不能坐以待毙的英文(坐以待毙逆来顺受)(1)

这里背景是Thomas之前偷酒被Bates意外发现,因为两人一直是死对头。 因为担心被告发,Thomas先下手为强,联合Mrs O去Carson那里告发Bates是小偷。于是Carson找Bates谈话问询,Bates很难过。傍晚的时候一个人坐在院子里,Anna过来问候他:

A:Can’t you just explain about Thomas?

B: Not now. It would sound like a false accusation.

A:You can’t take it lying down. Because you are not guilty of any wrong.

知识点:

1,false accusation 诬告;栽赃;不实指控

2,take sth lying down :to submit to insult or oppression without resistance (遭受侮辱或压迫却不去抵抗)→ 「坐以待毙;逆来顺受」

出处:The image conveyed by this expression is that of a cowed animal, which accepts its unhappy fate instead of jumping up in protest. This metaphor appeared first in the late nineteenth century and is most often put negatively. It was so used by Shaw in Androcles and the Lion (1914): “I should feel ashamed if I let myself be struck like that, and took it lying down.”

这个表达传达的形象是母牛类的动物,它接受不幸的命运,而不是跳起来抗议。这个隐喻最早出现在19世纪后期,并且经常用于表达否定的含义。肖博纳在他的小说 《 Androcles and the Lion》(1914年)中这样使用 ↓

“I should feel ashamed if I let myself be struck like that, and took it lying down.” 如果我让自己那样被打倒还逆来顺受,我定然羞愧不已。

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