我们用“大海捞针”来表示东西难找,而英语则用“干草堆里找针”(needle in a haystack)来表示,可谓是异曲同工。“Needle in a haystack”这一表达可是经历了漫长的演变。十六世纪初,人们用“like finding a needle in a meadow of hay”和“like finding a pin's head in a cartload of hay”来表达这一含义,直到了19世纪中期才演变成了needle in a haystack。
看下面例句:
Sometimes trying to find something on the worldwide web is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
有时候在互联网上找东西就和大海捞针一样难。