朋友圈晒旅游照必知:“拥挤”的N种表达
by 帕特里克
不盘点不知道,原来英语里关于“挤”和“拥挤”的表达多到让你吃惊!掌握这些和“挤”相关的常见表达,没准可以在朋友圈晒旅游照的时候用得上。
#1 虽然“人山人海”不是people mountain people sea,但是的确可以说a sea of people。 因为,a sea of=许多。比如:
The lecturer looked down at the sea of faces beneath him.(讲演的人俯视着下面无数的面孔。)
The crowd stood under a sea of brightly colored umbrellas.(人群上方是一大片亮色的雨伞。)
#2 如果在某个狭窄的空间里挤满了人,英语里有一个十分形象的比喻:packed like sardines(像包装好的沙丁鱼)。你应该能想象到那些内部排列整齐的沙丁鱼罐头。pack:包装(动词 )
The people on the bus were packed like sardines.(公车上的人挤得像沙丁鱼。)
The ten of us were squashed together like sardines in the lift. (我们十个人在电梯里拥成一团。)
#3 拥挤可以说成crowded,但还有一个更加口语化的形容词:chock-a-block(也可以写成chockablock)。
The small roads are chock-a-block with traffic.(这条小路被车辆挤得水泄不通。 )
It's an area that's chock-a-block with tourists.(这是一篇挤满游客的区域。)
#4 没错,“挤牙膏”的那个squeeze,也可以用来“挤电梯”。
There were already four people in the lift, but he managed to squeeze in. (电梯里已经有四个人了, 但他还是挤进去了。)
Passengers were trying to squeeze onto the bus.(乘客们都试图挤上公交车。)
#5 人群中,你可以用肘部为你开路。所以……elbow可以作为一个动词。
He elbowed his way through the crowd. (他用肘开路,从人群中挤出。)
She elbowed her way forward. (她用肘开路向前走。)
#6 如果你觉得be filled with听起来太干巴巴了,那么你可以有5种以上的选择来代替filled:
be teeming with:For most of the year, the area is teeming with tourists.(这片区域常年游人如织。)丨teem是动词,意思为“有很多”。用法也有点特别,比如可以这样: These rivers teem with fish.
be swarming with:The island is swarming with cats.(这座岛上漫山遍野都是猫。)
be crawling with:The whole place was crawling with tourists.(整个地方都游客络绎不绝。)丨crawl最原始的含义是“爬行”。这里是比喻的说法。
注意,上面提到的三个动词词组都没有用被动语态。接着来看另外两个:
be packed with:The streets were packed with vendors.(街道里全是小商贩。)
be cramed with: The restaurant was crammed with people. (餐厅里挤满了人。)丨 cram原意:填入,塞入。 “填鸭式教育”在上下文明确的情况下,可以被翻译成cramming。
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