Proverbs and idioms are a key part of learning a language! Instead of saying directly what you mean, proverbs can help you paint a picture of it instead, and allow you to help the person you are talking to understand you better.

谚语和习语是学习一门语言的关键部分！谚语可以帮助你描绘一幅图画，而不是直接说出你的意思，让你帮助你说话的人更好地理解你。

 

Common phrases can be used in the conversations you have with other people every day, in the TV shows and newspaper articles you watch and read, and even at work or in class. In order to fully understand a language, you must know all these phrases and sentences.

常见的短语可以用在你每天和别人的谈话中，在你看和读的电视节目和报纸文章中，甚至在工作或课堂上。为了完全理解一门语言，你必须知道所有这些短语和句子。

 

What better topic to paint a picture about than food? All of these proverbs have to do with food! Do not read this if you are hungry – it may only make you hungrier! Wait until you have eaten to go through this list.

还有什么比食物更好的话题来描绘呢？所有这些谚语都与食物有关！如果你饿了就不要读这本书，它只会让你更饿！等你吃完饭再看这个清单。

 

1. An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

一天一苹果，医生远离我！

 

 

Many proverbs do not mean what they literally say, but in some cases, this proverb is used this way.

许多谚语并不是字面上的意思，但在某些情况下，这句谚语是这样使用的。

 

Especially for children who do not like to eat their fruits, parents can tell them “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!” to convince them that they will not have to see any doctor if they eat their fruits.

尤其是对于不喜欢吃水果的孩子，家长可以告诉他们“一天一个苹果，医生远离你！”“让他们相信，如果他们吃了水果，就不必去看医生。

 

In other situations, the speaker may mean this generally – in that, if you eat healthy foods and take care of yourself, you will not have any health problems or have to visit the doctor.

在其他情况下，演讲者通常会这么说——如果你吃健康的食物并且照顾好自己，你就不会有任何健康问题或者必须去看医生。

 

My sister only eats her fruits and vegetables if my mom reminds her that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

我姐姐只吃水果和蔬菜，如果我妈妈提醒她“一天一个苹果，医生远离你！”。

 

If you ask your doctor for some advice on how to stay healthy, they might make a joke and tell you that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

如果你向你的医生请教如何保持健康，他们可能会开个玩笑，告诉你“一天一个苹果可以让医生远离你”。

 

2. A hungry man is an angry man!

饿汉易怒！

 

While this proverb specifically talks about a man, this actually applies to all people – women and children included. When someone is hungry, whether they are grown or not, they are likely to be angry.

虽然这句谚语专门谈到一个男人，但这实际上适用于所有人——包括妇女和儿童。当有人饿的时候，不管他们是否长大了，他们都可能会生气。

 

When someone uses this proverb, they mean that someone who is hungry and has not had his needs met (whether it is specifically related to food or not) is more likely to be emotional.

当有人使用这句谚语时，他们的意思是饥饿的人，没有满足他的需要（无论是否与食物有关）更有可能是情绪化的。

 

People are only in their right mind and can make complex decisions if they are full and have their needs met.

人们只有在正确的头脑中，如果他们吃饱了，并且满足了他们的需求，他们才能做出复杂的决定。

 

When you are trying to have a meeting right before lunch, you are likely to get some people who will not pay attention or will give you pushback for trying to force them into a meeting by saying, “A hungry man is an angry man!”

当你想在午饭前开会时，你很可能会让一些人不注意你，或者因为你试图强迫他们开会而推倒你说：“饥饿的人是愤怒的人！“

 

When I was younger, I would never ask my mother whether I could go to my friend’s house if she had not yet eaten lunch or dinner, because I knew that she would always say no if she hadn’t eaten! A hungry man is an angry man!

在我小的时候，我从来不会问我妈妈，如果她还没吃午饭或晚餐，我是否可以去我朋友的家，因为我知道她总是说不，如果她没有吃！饥饿的人是愤怒的人！

 

3. Eat to live but do not live to eat!

吃饭是为了活着,但活着不是为了吃饭。

 

Some people love eating so much that they make their entire existence about finding the most delicious food for them to have.

有些人太爱吃东西了，以至于他们为了找到最美味的食物而自食其力。

 

They wake up thinking about what they want to have for breakfast, and then they spend as much time as possible figuring out which restaurants are the most delicious, and making sure that they go there and eat the best dishes.

他们醒来后会想早餐想吃什么，然后会花尽可能多的时间找出哪家餐馆最好吃，并确保他们去那里吃最好的菜。

 

This is great for most people who love eating, but this proverb warns against people who might take this a step too far.

这对大多数喜欢吃东西的人来说是很好的，但是这句谚语警告人们不要走得太远。

 

Instead of finding some “greater purpose” for their lives, such as educating younger people or working for the poor, they think that their purpose is to eat as much as possible.

他们没有为自己的生活找到一些“更大的目标”，例如教育年轻人或为穷人工作，而是认为自己的目标是尽可能多地吃饭。

 

If someone uses this proverb, it means that you should not put so much importance on eating. Instead, you should only eat enough to live, but you should not spend too much time thinking about food.如果有人用这句谚语，那就意味着你不应该把吃饭放在那么重要的位置。相反，你应该只吃够活，但你不应该花太多时间思考食物。

 

Once someone is overweight, they should think about eating to live, but not living to eat.

一旦有人超重了，他们就应该考虑吃饭是为了生存，而不是为了吃饭而活着。

 

My friend Ted absolutely has to find the best restaurants in every city that he travels to, so he ends up doing more research about food than research about places to stay or things to do. His wife always gets frustrated with him, saying that he should think about eating to live, but not living to eat.

我的朋友特德必须在他去的每一个城市都找到最好的餐馆，所以他最终做的是关于食物的研究，而不是关于住的地方或事情的研究。他的妻子总是对他感到沮丧，说他应该考虑吃饭来生活，而不是活着来吃饭。

 

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

不要把一切希望寄托在一件事上

 

If you are in a position to invest in something, or you want to take a chance, it is tempting to believe everything you hear. However, you never really know what is good and what will work, so that is a dangerous thing to do.

如果你有能力投资某件事，或者你想冒险，那么相信你所听到的一切是很有诱惑力的。然而，你永远不会真正知道什么是好的，什么会起作用，所以这是一件危险的事情。

 

In cases like these, this proverb is good to keep in mind. It means that you should not put all your money in one investment if you are talking about investing or stocks.

在这种情况下，这句谚语很好记住。这意味着，如果你在谈论投资或股票，你不应该把所有的钱都投在一项投资上。

 

If you are talking about a job, the proverb means that you should not think that everything will be perfect with that single job. You should instead look for several ways to make money.

如果你在谈论一份工作，谚语的意思是，你不应该认为每件事都会完美的与单一的工作。相反，你应该寻找几种赚钱的方法。

 

This proverb comes from the idea that, in older times, people would buy groceries and bring them home in a basket.

这句谚语来源于这样一种观念：在老年人，人们会买杂货，然后把它们放在篮子里带回家。

 

If you bought eggs, you should not put them all in the same basket, because if you accidentally drop the basket or bump into something, the basket could fall on the floor and all your eggs would break.

如果你买了鸡蛋，你不应该把它们都放在同一个篮子里，因为如果你不小心掉到篮子里或撞到什么东西，篮子会掉在地上，你所有的鸡蛋都会碎。

 

Instead, you should be more conservative and put some eggs in multiple baskets, so that if one fails, you can still rely on the others to still be there.

相反，你应该更加保守，把一些鸡蛋放在多个篮子里，这样，如果其中一个失败了，你仍然可以依靠其他鸡蛋继续留在那里。

 

When my sister came to me for investment advice, she was thinking about putting all her money in her friend’s start up. However, I knew that that would be foolish, and told her to split her money in many different stocks. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” I said. Luckily, she listened to me, because her friend went bankrupt two years later.当我姐姐向我寻求投资建议时，她正在考虑把所有的钱都投到她朋友的初创公司里。然而，我知道那是愚蠢的，告诉她把钱分给许多不同的股票。“不要把所有的鸡蛋放在一个篮子里！“我说。幸运的是，她听了我的话，因为她的朋友两年后破产了。

 

Most people should think about getting a side job to bring in some income, because it is hard to know if or when you will be let go from your main job. If that happens, do not come back crying to me! I told you not to put all your eggs in one basket!

大多数人应该考虑找一份兼职工作来赚取一些收入，因为很难知道你是否或何时会从你的主要工作中解脱出来。如果那样的话，不要回来哭我！我告诉过你不要把所有的鸡蛋放在一个篮子里！

 

5. It’s no use crying over spilt milk!

覆水难收

 

When you see a child who has spilled something – such as their milk – you will likely see them crying about it as well. The classic image of a crying child is one that has the ice cream part of his ice cream cone on the ground.

当你看到一个孩子洒了一些东西，比如他们的牛奶，你可能会看到他们也在哭。哭闹的孩子的典型形象是把冰淇淋的一部分放在地上。

 

When you are a child, crying like this is okay, because you do not understand much. However, when you are an adult, this is much less acceptable.

当你还是个孩子的时候，像这样哭是可以的，因为你不太明白。然而，当你是一个成年人，这是不可接受的。

 

This proverb tells people not to cry over spilt milk – or not to cry (or wallow in sorrow, or stay on another negative emotion) over something that has already happened.

这句谚语告诉人们不要为洒下的牛奶哭泣，也不要为已经发生的事情哭泣（或沉浸在悲伤中，或停留在另一种消极情绪中）。

 

Since there is no way to change the past, what has happened, has happened. Instead, you should move on and try to fix the problem, or just forget it.

既然没有办法改变过去，发生了什么，发生了什么。相反，你应该继续努力解决这个问题，或者干脆忘掉它。

 

The company wants us to try to fix all the problems that we have had with our new product, but I honestly think that it’s no use crying over spilt milk! We should just move on and work on our next product.

公司希望我们设法解决新产品出现的所有问题，但我真诚地认为，为洒出来的牛奶哭泣是没有用的！我们应该继续做下一个产品。

 

I know Jim feels that he will never love again after the girl he was going to propose to broke up with him. But, as I keep telling him, it’s no use crying over spilt milk! We love and we learn.

我知道吉姆觉得在他打算和他分手的那个女孩之后，他再也不会爱她了。但是，正如我一直告诉他的，为洒出来的牛奶哭泣是没有用的！我们爱学习。

 

6. One man’s meat is another man’s poison!

萝卜青菜，各有所爱！

 

Someone that loves to eat meat could bring their friend to their favorite steak or BBQ restaurant – only to remember that their friend is vegetarian! Even if they look at the same dish, they will have very different perspectives on what it is.

喜欢吃肉的人可以带他们的朋友去他们最喜欢的牛排或烧烤餐厅，但要记住他们的朋友是素食者！即使他们看的是同一道菜，他们对它的看法也会大相径庭。

 

One might think that the steak looks absolutely delicious and cannot wait to try it. However, the other may be utterly repulsed by it! In other words, what they think about that dish depends entirely on their personal situation.

人们可能会认为牛排看起来绝对美味，迫不及待地想尝尝。然而，另一个可能会被它完全击退！换句话说，他们对那道菜的看法完全取决于他们的个人情况。

 

Likewise, this proverb means that something that is delicious meat in one man’s eyes will be like poison in the other man’s eyes.

同样，这句谚语的意思是，一个人眼中的美味佳肴，另一个人眼中的毒药。

 

Ken was shocked to hear that there are people who do not like to drink bubble tea! However, he probably should have expected that because one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

听说有人不喜欢喝泡茶，肯大为震惊！然而，他也许应该预料到，因为一个人的肉是另一个人的毒药。

 

When my father announced to our family that we would be taking a two week vacation to Japan, I was completely ecstatic and excited to go. However, my brothers looked like they could not care less about it – and might even prefer to stay home! I guess one man’s meat really is another man’s poison.

当我父亲向我们全家宣布要去日本度假两周时，我欣喜若狂，很兴奋要去。然而，我的兄弟们似乎对此毫不在意，甚至宁愿呆在家里！我想真是萝卜青菜，各有所爱。

 

（来源：沪江英语）