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讀典故學英語,夠有趣!(4)

※ 讀典故學英語,夠有趣--(4)今天換鴿子了

STOOL PIGEON

 stool pigeon 這個短語到底是什麽意思呢?既然 stool 可作『凳子』或『糞便』解,那麽 stool pigeon 是否是指停留在雕像上拉屎的鴿子?抑或和家具有什麽聯系呢?

 其實,stool 在這個短語中根本就沒有『家具』或『糞便』的意思,實際上它是 stale 或 stall 的變體,意為『引誘,誘騙』。例如英國的劇作家和詩人莎士比亞的名著《暴風雨》中有這樣壹句話:

 "The trumpery in my house goe bring it hither for stale to catch these theeves."

(大意:把房間裏那些中看不重用的東西作為誘餌,目的是為了抓住這群賊骨頭。)

 stool pigeon 來源於法語 estale 或 estal,意指用來誘捕老鷹的鴿子。而這壹法語單詞又是從德語 stall 衍生而來的,意為『柵欄』或『固定的位置』。據此可以推斷,stool pigeon 是指『(抓捕犯人的)密探』,當然現在它也有『告密者』之意。

Pigeon English

[perhaps a corruption of business English], an extraordinary and grotesque dialect, employed in the commercial cities of China, as the medium of communication between foreign merchants and the Chinese. Its base is English, with a mixture of Portuguese and Hindoostanee. --Johnson's Cyc

pigeon 在slang中有容易上當受騙的意思,另外,還有特別關心的事務或者是人,比如:

 Football is not his pigeon 他不怎麽喜歡踢足球。

 a pigeon pair 壹男壹女的雙胞胎。

另外,put/set the cat among the pigeons 的意思是招惹麻煩。

在醫學上,壹些和這個詞有關系的壹些詞匯如下:

1. pigeon brest 雞胸,不是鴿胸啊,呵呵

2. pigeont-toed 足內翻的

以下是網上各位回復的關於鴿子的詞組:

(as) harmless as a dove 和善得象鴿子,象鴿子壹樣無害於人

as mild as a dove 非常溫和

dove of peace 和平鴿

bird of peace 和平鴿

doves and hawks dove 鴿派和鷹派

In the whole affair, he played the role of a humiliated stool pigeon.

pigeon-livered 溫柔的

pigeon's milk 不存在的事物

pigeonhearted 膽小的, 害羞的

One who is easily swindled; a dupe. 傻瓜容易上當受騙的人;易被愚弄的人

clay pigeon 清潔的衣服

carrier pigeon 信鴿

be someone's pigeon: Originally this expression was "that's not my pidgin". The word 'pidgin' represents a 17th century Chinese pronunciation of the word 'business'. The expression literally meant the same as "that's not my business".

e.g: I'm sorry to load this on you, Harry, but I'm selfishly glad it's your pigeon rather than mine.

put/set the cat among the pigeons: to cause trouble, esp. by doing or saying something that is unexpected or excites strong feeling pigeon-hole:

a.(文件或信箋的)分類格架,常用於被動語態

I put (papers, and ect.)in a pigeon-hole, and ingore it.

b.分類,歸檔,尤指硬性的

She flet her son has been pigion-hole as a problem child.

pigeon English 洋涇浜英語, 英漢夾雜語

pigeon hawk (美國產的)壹種小鷹

pigeon house 鴿籠,鴿舍

pigeon retina 鴿視網膜