out of thin air 凭空;无中生有
2009-02-01 19:50
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早在十七世纪,意大利科学家伽利略发现空气似乎没有实质却有重量。后来人们进一步发现高山顶上的空气要比海平面上的空气轻,于是人们就说高处的空气稀薄,也就是thin air。
习惯用语out of thin air在不同的语境有不同的含义,但大致表达的都是凭空、无中生有的意思。来看一个例子:
The tabloids make up the most ridiculous stories out of thin air. 小报凭空捏造最荒谬的新闻。
再来看个例子。说话的人是一家公司的雇员。他很担心自己会失业,因为这家公司还不起欠帐即将破产。
The company is flat broke (be flat broke:完全破产). Unless the boss can pull something out of thin air and borrow a lot of money by Friday, we'll have to go into bankruptcy and I'll have to look for other work. 这家公司现在已是财源枯竭,除非老板神通广大能在星期五之前筹措到大笔钱款摆脱困境,否则我们就只得陷入破产的境地,而我也必须另找工作了。
这儿pull something out of thin air意思是要解决问题脱离困境就得勉为其难地想方设法甚至得神通广大了。
Out of thin air表达的也不一定是贬义,比如这个例子。
Susan is one of the best TV script writers. She'll take an absolutely hopeless script by somebody else, pull some new ideas out of thin air, and end up with a first-class show. Susan是最优秀的电视剧作家之一。她会设法从别人写得一无是处的原稿中挖掘发展出新意,拍成一流的节目。
习惯用语out of thin air在不同的语境有不同的含义,但大致表达的都是凭空、无中生有的意思。来看一个例子:
The tabloids make up the most ridiculous stories out of thin air. 小报凭空捏造最荒谬的新闻。
再来看个例子。说话的人是一家公司的雇员。他很担心自己会失业,因为这家公司还不起欠帐即将破产。
The company is flat broke (be flat broke:完全破产). Unless the boss can pull something out of thin air and borrow a lot of money by Friday, we'll have to go into bankruptcy and I'll have to look for other work. 这家公司现在已是财源枯竭,除非老板神通广大能在星期五之前筹措到大笔钱款摆脱困境,否则我们就只得陷入破产的境地,而我也必须另找工作了。
这儿pull something out of thin air意思是要解决问题脱离困境就得勉为其难地想方设法甚至得神通广大了。
Out of thin air表达的也不一定是贬义,比如这个例子。
Susan is one of the best TV script writers. She'll take an absolutely hopeless script by somebody else, pull some new ideas out of thin air, and end up with a first-class show. Susan是最优秀的电视剧作家之一。她会设法从别人写得一无是处的原稿中挖掘发展出新意,拍成一流的节目。
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