我们先来看一段对话先:
A: Your best girlfriend says she made almost 10 million in sales last year. 你闺蜜说她去年的销售额将近一千万。
B: I know for a fact she loves to exaggerate. You have to take what she says with a grain of salt. 我知道她喜欢夸大其词。你得对她说的话半信半疑。
这里有一个很实用的短语,take something with a grain of salt 表示将信将疑,持保留态度。
我们先来看一下这个短语的起源:
Pliny the Elder translated an ancient text, which some have suggested was an antidote to poison, with the words ‘be taken fasting, plus a grain of salt’. The suggestion is that injurious effects can be moderated by the taking of a grain of salt. If someone is telling you something that is probably not entirely true or correct, it is easier to swallow it with a grain of salt than to argue against it.
老普林尼(Pliny the Elder)翻译了一段古代经文,有人认为这是一种解毒药,上面写着“禁食加一粒盐”。有一种说法是,有害的影响可以通过吃一粒盐来缓和。所以如果有人告诉你的事情可能不完全正确或正确,与其反驳,不如接受它,但是持保留的态度,将信将疑。
take something with a grain of salt
to understand that something is likely to be untrue or incorrect 认为某事可能是不真实或不正确的
- You need to take what you read in tabloid and gossip magazines with a grain of salt.
你需要对你在小报和八卦杂志上读到的东西有所保留。
翻译练习:
我们对任何免费的东西都应该半信半疑。
We should take free offers with a grain of salt.
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