AMERICAN IDIOMS

to Go in One Ear and out the Other & to Play It by Ear

        今天我们要给大家介绍两个和耳朵“ear”有关的俗语。我们汉语中有句话叫做左耳进右耳出，这句话在英语中也有类似的意思：

        to Go in One Ear and out the Other

        下面是一位父亲谈论他女儿不幸的婚姻：

        “I told Sally it was foolish to marry that man, but it went in one ear and out the other. Now she wished she'd listened to me. He drinks and gambles and she wants to leave him.”

        这位爸爸说：“我早就告诉萨莉不要那么笨，去和那个人结婚。可是，对于我的话，她是一个耳朵进，一个耳朵出。结了婚她才知道那个人又喝酒又赌钱。现在她后悔当初没听我的话，想要和他分手啦。”

        对于老板的话，可千万不要左耳进右耳出哦，不然请看下面这位：

        “How many times have I told you to get to work on time? But my words just go in one ear and out the other. So I don't have any choice but to fire you.”

        他说：“我告诉了你多少次上班要准时？可是，你对我的话老是一个耳朵进，一个耳朵出。现在，我没有办法了，只好解雇你了。”

        今天要介绍的另外一个关于耳朵的俗语是：

        to Play It by Ear

        play （music） by ear就是说凭记忆演奏，即兴演奏。因此由此而产生一个俗语 play it by ear意思就是：事先没准备根据情况决定；见机行事

        例如：

        “I haven't had a chance to prepare any notes, so all I can do is to start talking and play it by ear.”  

        “我今天没有什么准备，所以就只好讲到哪儿算哪儿了。”

        又如：

        “I am not sure if my wife wants me to go shopping with her on Sunday. If she decides to go with her sister instead, then I can play tennis with you. Let's just play it by ear.

        “我还不知道星期天我太太是否要我陪她去买东西。要是她决定和她姐姐一起去，那我就能和你去打网球。我们就瞧着办吧！”

        我们今天又学习了两个俗语：to Go in One Ear and out the Other 和 to Play It by Ear

        to Go in One Ear and out the Other意思就是：左耳进右耳出，把提醒或者教诲当耳旁风。

        to Play It by Ear意思就是：事先没准备根据情况决定；见机行事。