这是一个全新的文字讲解专栏,分享我在阅读经济学人等其它优质外刊过程中遇到的实用佳词好句,汇总或改写一些实用的话题写作素材。
Gucci, Prada and Tiffany’s bet big on propertyHigh-end fashion has some new houses"bet"常见作为动词表示“打赌;赌博”这个意思,bet big 类似于“赌大”,bet big on sth. 在英文中是一个俗语,字面意思理解为“下大赌注于人或物”,引申义可以指“孤注一掷”。
后文中的house一般常见作为名词指“房屋”,此外,也可以代指“公司”,在英文中:House is used in the names of types of companies, especially ones which publish books, lend money, or design clothes. …公司 (用于某些类型的公司名称中,尤其是出版、贷款或服装设计等公司)• Many of the clothes come from the world's top fashion houses. 在此处语境中,house 可谓一语双关,时尚公司在英文中可以称作fashion houses, 而标题中结合这些时尚品牌公司押注地产,大量开设门店,has some new houses 又可以指“许多新门店”之意。
Meet the French startup hoping to take on OpenAI来认识这家试图与OpenAI扳手腕的法国初创企业。Mistral unveils its latest large language model—and a deal with MicrosoftMistral发布最新大语言模型,以及宣布与微软达成合作take on 一词在英文中有多种释义,最基本常见的意思如“接受;承担”,如take on a task/job 承担任务/角色。
在这里,take on sth./sb. 表达的意思是“与.....进行较量”,比如:If you take someone on, you fight them or compete against them, especially when they are bigger or more powerful than you are. 与 (尤指强于自己的人) 较量• Democrats were reluctant to take on a president whose popularity ratings were historically high. 民主党不愿意与一个支持率创历史新高的总统较量。unveil 一词并不陌生,在外刊里极为高频,通常表示“揭幕”,“拉开帷幕”这个意思。The Queen unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of the hospital. 女王主持揭幕式,标志着医院正式启用。to show or introduce a new plan, product, etc. to the public for the first time (首次)展示,介绍,推出;将…公之于众
They will be unveiling their new models at the Motor Show. 他们将在汽车大展上首次推出自己的新型汽车。
3. a slam-dunk issue
轻而易举的事情
IVF is a slam-dunk issue for Democrats. Abortion may not be.”试管受精“这一话题对于民主党而言,稳操胜券,但堕胎这一议题可能不是。IVF为名词缩写形式,全称为“in-vitro fertilization" 试管受精,in vitro 一般表示"体外的;试管的",fertilization作为名词,表示"受精或施肥"。slam 一词可以作为名词,也可以作为动词,表示:If you slam a door or window or if it slams, it shuts noisily and with great force. 砰地关上; 使劲关上比如:She slammed the door and locked it behind her. 她砰地关上门,身后的门锁上了。由此引申义:To slam someone or something means to criticize them very severely. 严厉批评; 猛烈抨击dunk 在篮球术语当中表示"把球扣入篮框内",slam dunk 一般用来形容"大力扣篮"这个意思。此外,在政治领域中,slam dunk还可以引申为:
something that is certain to be successful 必定成功的事;稳操胜券的事•Politically, this issue is a slam dunk for the party.