三个臭皮匠胜过诸葛亮——谈headd的习惯用法

三个臭皮匠胜过诸葛亮

TWO \"HEADS\" ARE BETTER THAN ONE

我国谚语有句“三个臭皮匠，胜过诸葛亮”；英文的谚语有相似的，但却少了一个人，说“Two heads are better than one”。此地的heads不是头，而是指「头脑」或「智力」。今天我们来谈一谈有关\"heads\"的相关词句用法。

\"Head\"一字，翻开英文辞典则有许多解释，如American Heritage Dictionary就有27条。可是一般说\"head\"是指

[人、兽、物的]头，头部；〔用做数词的〕头
[/li]头脑，智力
[/li][机关的]主管，首长，首脑等意
[/li]

我们用「头」作各种各样的动作。表示同意或赞成时「点点头」，英文用\"nod (one's head)\"(因为\"nod\"本身就有「点头」之意，因而通常省略one's head)；听人家讲话或被上司指责时「频频点头」表示同意，赞成或顺从的动作称为“nob one's head”。相反地，表示不同意，不赞成或不愿意时的「摇头」是\"shake one's head\"。别人夸奖你，或问你难题而难于作答，或受责备而觉得难为情时你就会「搔头抓腮」\"scratch one's head\"。

The student scratched his head before answering the question.
(那个学生回答问题前搔搔头。)

在听别人讲话时，觉得对方所说内容有疑问或作深思时，把头偏向一边，称为 \"tilt one's head\" 或 \"cock one's head \"；把头向前后左右转动的动作为\"rotate one's head \"或\"roll one's head\"左右摆动就说\"move one's head from side to side \"；低下头为\"bend one's head\"但是像打架时或拳击选手迅速低下以闪避对方的打击则用\"duck one's head\"。

The boxer ducked his head in the first round so as to avoid being hit by his opponent .
(拳击选手在第一回合中急速低头闪避以免挨对手击中。)

英文里与\"head\"连用的词句和中文的说法相似者相当不少。我们常说「某某人很有头脑」，「某某人很有数学头脑」等等。英文就有\"a good head\"。

John has a good head for mathematics.
(约翰很有数学头脑。)

The speaker had a good head for figures, so he convinced the audience of what he said in his lecture.
(那位演讲人对数字很有把握，因而使听众对他的演讲非常信服。)

如果有一个人在肩膀之上有一颗聪明的脑袋，他或她一定非常有才气，而且能干；所以\"a good head on one's shoulders \"就指一个人很有才干，又有常识或判断力。

Lawrence has a good head on his shoulders and has been promoted to an executive position recently.
(罗连斯非常能干，最近被提升到主管的职位。)

John has a good head on his shoulders; he never drives too fast in Taipei.
(约翰很有判断力，他在台北从不开快车。)

对于年轻有为而处事稳重的人中文常用「老成持重」来形容，英文称之为\"an old head on young shoulders \"。

William has(或is) an old head on young shoulders and handles his business very well.
(威廉老成持重，把生意处理得很好。)

如果把上面所说的\"good\"和\"old\"换成其他的字，意思也就不同了：如\"He has a long head\"，不是说他有很长的头而是「他有远见」；\"He has a hard head\" 是指「他有注重实际事务的头脑」或「他很顽固」之意。至于\"He has a cool head\"是意谓「他有冷静的头脑」。可是\"He has a swollen(或swelled)head\"并不是说「他的头肿大」而是说「他非常自负」：

When Robert won the contest, he got a swollen head.
(当劳勃赢得比赛时，他志得意满。)

Pretty girls shouldn't get a swollen head about it.
(漂亮的小姐不应该因漂亮而自傲。)

\"swelled head\"的形容词为\"swell-headed\"（自负的）：

After he was promoted head of bureau, William became swell-headed.
(威廉被提升为局长时，显得非常自负。)

当您告诉别人「多用脑筋」时，可以用\"use your head \":

James, use your head and work harder!
(詹姆斯，多用脑筋并且工作勤快些吧！)

If you used your head a little bit, you wouldn't be in trouble like this.
(如果稍微用一点脑筋，你就不会惹上这种麻烦了。)

「从头到脚」也就是「全身」，英文有\"from head to heel \"或\"from head to foot,\"也可以用\"head to foot\"，其词意是和中文的意思相同：

The lady is dressed in white from head to foot and looks like a bride.
(那位妇人全身穿着白色衣服，看起来像个新娘子。)

中文「碰壁」，英文也有\"bang one's head against a brick wall,\" \"beat one's head against a brick wall,\"也就是「徒劳无功」的意思：

Trying to make him change his mind is just beating your head against a wall.
(想要改变他的心意，你一定会碰壁。)

为了集思广益，召集许多人商议、计划等为\"put (their) heads together, 或lay(their)heads together \"：

The members of the Welfare Association laid their heads together and decided to have a picnic on Teacher's Day.
(福利委员会委员们商量结果决定教师节那一天要举办郊游。)

The Government personnel officials put their heads together and finally decided to extend the Moon Festival holiday to the following Monday.
(政府的人事官员们商议后终于决定中秋节次日补假一天。)

有时候想到某些事情或有了什么想法，有相似的\"enter one's head\"或\"get into one's head\"：

It never entered my head that he would became a famous writer.
(我从没有想到他会成为著名的作家。)

He got it into his head that he had cancer.
(他以为患了癌症。)

当一个人做了见不得人的事而感到羞耻或惭愧以致抬不起头来，或感到垂头丧气，英文有\"hide one's head\"或\"hang one's head\"的说法：

The thieves hid their heads when they appeared on TV.
(那一帮小偷出现在电视上时垂头掩面。)

The boy hung his head when his father asked him if he broke the window.
(他父亲问他有没有打破玻璃窗时，那男孩低下了头。)

还有一句中、英文词义相同的词句－\"above one's head\"或\"over one's head\"，意思是「越级报告」或「越级请求」。

He went over his immediate supervisor's head to complain to the general manager.
(他不经过直接上司而越级向总经理申诉。)

The board chairman said that it was done over his head.
(董事长说那件事是未与他商量而做的。)

\"over(或above)one's head \"另外还有「无法了解」，「超越某人了解范围之外」之意，如：

The English lesson today was so difficult that it went over my head.
(今天的英文课太难，我无法了解。)

The TOEFL test last time was quite over my head.
(上次的托福考试我简直无法应付。)

The lecture given by a well-known scholar yesterday was above the heads of the high-school students.
(昨天的一位有名的学者的演讲，对于高中学生简直听不懂。)

结束本文以前，想再介绍一对词句，那就是\"keep one's head\"和\"lose one's head\"。“keep one' head ”的词意是「保持冷静」而\"lose one's head \"则是完全相反的「失去理智」之意。

When Mary heard the fire alarm, she kept her head and looked for the nearest emergency exit.
(当玛丽听到失火的警铃时，她保持冷静而寻找最近的太平门。)

When the fire broke out in the movie theater, the people lost their heads and ran in all directions.
(电影院起火的时候，大家失去理智而向四方奔逃。)

英国作家Rudyard Kipling(1865-1936)有一首诗，诗名为“If ”。这首诗的第一句就用这一对词句：

If you can keep your head
when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
如果你周围的人们
失去了理智而责怪你时，
你能够保持冷静.....。