smell a rat什么意思？smell a rat翻译成中文原来不是闻老鼠的意思。

近翻以前看过的电影,突然翻到小时候看过的《美食总动员》,一下就勾起了我的回忆。好了，我知道我已经暴露年龄了……

你不要说你没看过，我不会听的!!

皮克斯电影不出意外永远是冲突、幽默以及温情。我还记得小时候看过雷米藏在林奎尼的头发里操纵着他做饭的时候，也曾幻想过身边也出现一个“雷米”，但现实中的老鼠可不像雷米那样可爱……

之前带着大家总结过猫跟狗的相关英文表达，大家还记得吗?不记得的话赶紧戳链接回忆一下!

猫：【傅文佩为什么躲在里面不出声?因为cat got her tongue!!!】

狗：【把“dog days”翻译成狗日子，老外都笑“死”了!】

前面也说了，现实中的老鼠是没有雷米那么可爱滴，汉语中关于老鼠的描述也多为贬义。

比如什么胆小如鼠啊、贼眉鼠眼啊

过街老鼠人人喊打之类的

在英语当中，也多是如此……

接下来就跟着我一起来康康英文当中关于老鼠的表达有哪些吧?!

01一贫如洗 |as poor as church mice

短语：be as poor as church mice

释义：be very poor，一贫如洗、穷得叮当响，不名一文

例句：

When we first got married, we were as poor as church mice.

我们刚结婚时穷得叮当响。

02狸猫不在，老鼠闹债 |when the cat’s away, the mice will play

谚语：when the cat’s away, the mice will play

释义：这句谚语的意思是“people enjoy themselves more and behave with greater freedom when the person in charge of them is not there”，也就是中国的那句老话：山中无老虎，猴子称大王。

延伸：

法国谚语：When the cat runs on the roofs, the mice dance on the floors.

只要猫上了房，老鼠就在地上忙。

德国谚语：Cat outside the house, response for the mouse.

家里没了猫，老鼠伸懒腰。

03欲擒故纵 |play a cat-and-mouse game with

短语：play a cat-and-mouse game with

释义：这句短语的意思是“to play a cruel game with somebody in your power by changing your behaviour very often, so that they become nervous and do not know what to expect”，玩儿猫戏耍老鼠的把戏，也就是中文里的“欲擒故纵”。

例句：

He thought the police were playing some elaborate game of cat and mouseand waiting to trap him.

他认为警察是在欲擒故纵，等着抓他。

04老鼠弃沉船 |like rats deserting/leaving a sinking ship

短语：like rats deserting/leaving a sinking ship

释义：这句短语常常带有讽刺意味，幽默地指出了那些“leaving a place, organization, activity, etc. very quickly and in large numbers, because it is failing in some way”的人。与中文里的“大难临头各自飞”有些相似。

例句：

Former friends have deserted the couple like rats leaving a sinking ship.

从前的朋友像老鼠弃沉船般离开了这对夫妻。

05怀疑 |smell a rat

短语：smell a rat

释义：当某人“suspect that something is wrong about a situation”的时候，就说这个人“smell a rat”，指其怀疑或者察觉到了什么。

例句：

If I don't send a picture, he will smell a rat.

如果我不寄出照片，他将有所察觉。

06激烈竞争 |the rat race

短语：the rat race

释义：剑桥词典上把这个短语解释为“a way of life in modern society, in which people compete with each other for power and money”，现代社会中题人们为了权力和金钱而互相竞争的一种生活方式。是不是立刻想起来什么了?

没错，就是内卷!忘记的小伙伴赶紧戳【内卷到底是个啥，除了用involution还可以用什么词儿来形容它?】回忆一下!

例句：

He decided to get out of the rat race, and went to work on a farm.

他决定躺平了，然后去一个农场工作。

尽管中文和英文中关于老鼠的词汇大多都含有贬义，但是我仍然记得小时候看《美食总动员》时对雷米怀有的喜爱和敬佩。

它拥有一个灵巧的鼻子，有烹饪的天赋，敢于跟自己的父亲争论，敢于挑战权威。

我想，它身上有着很多人想要拥有却没有的品质。

魔鬼美食评论家Anton Ego在最后为雷米的作品写下了这样一段话：

In many ways the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But, the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things ... the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

在许多方面，评论家的工作是容易的。我们的风险很小，但却比那些把工作和自我奉献给我们评判的人享有更高的地位。我们可以肆意地批评，哗众取宠。但是，我们批评家必须面对的残酷事实是，在许多情况下，即使是再普通不过的垃圾食品，它本身都要比我们对它的批评有意义得多。

But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.

但有时候评论家也会冒险，那就是在他们发现并维护新生事物的时候，世界对新的天才和新的创造总是不友好的，新生事物需要人们的包容。

索性Ego的高贵并非姿态上的高贵，他的高贵最终使他低下了头颅，承认了雷米的美食创作。