Bull是公牛,是名词,又是动词。bull stocks 表示做市,这是股市用语。
牛强劲有力,让人很容易想起像西班牙奔牛节上狂奔的蛮牛,所以就有了排除万难,奋勇前进的意思,He was bulling about his enormous talent, 表示尽情地发挥他的才干,这是褒义的;也可表示吹牛,这就带有贬义了。如果你要在拥挤的人群中挤过去,那就是 bull one’s way through the crowd.
公牛蛮横,那母牛cow就比较温驯了,所以动词cow表示驯服,顺从。
They were cowed into silence by threats.(他们因受威胁而保持沉默。)
The intellectuals had been cowed into silence.
由cow派生出来的一些词都有与被驯服或懦弱有
如 cowardice n. 胆小,懦弱 You can’t accuse me of cowardice.(你不能说我胆小。)
coward n. 懦夫,胆小鬼 He is a coward and a bully.
(他既是个胆小鬼,还是个恶棍。)
(图片来自网络)
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