英文里充斥著古怪的習語，像是“The moments when we escape a dicey situation by the skin of our teeth——我們從牙口間隙脫離危險境地(死里逃生)”(就像欽定版圣經中Job創造的那樣)。但是在任何詞典中，都還有變化的空間。無論老的小的，高的矮的，過著拮據的生活，還是富裕的日子，你都可以借用其他語言里有趣的俗語來豐富你的表達。
1、EATING A CABLE
Spanish西班牙語
to be in financial difficulty
陷入經濟困境
If you’re down to your last savings, perhaps you’ll only have your cables left to eat.
如果你窮得只剩下最后的積蓄時，可能你就只剩下電纜可以吃了。
2、TO RIDE AS A HARE
Russian俄語
To travel without a ticket
逃票旅行
If you are travelling without a ticket, you’ll be shaking like a hare when the ticket inspector comes to you.
如果你沒有為旅途買票，那么當檢票員來找你的時候，你就會發抖得像野兔一樣。
3、TO HAVE A WIDE FACE
Japanese日語
To have lots of friends and to be well liked
有很多朋友，很受歡迎
These days, this could be interpreted to mean you have a wide friendship circle on social media.
現在，這會被理解為指你在社交媒體上有廣泛的交友圈。
4、TO LIVE LIKE A MAGGOT IN BACON
Deutsch德文
To live the life of luxury
過著奢侈的生活
If a maggot’s found themselves some bacon, they really are living the high life.
如果蛆蟲為自己找到一些培根，那么它們就真的過得很好。
5、STOP IRONING MY HEAD
Armenian亞美尼亞語
Stop annoying me!
別煩我!
Traditionally used to stop nagging wives, but said now to anyone who’s being irritating.
習慣上是用來阻止碎碎念的妻子的，但現在也對所有惱人的家伙說。
6、TO HAVE LONG TEETH
French法語
To be ambitious
胸懷抱負
By this logic, you can argue that vampires are certainly ambitious.
按照這個邏輯，你可以說吸血鬼必定是野心勃勃的。
7、NOT MY CIRCUS, NOT MY MONKEY
Polish波蘭語
Not my problem
不是我的問題
This is certainly a more colourful way to wash your hands of a problem.
要撇清你和某個問題之間的關系，這確實是一種生動有趣的表達方式。
8、MY EYE WENT WITH ME
Maltese馬耳他語
I fell asleep
我睡著了
After all, your eyes can’t see anything if you’ve fallen asleep.
畢竟，當你睡著的時候你的眼睛什么也看不見。
9、I’M SWEATING CARROTS!
Dutch荷蘭語
Literally means ‘I’m sweating very heavily’
字面意思是“我出汗很嚴重”
This is a slightly nicer way of saying ‘I’m sweating like a pig!’
這要比“我出汗出得像豬一樣”要稍微好一些。
10、WORK IS NOT A WOLF; IT WON’T RUN OFF INTO THE WOODS.
Ukrainian烏克蘭語
You can always return to a piece of work later on
之后你總能回到工作中去
This is a good phrase to use on a friend who panics about assignments and chains themselves to a laptop to get them done.
這是一個很好地短語，可以用來用在那些對任務感到驚慌，并把自己鎖在電腦前去完成任務的朋友們身上。
11、IT FELL BETWEEN CHAIRS
Swedish瑞典語
When you want to say,’Yeah, I know I was supposed to do it but I forgot.’
當你想說：“是的，我知道我本應該這么做的，但是我忘了。”
This happens when two people were meant to do something, but both of them forgot all about it.
這種情況發生在兩個人都打算做某事，但他們兩人都忘光了的時候。
12、MY COTTAGE IS AT THE EDGE
Ukrainian烏克蘭語
Means:‘ I’m only slightly involved.’
意思：“我只是略有涉及。”
As you’re only on the periphery of the problem, you’re just not that worried about it.
因為你只是關系到問題的周邊，所以你就沒有那么擔心這個問題。
