#EZTALK #你不知道的美國大小事 #ratVSmouse
🇺🇸 Idioms 美國生活用語：老鼠 rat╱mouse 🐁

說到美國老鼠，你會想到可愛的米老鼠，還是《料理鼠王》裡頭的老鼠？趁鼠年第一天，來介紹老美眼中的老鼠！

💪順便搞懂 rat 跟 mouse 的不同之處吧！

1⃣ rat
2⃣ rat out/on
3⃣ smell a rat
4⃣ the rat race
5⃣ quiet at a mouse
6⃣ poor as a church mouse
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As we enter the Year of the Rat, it’s a good time to think about rodents and their cultural significance. The first animal in the Chinese Zodiac, rats are associated with intelligence, diligence and ambition. And people born in the Year of the Rat can look forward to being wealthy and successful.

鼠年即將到來，正好來介紹一下鼠類跟其文化意涵。身為十二生肖排名第一，老鼠通常會讓我們想到聰明、勤勞且有野心。鼠年出生的人可望成功富有。

In America, however, rats don’t have such a positive image. They are seen as dirty pests that steal food and spread disease. It’s therefore no accident the rat-related idioms are all negative. 1⃣ First, the term “rat” itself. In colloquial American English, a rat is a deceptive, disloyal person or an informant. Ex: Don’t trust Tommy—he’s a rat!

不過在美國，老鼠可就沒有這麼正面的形象。牠們被視為髒東西，愛偷食物並且散播疾病，所以沒有意外地，跟老鼠有關的美國用語都是負面的。首先來看看 rat 這個字，在美式口語英文中，講某人是 rat，就是說他是「騙子、不忠實」，或是「告密者」。如：Don’t trust Tommy—he’s a rat!（別相信湯米，他是個騙子！）

2⃣ “Rat” can also be used in the verb phrase “rat out/on,” which means “to inform on sb.” Ex: The thief ratted out his accomplices to avoid jail time. 3⃣Another phrase is “smell a rat,” which means “to suspect an instance of wrongdoing, deception or betrayal.” Ex: The witness smelled a rat when he saw the suspect leaving the scene of the crime. 4⃣Finally, “the rat race” describes the intense competition and long hours of the urban work environment. Ex: Eric dreamed of leaving the rat race and buying a small farm.

因此 rat 也可延伸作為動詞：rat out/on，指「出賣某人」，如：The thief ratted out his accomplices to avoid jail time.（那個小偷出賣他的同夥逃避坐牢。）另一個片語則是 smell a rat，指「發覺有可疑之處」，如：The witness smelled a rat when he saw the suspect leaving the scene of the crime.（目擊者看到嫌犯離開案發現場時覺得行為可疑。）最後是 the rat race，用來形容職場競爭激烈且工時長的現象。如：Eric dreamed of leaving the rat race and buying a small farm.（艾瑞克夢想著離開這競爭激烈的工作環境，去鄉下種田。）

While the Chinese “shu” is usually translated as “rat,” it can also refer to mice. And mice have a slightly better reputation in English than rats. Mice are small, quiet and shy, so 5⃣ “quiet at a mouse” refers to someone who is shy and timid. Ex: The new student in our class is quiet as a mouse. 6⃣And if someone is “poor as a church mouse,” they’re really poor. This is because churches usually don’t usually store food, so mice who lived in them would have nothing to eat. Ex: My parents were poor as a church mouse when I was born.

雖然中文字「鼠」常常翻作 rat「大老鼠」，不過也可以指 mouse（複數形 mice）「小老鼠」。在英文中，小老鼠的形象比大老鼠稍微好些。小老鼠體型較小，安靜又害羞，所以 quiet as a mouse 可以用來形容某人「害羞膽怯的」，如：The new student in our class is quiet as a mouse.（我們班新來的學生很害羞。）要是說某人 poor as a church mouse，就是說他們「非常窮」。由來是因為教堂通常不會儲藏食物，所以住在教堂裡的老鼠根本沒東西可吃。如：My parents were poor as a church mouse when I was born.（我父母在我出生時候非常窮。）

【✍重點單字】
1. rodent「嚙齒類動物」
2. Chinese Zodiac「十二生肖」：zodiac指西洋占星的十二星座。
3. diligence「勤奮」：當名詞，形容詞 diligent。
4. it’s no accident that…「沒有意外，……」
5. colloquial「口語的」：相對於書寫文字而言，較不正式的說法。
6. deceptive「愛騙人、說謊的」：當形容詞，名詞 deception。
7. informant「告密者」
8. urban「都市的」：相反詞為 rural「鄉下的」。
9. reputation「名聲」

#鼠年行大運 #鼠錢鼠不完
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#鼠年 講 #rat 抑或 #mouse 😉
#陳也 //先跟毛姨學吓英文，鼠年篤灰，二五仔最叻 rat on ...//
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明報
A16 | 英文 English | 毛孟靜
//十二生肖中，為什麼有老鼠，卻沒有貓？我們對老鼠通常並無好感，會罵人鼠輩、膽小如鼠，意思類似 coward 懦夫；形容人獐頭鼠目、蛇頭鼠眼，就等於英文的a ratty face。

而蛇鼠一窩，是指有一群形態鬼祟、心術不正的人 gang up 圖謀之意。

老鼠可登生肖龍虎榜的一個民間傳說，是這樣的：黃帝要選聘十二種動物來擔任宮廷衛士，眾動物皆應徵，原本是貓拜託老鼠代為報名，但老鼠騙了貓，報的是自己的名，從此貓鼠成為世仇：Cats and mice are perennial enemies.

這不禁令人聯想起卡通Tom and Jerry ，湯姆貓與謝利鼠，永恆互相追逐，鬥智鬥力；但他們並非仇家，有時也是朋友。

A Tom and Jerry relationship is also a love-hate relationship: They tease each other, knock down each other, irritate each other, but can't live without each other.湯姆貓與謝利鼠是又愛又恨的關係：他們彼此嘲諷攻擊、互相激怒，但卻不能沒有了對方。

鼠年，英文講Year of the Rat，為什麼一定是rat，不說mouse？這個，應該屬語文習慣，約定俗成，也許亦因為mouse的體積太小，too small，too insignificant，看似分量太輕。但事實上，rat 與 mouse 的頭及尾巴確有分別。

此外，除了米奇老鼠 Micky Mouse，鼠在英文的語境中，恰恰是可愛的相反。叫人做 a rat，就是鄙視其人形態卑劣、心術不正。A rat is a despicable person, especially one who is deceitful or disloyal，一個可恥的、尤其是欺詐或不忠的人。

Rat 用做動詞，一樣是負面的話：
To rat on someone，去做「二五仔」出賣對方，亦即香港人的流行語「篤灰」。

• You just don't rat on friends. 你就是不可出賣朋友。

• Many of his friends rallied to his support, others ratted and joined the enemy. 他的許多朋友群起支持他，但也有一些掉轉槍頭加入敵營。

而to rat someone out，可以跟上面的意思一樣，但亦可以調轉頭，變成是好人面對壞人的說法。

• He is a snitch. We need to rat him out. 他是個二五仔。我們要把他揪出來。

說到底即將送舊迎新，鼠年將至，總要有點吉利的話吧？

有，靈巧如鼠：Agile as a mouse / rat。

要注意的是，英文的機靈敏捷巧功，agility，通常不用鼠，而是以猴、蛇（正如中文會說靈猴、靈蛇）以及黃鼠狼來做比喻：

• Agile as a monkey 敏捷如猴

• Agile as a snake 機敏像蛇

• Agile as a weasel 靈活似黃鼠狼

文︰毛孟靜//

相信大家都或多或少有被「出賣」的經驗，英文可以用betray（背叛、出賣）這個動詞：「He betrayed me.」（他出賣我）或者「He sold me out.」另一個類似說法是「He ratted me out.」rat out同樣是「出賣；打小報告」之意。你還可以說：「He screwed me.」screw是「欺騙；詐騙」，同樣有「他出賣我」之意。

A：Why did you ignore James when he said hi to you?

B：Oh,because he sold me out! We cheated together on a test, and he told the teacher on me!

A：剛剛詹姆士跟你打招呼，你為什麼理都不理他？

B：因為他出賣我啊！我們一起考試作弊，結果他竟然去跟老師打小報告！