趣味英语起源论第60期:Carry someone's water谄媚者、马屁精
日期:2012-11-29 13:15

(单词翻译:单击)

世间万物的存在,必定有其存在的价值和意义,每一个事物的产生必定有其产生的根源,并非凭空而降。


Carry someone's water谄媚者、马屁精


carry someone's water这个短语通常用于政治文件里,暗指那些对上级或掌权人物俯首听命、曲意逢迎、甚至为虎作伥的谄媚者、马屁精。

"To carry someone's water" does indeed mean to occupy a subservient position, to do the bidding, the menial tasks, and frequently the dirty work, of a more powerful person, and is most often used in a political context. A junior member of Congress, for instance, who calls a press conference to vigorously denounce criticisms of party elders might be said to be "carrying water" for those criticized. The implication of "carrying someone's water" is that the underling is acting not on personal initiative but at the behest, either explicit or perceived, of more powerful figures. To describe a person as "carrying water for" someone else is pejorative and a subjective judgment, implying that the person is acting only as a proxy for a more important person, so one person's "water carrier" may well be another's "loyal ally."


"To carry someone's water" seems to have appeared in the late 1970s in the figurative sense in which it is now most often used, and almost certainly sprang from sports, where the position of "water boy," charged with catering to the players' comfort (including supplying them with water and the like), is the lowest rung in the team hierarchy.


如果形容某人为一个地位比他高的人carry water,就是一种带有轻蔑意味的讽刺或主观判断,表示该人只是一个“传声筒”而已,比如国会里的一个小议员召开记者招待会,猛烈抨击那些与己方高层人物意见不合的人,就可能会被称为water carrier。


carry someone's water这个短语大约出现在上世纪七十年代末,起源于体育运动。当时运动赛场上常有一些为工人或运动员送饮水的小孩,被称为water boy。在比赛中这些孩子必须四处奔忙随叫随到,和那些光芒四射的运动明星相比,water boy在整个团队中的地位是最低的,这就是carry someone's water的来历吧。


【例句】
We're carrying the water for him.

I've carried a lot of water for him.

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重点单词
  • subservientadj. 卑屈的,奉承的,次要的,从属的
  • subjectiveadj. 主观的 n. 主格,主观事物
  • rungn. 横档,脚蹬横木;地位 v. 给…打电话(ring的
  • vigorouslyadv. 精神旺盛地,活泼地
  • allyn. 同盟者,同盟国,伙伴 v. (使)结盟,(使)联合
  • explicitadj. 明确的,详述的,明晰的,外在的
  • judgmentn. 裁判,宣告,该判决书
  • occupyvt. 占领,占用,占据,使忙碌,使从事
  • implicationn. 暗示,含意,牵连,卷入
  • hierarchyn. 等级制度,层级[计],统治集团