#EZTalk #你不知道的美國大小事 #badapple
Food idioms Part 1
🇺🇸美國生活用語～水果篇🍎
蘋果有好有壞，你知道bad apple是什麼意思嗎？可不是白雪公主吃了昏去的那顆毒蘋果喔～
Because food plays such an important role in people’s lives, it’s only natural that it would make its way into commonly used idioms. Everybody loves fruit, so let’s start with fruit-related idioms!
Apples are probably the most common fruit in the English-speaking world, so there are plenty of apple-related expressions. One of the oldest, which can be found in Shakespeare, and even the Bible, 🍎is “apple of one’s eye,” which means “sb. very precious or dear.” Ex: Bill’s daughter is the apple of his eye. And because apple pie is the classic American dessert, 🍎 “as American as apple pie” is used to describe things that are typically American. Ex: Blue jeans are as American as apple pie.
But not all apples are good. The expression 🍏 “bad apple” comes from the old saying: “One bad apple spoils the barrel,” which means it only takes one bad person to ruin a group or project. Ex: There’s always a bad apple at every workplace. The apples in the following expression can be either good or bad: 🍏 “The apple never falls far from the tree,” which means that, for better or worse, children often have the same traits as their parents. Ex: Kim is a talented musician just like her father, so I guess the apple never falls far from the tree.
【✍關鍵單字】
1. make one’s way (to/into)：本意為「前進」，也可作為譬喻用法，指「有所進步、進展」，或是「取得成功」。
2. precious：「珍貴的」
3. One bad apple spoils the barrel. spoil指「糟蹋、毀掉」，barrel指「釀酒桶」，整句原意是一顆壞掉的蘋果就會破壞整桶酒的風味，對應到中文就是「一顆老鼠屎，壞了一鍋粥」。
【📕中譯】
食物是生活不可或缺，因此自然會有許多從食物衍生出的用語。而每個人都喜歡吃水果，我們就先來聊聊與水果相關的諺語。
蘋果大概是英語系國家最常見的水果，因此英語中有一大票跟蘋果相關的諺語。其中一個可追溯到莎士比亞時期、甚至在聖經中就出現的古老用法是：apple of one’s eye「眼裡的西施」，指「相當珍貴的人」。例如：Bill’s daughter is the apple of his eye.（女兒是比爾眼中的寶貝。）此外，由於蘋果派是經典的美國點心，所以as American as apple pie「（像蘋果派）具美國特色的」這個片語可以用來敘述任何一想到美國就會想起的事物，如：Blue jeans are as American as apple pie.（牛仔褲是典型美國事物。）
不過，可不是每顆蘋果都是好蘋果呦。bad apple一詞來自於古老俗語One bad apple spoils the barrel.（一顆老鼠屎，壞了一鍋粥。）指團隊中只要有一個害群之馬就會壞事。如：There’s always a bad apple at every workplace.（每個職場中都會有顆老鼠屎。）接著要介紹的這顆蘋果則是可好可壞：the apple never falls far from the tree「掉落的蘋果必離樹不遠；有其父必有其子，或上樑不正下樑歪」，這句話可以用來稱讚或貶低某人，如：Kim is a talented musician just like her father, so I guess the apple never falls far from the tree.（金跟她爸一樣，是個天才音樂家，我想這就是有其父必有其女。）
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