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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
歡迎收聽VOA慢速英語《詞匯掌故》節目。
On this program, we explore idioms, or expressions, in the English language.
在本節目中，我們探討英語中的習語，即短語。
We give examples and notes on usage.
我們舉例子并對用法進行解釋說明。
And, sometimes we even use them in short stories.
有時，我們甚至在故事中使用它們。
Today we talk about bad situations.
今天我們談論的是糟糕的情況。
Sometimes we think a situation is very bad.
有時我們認為情況非常糟糕。
We cannot imagine that it can get any worse. But then it does.
我們無法想象情況還會變得更糟。但情況確實變得更糟了。
We have an expression for just that situation – out of the frying pan and into the fire.
我們有一個短語來表示這種情況——剛出龍潭，又入虎穴。
Imagine we are camping.
想象一下我們正在露營。
The area is near a small river.
露營的那片區域靠近一條小河。
So, for dinner, we decide to go fishing.
因此，晚餐時，我們決定去釣魚。
Fish cooked over a campfire is a tasty meal indeed.
在篝火上煎魚確實是美味的一餐。
We start the fire. We add butter and onions to the frying pan.
我們生火。我們在煎鍋里加入黃油和洋蔥。
When it heats up, we add the fish.
加熱后，我們加入魚。
In the frying pan, the fish is in a very bad situation.
在煎鍋里，魚的處境非常糟糕。
It flips violently back and forth.
它猛烈地來回翻轉。
It tries to get out of the hot frying pan.
它設法從熱煎鍋里出來。
Finally, the fish flips out of the frying pan but lands in the fire.
最后，魚從煎鍋里翻了出來，但卻落在了火里。
The idiom out of the frying pan and into the fire means you leave a bad situation purposefully only to find yourself in a much worse situation.
習語“out of the frying pan and into the fire”的意思是你有意離開一個糟糕的環境，結果卻發現自己陷入了更糟糕的境地。
You thought you were improving it, but the opposite happened.
你認為你正在改善處境，但事實卻恰恰相反。
Sometimes, this saying describes a choice between two equally difficult options.
有時，這句諺語指的是在兩個同樣困難的選擇之間做出選擇。
Here is another example.
下面是另一個例子。
Let's say your friend complains about his job all the time.
假設你的朋友總是抱怨他的工作。
He says his commute to the office is too long and the pay is too low.
他說，他上班的路程太長，工資太低。
You remind him that he gets great benefits, and he has the freedom to set his own hours.
你提醒他，他得到了很大的好處，他可以自由地安排自己的工作時間。
You tell him that no job is perfect. But he does not listen.
你告訴他，沒有完美的工作。但他不聽。
He leaves his job and starts another one. When you talk to him a month later, this is how the conversation might go.
他辭去了工作，開始了另一份工作。一個月后，當你與他交談時，談話可能是這樣進行的。
Hey, how is the new job going?
嘿，新工作怎么樣？
To be honest ... not so good.
說實話……不怎么好。
Oh no! What's wrong?
哦不！怎么了？
Well, I used to set my own hours. My new job has a strict 9-to-5 policy.
我以前是自己安排時間的。我的新工作嚴格要求朝九晚五。
Being about to set your own hours is a big plus.
能夠自己安排工作時間是一個很大的優勢。
And my take-home pay might be more. But I have to pay so much more for health insurance. And I have to pay for a parking space.
雖然我的稅后工資可能會更高。但是我不得不為健康保險支付更多的錢。我還得付停車費。
Sounds like you've jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
聽起來你好像剛出龍潭，又入虎穴。
Please don't remind me.
請不要提醒我。
And here is a final note on usage.
下面是有關用法的最后一項解釋說明。
If the friend in this conversation simply said, "Sounds like you just jumped out of the frying pan," we would know they mean this expression.
如果在這段對話中的朋友只是簡單地說，“聽起來你好像剛出龍潭”，我們就知道他們說的是這個習語。
Some word experts say this phrase comes from very early Greek poetry.
一些詞匯專家表示，這個短語來自非常早期的希臘詩歌。
Those early poets used the expression to describe the process of trying to escape smoke and getting burned by the flames instead.
那些早期的詩人用這個短語來描述試圖逃離煙霧卻被火焰灼傷的過程。
And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
以上就是本期《詞匯掌故》節目的全部內容。
Do you have a question about an idiom or expression? Send us an email to voalearningenglish.com and let us know!
你有關于習語或短語的問題嗎？發電子郵件到voalearningenglish.com告訴我們！
Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
下次見……我是安娜·馬特奧。
譯文為可可英語翻譯，未經授權請勿轉載！
