮辱的话。

But calling a person a "cold fish" is an insult.

但是称某人是冷漠者(cold fish)就是一种侮辱。

A cold fish is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. Cold fish do not offer much of themselves to anyone.

冷漠者是指不友好、缺乏感情、表现出没有爱心或热情的人。冷漠者不会向任何人献出自我。

However, not everyone who doesn't show their feelings is a cold fish. Some people keep their feelings to themselves until they know you better. We could describe these people with the expression cold hands, warm heart.

然而，并非所有不表现出感受的人都是冷漠者。有些人把感受藏在心底，直到他们非常了解你。我们可以称这种人是冷面热心(cold hands, warm heart)。

This means that a person may be very kind and warm. But they just don't show their feelings very easily. Take my friend Celeste as an example. She doesn't normally show her feelings. But she is always ready to help and is very kind. She is a classic case of cold hands, warm heart.

这意味着某个人可能非常友好热情，但是他们不会轻易表现出他们的感受。以我的朋友Celeste为例，她通常不会表达自己的感受。但是她总是乐于助人并且非常友好。她就是冷面热心的典型例子。

Speaking of hands, the hands and feet are some of the first body parts to feel the cold. Getting cold feet is no fun – outdoors or in conversation.

谈到手，手和脚是最先感受到寒冷的肢体部分。Getting cold feet(畏缩、裹足不前)在户外或谈话中并不有趣。

To get cold feet means to become afraid to do something you had already decided to do. We use this expression in situations that make us nervous or afraid -- from leading a big meeting at work to singing on stage in front of strangers.

To get cold feet意思是害怕做你已经决定要做的事情。我们在某些让我们感到紧张或害怕的局面中使用这个词汇，从主持一场大型工作会议到站上舞台在陌生人面前唱歌。

But we commonly use it in connection with weddings. People who are about to get married may begin to feel nervous as the day nears. They begin to question if they should take such a big step. If a bride shares these feelings of nervousness and uncertainty, a relative or friend might answer with "Don't worry! This is a classic case of cold feet!"

但是我们通常将它用于婚礼。即将结婚的人可能会随着时间临近开始感到紧张。他们开始质疑是否应该迈出这么一大步。如果新娘说出这种紧张不安，亲戚朋友可能会回答说：“别担心，这就是临阵畏缩(婚前恐惧)的典型例子。”

Another body part involved in our cold expressions today is the shoulder.

今天我们谈到的这些寒冷词汇涉及的另一个肢体部分是肩膀。

You give someone the cold shoulder when you refuse to speak to them. You ignore them. The expression probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has broken a promise, or to someone who has said mean things about others.

冷落某人是指拒绝跟他们说话，无视他们。这个词汇可能出自于转身背对某人这种身体动作。你可能会冷落一位不守承诺的朋友、或者说别人坏话的人。

Well, that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

以上就是本期词汇掌故节目的全部内容。

In the Comments Section, let us know what you think of today's show. We try to answer as many comments as we can. But unfortunately we can't respond to all. So, if you don't get a reply, please know we're not giving you the cold shoulder.

请在评论区留言让我们知道你对今天的节目有什么看法。我们会尽量回复尽可能多的评论，但不幸的是我们无法回复所有评论所以，如果你没有得到回复，你要知道我们不是想要冷落你。

I'm Anna Matteo.

安娜·马特奥报道。