源自莎翁的現代英語短語

在一門語言的發展歷程中有過很多表達，有的已淹沒于歷史的洪流，有的卻隨著經典的文學作品留存下來，進入我們的日常生活，普通到你甚至不知道它們原來竟有那么大的來頭……

William Shakespeare gave the world many gifts in his writing， and some of them have stuck1) over the centuries. Many expressions in the English language trace their first appearance in the works of Shakespeare， but people tend to think of his writing as very \"fancy\" and don't associate everyday words with classic English.

Have a look. You just might be surprised to see that you quote Shakespeare every day without even knowing it!

莎士比亞的作品給世界帶來了許多禮物，其中一些已經留存數百年之久。追根溯源，英語中有許多表達都是在莎士比亞的作品中首次亮相的，但人們往往認為他的文字很“華麗”，并不會將英語日常用語與古典英語聯系起來。

來看看吧！你也許會驚訝地發現，你每天都在引用莎士比亞的話，自己卻甚至毫不知情！

In a pickle2)

The term， meaning to be in a difficult position， was coined3) by Shakespeare in The Tempest， 1610. The earliest pickles were spicy sauces made to accompany meat dishes. Later， in the 16th century， the name pickle was also given to a mixture of spiced， salted vinegar that was used as a preservative4). The \"in trouble\" meaning of \"in a pickle\" was an allusion5) to being as disoriented6) and mixed up7) as the stewed vegetables that made up pickles.

Short shrift8)

In the play Richard III， 1594， the expression was used in its original form， which described the small space of time between condemnation9) and execution. A shrift is a penance10) imposed by a priest in a confession in order to provide absolution11)， often when the confessor was near to death. In the 17th century， criminals were sent to the scaffold12) immediately after sentencing and only had time for a \"short shrift\" before being hanged. Today the term is still in use， but meaning more to make short work of13)—to give little consideration to.

Salad days

This expression was first used by Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra in 1606， speaking of her salad days when she was green14) in judgment.

The phrase \"salad days\" lay dormant15) for two hundred years or more but became used widely in the 19th century. For example， this citation from the Oregon newspaper The Morning Oregonian， June 1862: \"What fools men are in their salad days!\" It is commonly used today to speak of someone who is young and inexperienced.

Green-eyed monster

Emotions have often been matched with colour. Green is a colour associated with sickness， possibly because people's skin takes on a slightly green tinge16) when they are seriously ill. The phrase was used by， and possibly coined by， Shakespeare to denote17) jealousy in The Merchant of Venice， 1596. Jealousy was the green-eyed monster 400 years ago when Iago warned of it in Othello. It is still quite common in modern times to hear this phrase used in common conversation to describe the force of jealousy.

The naked truth

This expression was first heard in Love's Labors Lost， when Don Adriano de Armado used the play on words to reveal that he was not wearing a shirt under his clothes.

Another theory of the origin of this expression comes from a fable in which Truth and Falsehood18) went bathing. Falsehood then dressed in Truth's clothes， and Truth， refusing to take another's clothes， went naked.

處于困境中

這個短語是指“處于困境之中”，是莎士比亞在其《暴風雨》(1610年)中創造的短語。最早的pickle是用于搭配葷菜的辣醬汁。后來，在16世紀，pickle這個詞也指一種用作防腐劑的混合物，由添加了香料和鹽的醋制成。該短語含義中的“有麻煩”暗指像被做成泡菜的燉蔬菜那樣迷失了方向，糊里糊涂。

草率對待

在《理查三世》(1594年)中，莎翁用的是這個短語的本義，即在定罪和行刑之間短暫的那段時間。Shrift是指由一名牧師在告解中施予懺悔者的苦修，以使其罪過得到赦免，這通常發生在懺悔者臨死的時候。在17世紀，罪犯被判刑后立即就會被送上斷頭臺，在被絞死前只有一點時間進行“短暫的補贖”。今天這個短語仍在使用，但意思更偏向于“迅速做完某事”，即“基本不加考慮，草率行事”。

年少無知的時期

這個表達出自《安東尼與克婁巴特拉》(1606年)中的克婁巴特拉之口，她把自己判斷力尚不成熟的時期稱為salad days。

短語salad days在沉睡了兩百年或更久之后，卻在19世紀開始廣為使用。例如美國俄勒岡州的一家報紙《俄勒岡早報》在1862年6月期上有一則引述：“男人在閱歷尚淺的青少年時期可真是傻瓜！”現在該短語常用來形容某人年少無知、缺乏經驗。

嫉妒

人們往往把各種情緒和不同的顏色相對應。綠色常被人們與疾病聯系到一起，可能是因為人在患重病時皮膚會微微泛青。莎士比亞在《威尼斯商人》(1596年)中表示嫉妒的含義時使用(而且也許創造)了這個短語。嫉妒是綠眼的怪獸——《奧賽羅》中的伊阿古在400年前發出了這樣的警告。現在還常常能聽到人們在日常對話中用這個詞來描述嫉妒的力量。

赤裸裸的真理

這個短語最初出現在《愛的徒勞》中，當時唐阿德里亞諾·德阿馬多用這個文字游戲透露，他外衣下沒有穿襯衫。

關于這個短語的起源，還有另一種說法認為，它來源于一則寓言。在寓言中，真理和謊言去洗澡，其后謊言穿了真理的衣服，而真理拒絕穿別人的衣服，只好赤身裸體。

1.stick [st#618;k] vi. 停留，留下；長久保留

2.pickle [#712;p#618;kl] n. <美> [常作~s] 腌漬食品；腌菜，泡菜(尤指酸黃瓜)

3.coin [k#596;#618;n] vt. 創造，杜撰(新字等)

4.preservative [pr#618;#712;z#604;#720;v#601;t#618;v] n. 防腐劑；保護劑

5.allusion [#601;#712;lu#720;#658;n] n. 暗指，影射

6.disoriented [d#618;s#712;#596;#720;rient#618;d] adj. 迷失方向的；不知所措的

7.mix up: 使弄不清，把……弄糊涂

8.shrift [#643;r#618;ft] n. (司鐸給予贖罪者的)解罪

9.condemnation [#716;k#594;ndem#712;ne#618;#643;n] n. 定罪，宣告有罪

10.penance [#712;pen#601;ns] n. (基督教) (表示悔罪或為得到赦罪的)苦修(包括祈禱、齋戒等)；(天主教) (東正教) (為得到赦罪的)補贖(一種包括悔罪、告解、自新等的圣事)

11.absolution [#716;aelig;bs#601;#712;lu#720;#643;n] n. 【宗】(教會神職人員所宣告的)赦罪

12.scaffold [#712;skaelig;f#601;#650;ld] n. 斷頭臺；絞刑臺

13.make short work of: <口> 迅速干掉；迅速解決

14.green [ɡri#720;n] adj. 不成熟的，幼稚的

15.dormant [#712;d#596;#720;m#601;nt] adj. 【生】休眠的；蟄伏的，冬眠的

16.tinge [t#618;nd#658;] n. (清淡的)色調，色彩；些許味道(或氣息)

17.denote [d#618;#712;n#601;#650;t] vt. 表示，是……的標志

18.1hood [#712;f#596;#720;lsh#650;d] n. 謊言；謬誤(尤指信仰、學說等)