趣味英语 | 老外说他 wear the trousers，可不是“穿着裤子”！真正的意思竟然是…

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toursers是英式英语中是长裤的意思，但是wear the trousers可能不是穿上裤子~

Wear the trousers和Wear the pants是两个相似的短语，可能起源于19世纪的美国。它们是习语，也就是具有比喻意义的一个词，一组词或短语，习语比较不容易从其字面意义推导出来其真实意思。

在一段关系中，谁“wear the trousers/pants”就意味着谁在这段关系中是负责的人，是占主导地位的成员。负责一段关系的人会被描绘成穿着裤子的人的原因是，在19世纪，社会是非常男权的。

在过去的时代，女性的服饰是没有“裤子”这个选项的，他们认为“裤子”代表男人，“裙子”代表女人。而男人往往是社会的主导力量。直到19世纪90年代之后，女性才慢慢开始争取到了穿着裤装的权利。

wear the trousers真正的意思是：

To be in charge in or control of a relationship or family. Often followed by in the family or in the house.

在恋爱中或是家庭中掌权，负责。这个短语后边经常会接in the family或者是in the house。

Quora用户：

Based on the largely outmoded (on several levels) idea that the man is the boss - when this was thought to be true — pants (ie trousers) symbolising the man (it not being though appropriate for women to wear them!)

基于“男人是老大”这一基本过时(从几个层面来说)的观念——在当时被认为是真理的观念——裤子象征着男人(女人穿裤子是不合适!)

Hence it could be heard, when someone commented on a particularly domineering wife: “You can tell who wears the trousers in that house!” The expression can still be heard occasionally, but less so since the feminist agenda gained traction.

因此，当有人评论一个特别霸道的妻子时，就会听到这样的话:你能分辨出谁在那个家wear the trousers！这个表达偶尔还会被听到，但自从女权主义活动获得支持以来就不那么频繁了。

例：

I think it's pretty obvious who wears the pants in that family .

我认为谁在那个家族里说了算是很明显的。

Actually, in our relationship, we both wear the pants we make decisions together.

事实上，在我们的关系中，我们都是一起当家做决定的。

拓展

all talk and no trousers

只谈空话，不做实事

Meaning: someone who talks about doing big things but doesn’t do anything
含义：只是说大话但从来不做事的人

Example:

I told you Eric is all talk and no trousers. He was bragging that he’ll ask Jenny out and he didn’t even say ‘hi’ to her.
我告诉过你埃里克只谈空话，不做实事。他吹嘘说他会约珍妮出来，但他甚至没有跟她打招呼。

caught with one’s pants down

做坏事被逮个正着

Meaning: to be exposed in an embarrassing situation or when you’re not prepared
含义：在尴尬的情况下或你没有准备好的时候被发现曝光

Example:

I was expecting the meeting to be next week and I was caught with my pants down when the boss asked me about my project.
我本来期待着会议在下周进行，但当老板问我关于项目的问题时，我被当场问住了。

好啦，今天的小知识点，你学会了嘛？

转自：每日学英语

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