学习语言，最忌“望文生义”，而应“追根究底”，了解语言背后的深意。正如人们常说的，想要透彻地了解一个人，最好先了解他的过去。学习语言也是，想要完全掌握一门语言，了解其起源就必不可少。
This is a list of phrases we are all familiar with and most likely use from time to time. The origins of these phrases are often unexpected and strange. As you will see on this list, some of them originate in places you simply wouldn't believe.
对于下面的一系列短语，我们可能再熟悉不过，很可能还会时不时用到它们。但这些习语的来源常常出乎人们的意料，令人感到不可思议。正如你即将在下文中看到的，某些短语的起源简直令你难以置信。
Be on a good footing 和睦相处
A pleasant relationship with other people, not least1) those in a superior position, is portrayed as being "on a good footing" with them. There are two thoughts as to where this saying came from. Some say the phrase goes back to a practice of early apprenticeships2). It was the custom, on the first day at work, for apprentices to invite all their workmates for drinks. The new apprentice "footed3) the bill". If proved a generous host, he made friends for keeps4). The hospitality would never be forgotten. Recalling how much it had cost, people would say the novice5) gained "a good footing". A second derivation6) links the phrase with an early and bizarre7) interpretation of human anatomy8), the importance given to the length of one of a person's digits9). At one time, the dimension of the middle toes determined a person's "standing" in the community. Thus, the measurement of their foot decided their status in the eyes of others. Those whose nature and genes had endowed10) with large feet were lucky to be "on a good footing".
与他人，特别是那些身居高位者保持的良好关系可以表示为与他们“有一个良好的基础”。关于这个习语的起源有两种说法。一种说法认为它可追溯到早期学徒时代的一个习俗。依照惯例，学徒们工作的第一天要邀请所有的同事喝酒，由新来的学徒付账。如果东道主证明自己很慷慨，那么他就能交到一些长久的朋友。人们也永远不会忘记他的盛情款待。想想之前的花费，大家会说这名学徒收获了“一个良好的人际基础”。第二种说法认为这个习语和人们早期对人体结构的一种奇特理解有关，即人们认为人的某个脚趾的长度十分重要。曾经有一段时期，人的足中趾的长度决定了一个人在社会中的“立足之地”。因此，脚的尺寸决定了人们在社会中的地位高低。那些天生就拥有一双大脚的人被认为是幸运的，因为他们“有一个良好的基础”。
Best foot forward 留下好印象
When you are trying to make a good impression it is said that you should put your "best foot forward". There are many options as to where this phrase came from, one being that it was believed that "the left" was the realm11) of the Devil, of evil and misfortune. After all the Latin word sinister12) means left, and in English sinister has kept its ominous13) meaning. Hence, it was advisable to keep the left foot behind and step forward with the best, the right, foot first.
当你试图给对方留下一个好印象时，有种说法是你应该先伸出自己“最好的那只脚”。关于这个习语的出处有多种说法，其中一种说法认为“左边”是恶魔的领地，是邪恶和不幸之地。要知道拉丁词“sinister”的意思就是“左边”，在英语里，这个词也保留了“不吉利”的含义。因此，明智之举就是把左脚留在后面，而先伸出最好的那只脚，也就是右脚。
But this phrase seems to have come from the fashion world, rather than the occult14). The saying can be traced to male vanity15), particularly apparent in the late eighteenth century, the period of the dandy16). The desire to attract people's attention and admiration took strange and elaborate17) forms. At the time, people imagined that their two legs differed in shape and that "normally" one was more becoming than the other. To draw attention to it they kept the worse one in the background, literally putting "their best foot forward", and with it, of course, their leg.
但这个词组也可能来源于时尚界，而非神秘的事物。这种说法和男性的虚荣心有关，在18世纪末那个到处都是花花公子的年代里，这种虚荣心尤其明显。为了引起人们的注意和羡慕，爱打扮的男士会穿上奇异而精致的服装。当时，人们猜测那些花花公子的两条腿的腿形存在差异，“正常”的那条腿比另一条更好看。因此为了吸引人们注意那条“好腿”，他们会把不太好看的那条腿放在后面，字面意思就是“先伸出最好的那只脚”，当然，也要伸出好看的那条腿。
Bite the bullet 迎难而上
A person who "bites the bullet", without any sign of fear, acts with great courage in the face of adversity18). The phrase recollects a dangerous army practice in the 1850s. Soldiers were then equipped with the British Enfield rifle. Prior to using it, they had to bite off the head of the cartridge19) to expose the explosive to the spark which would ignite20) it. The procedure was fraught21) with danger, particularly so in the heat of battle. It needed firmness and courage, as even the slightest deviation22) or hesitation would endanger the soldier.
如果说一个人毫无畏惧地“咬开子弹”，就是指他在面对逆境时表现出了莫大的勇气。这个短语使人回想起19世纪50年代一次危险的军事演习。那时候，士兵们配备了英式的恩菲尔德步枪。使用之前，他们必须先咬下子弹头，这样才能使里面的弹药暴露出来让火花引燃。这个过程充满了危险，尤其是在战役进入白热化阶段的时候。它要求士兵坚定沉着、勇敢无畏，因为哪怕是一丁点儿的走神或犹豫都可能危及士兵自身。
Blow hot and cold 反复无常
People who waver in their opinions and quickly change from being enthusiastic to showing disinterest are said to "blow hot and cold". The saying can be traced to one of Aesop's Fables. It was a cold winter's day, and the freezing traveler was blowing on his stiff fingers. Mystified, a satyr23) wanted to know what he was doing. The man explained to him that, with his breath, he was warming his chilled fingers. Taking pity on him, the satyr invited the man to his home for a hot meal. This time, he watched him blowing on the food, which intrigued24) him all the more25). Inquiring why he did so, his guest explained that he was blowing on the stew to cool it down. There and then the satyr told the traveler to leave at once. He was not prepared to entertain, or even mix with26), someone who could "blow hot and cold from the same mouth".
人们表达意见时摇摆不定，突然从满怀热情变得漠不关心，这种行为就被描述为“一会儿吹热气一会儿吹冷气”。这个习语可追溯到《伊索寓言》中的一个故事。寒冬里的一天，一个快要冻僵的旅人正对着自己僵硬的手指呵气。森林之神萨梯很迷惑，想知道他在做什么。这个人向他解释说，呼出来的热气可以温暖冻僵的手指。萨梯很可怜他，就邀请他到自己家里吃一顿热腾腾的饭。这时，他注意到这个人又在向食物吹气，这让他越发不解。萨梯问客人为何这么做，客人解释说向炖菜上吹气能使之冷却下来。萨梯随即要求这个旅人立刻离开，他不想款待甚至不想和这样的人交往，因为这个人竟然能“用同一张嘴巴一会儿吹出热气一会儿吹出冷气”。
Break a leg 大获成功
To wish an actor prior to his going on stage to "break a leg" is a well-known practice. A pretty strange wish, actually it is meant magically to bring him luck and make sure that his performance will be a success. From the superstitious27) age it was thought that jealous forces, always present, are only too anxious to spoil any venture28). A good luck wish would alert and provoke29) them to do their evil work, whilst a curse will make them turn their attention elsewhere. The underlying principle is the belief that if you wish evil, then good will come. I'm sure it's called reverse psychology these days.
在演员登台前祝愿他“折断一条腿”是一种广为流传的做法。真是十分奇怪的祝福，但实际上这是希望它能神奇般地带给接受祝福的人好运，确保他的演出成功。从迷信时代开始，人们就认为无时不在的“嫉妒心”会使人焦虑不已，从而毁掉一切机会。一个好的祝愿会提醒和激发“嫉妒心”施展邪恶的伎俩，但一个诅咒却能将它们的注意力转移到别处。隐含的道理就是：如果你想要厄运的话，好运反而将会降临。我相信现如今人们称之为“逆反心理”。
Bury the hatchet30)言归于好
To bury the hatchet means to create peace. With hostilities at an end, the hatchet was no longer needed, and therefore could be disposed of. Now a merely figurative expression, the phrase is based on an actual practice of North American Indians. When negotiating peace, they buried all their weapons: their tomahawks31), scalping knives and clubs32). Apart from showing their good faith, simultaneously33) it made it impossible for them to go on fighting.
“把斧子埋起来”意味着想要达成和解。当双方的敌意消除后，斧子便无用武之地，就可以丢掉了。虽然现在人们仅仅使用这个短语的比喻义，它却是来源于北美印第安人的真实习俗。在和谈期间，他们会把印第安战斧、剥刀和棍棒等所有武器埋起来。这种行为除了可以表示他们的诚意外，还让他们不可能再继续参与战争。
By hook or by crook 不择手段
The achievement of a goal with determination, by fair means or foul34), is described as getting things done "by hook or by crook". The origin of this phrase is linked with an early British practice, at a time when forests were still the exclusive property of royalty. For any unauthorized commoner, then, to gather firewood in them was a crime, poor people being the only exception. Though they were not permitted to cut or saw off branches, they were free to remove withered timber from the ground or even a tree, doing so by means of either a hook or a crook.
下定决心达到目的而不顾采取的手段正当与否，这种做法被称为“用钩子或曲柄杖”做成某事。这个习语的由来和英国早期的习俗有关。当时森林仍然是皇室的私有财产，因此对于任何一个未经许可的平民百姓来说，在森林中拾柴火是一种违法行为，但穷人算是特例。虽然他们无权砍伐或锯掉树枝，但可随意拣走地上甚至是树上的枯枝，用钩子也好，曲柄杖也罢。
1. not least: 尤其，特别
2. apprenticeship [E5prentIsFIp] n. 见习(期)，训练(期)
3. foot [fut] vt. 支付(账单或费用)
4. for keeps: <口> 持久地，永久地
5. novice [5nCvIs] n. 新手，生手；初学者
6. derivation [7derI5veIFEn] n. 起源，由来
7. bizarre [bI5zB:(r)] adj. 异乎寻常的；怪诞的
8. anatomy [E5nAtEmI] n. (动植物的)结构
9. digit [5dIdVIt] n. 手指；足趾
10. endow [In5dau] vt. 认为……具有某种特质(with)
11. realm [relm] n. 界，领域；范围
12. sinister [5sInIstE(r)] adj. 左边的，在左边的；凶兆的，不祥的
13. ominous [5CmInEs] adj. 不祥的，不吉的
14. the occult: 神秘学；神秘仪式
15. vanity [5vAnEtI] n. 虚荣(心)；虚夸
16. dandy [5dAndI] n. 花花公子，纨绔子弟
17. elaborate [I5lAbErEt] adj. 精心计划(或制作)的；精巧的
18. adversity [Ed5v\:sEtI] n. 厄运；逆境；(经济方面的)窘境
19. cartridge [5kB:trIdV] n. 子弹；弹药
20. ignite [I^5naIt] vt. 点燃，点火于，使燃烧
21. fraught [frC:t] adj. [一般作表语]充满的，伴随着的(with)
22. deviation [7di:vI5eIFEn] n. 背离，偏离
23. satyr [5sAtE(r)] n. 萨梯(森林之神，具人形而有羊的尾、耳、角等，性嗜嬉戏，好色)
24. intrigue [In5tri:^] vt. 使困惑；使迷惑
25. all the more: 更加，越发，格外
26. mix with: 使同流合污；使交流
27. superstitious [7sju:pE5stIFEs] adj. 迷信的；与迷信有关的；受迷信思想支配的
28. venture [5ventFE(r)] n. 运气，机遇
29. provoke [prEU5vEuk] vt. 激起，引起
30. hatchet [5hAtFIt] n. 短柄小斧
31. tomahawk [5tCmEhC:k] n. (北美印第安人作武器或工具用的)印第安战斧
32. club [klQb] n. 大头棒；棍棒；用于恐吓(或逼迫)人的东西
33. simultaneously [7sImEl5teInIEsly; 7saI-] adv. 同时发生地；同步地
34. foul [faul] adj. 奸诈的；不正当的