"Sting"作为名词时表示“刺痛，刺毛”的意思，而“a sting in the tail”除了按照字面意思翻译为“尾巴里的刺”，在口语中还有更广泛的用法，我们先来看几个例子。
"We had a great holiday but it had a sting in the tail – when we got home we discovered our house had been broken into." “这个假期棒极了，除了意外的结局 - 我们到家时发现房子被人破门而入了。”
"I love her new book – the story is funny and romantic – but there's a sting in the tail when someone dies." “她这本新书棒极了，又有趣又浪漫，然而意外的是结局时竟然有人死了。”
"Yeah, we all got a pay rise this month, but there's a sting in the tail – we're expected to work longer hours." “耶，我们这个月涨薪了，但意外的是需要工作更长时间了。”
大家看出来了吧，结合语境"a sting in the tail"在口语中更多表达的是"something unpleasant and sometimes unexpected happens when doing something good or fun"，这个来自于蝎子这种很小而且看起来比较无害的生物，尾巴上却有一根有毒的"sting"，象征着看起来很美好的东西，却有一个很意外的结局。
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