1.She is really a pill, spending whole day harping and complaining.
她真烦人,整天唠唠叨叨的。
pill本意是指“药丸”,在此喻指“讨厌的家伙”,因此也就有了“烦人”之义。
2.I give him an inch, and he takes a yard.
他太得寸进尺了。
这句话表示不知分寸,爱占便宜。也可说:“I gave him an inch, and he wanted to take a mile.”
如:Jerry keeps asking me for help. At first I helped because he was new here, but now... I give him an inch,and he takes a yard.
杰瑞总是让我帮忙。一开始我觉得他是刚到这儿的就帮了,可是现在……他太得寸进尺了。
3.She must be having a few buttons missing.
她肯定是脑子有点不正常。
此语中的buttons原指“纽扣”或“按钮”。此语主要用来表达“神经失常”、“行为古怪”以及“头脑失常”之类的概念。
如:She must be having a few buttons missing. That's why it's useless to argue with her.
她肯定是脑子有点不正常。这就是为什么我说你跟她理论没用
4.You are plain doormat.
你真是个受气包。
doormat 是个合成词,由door(门)和mat(垫子)组成,意指放在门口处供人“蹭鞋”的门垫,是个专门供人“踩”的东西,跟“受气包”的概念是不是很贴切呢?
5.I hate phonies most.
我最恨两面三刀的人
英语中的“骗子”有好多种不同说法,例如swindler尤指政治上的骗子。对于“两面三刀、阳奉阴违”的骗子,英语习惯用phony来表达。