精华 开个学习贴英语好的都进来不好的也进来
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看看这个: http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-the-idiom-third-wheel
Third Wheel ...
The idiom comes by analogy to the phrase "fifth wheel".
"Fifth wheel" arose as a term of superfluity originating from the extra wheel carried on four-wheel coaches, carriages, and wagons, dating back to the 17th century. Some speculation from the Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says that this was a spare wheel, useful in emergencies but cumbersome in general.
However, not all carriages had four wheels. One alternate mode of transportation was the one-horse shay, a two-wheel carriage (commemorated in the 1858 poem "The Deacon's Masterpiece" by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.). Although shays did not carry a third wheel, the metaphor transferred.
Examples of the idiom used in two 19th century magazines:
Third Wheel ...
The idiom comes by analogy to the phrase "fifth wheel".
"Fifth wheel" arose as a term of superfluity originating from the extra wheel carried on four-wheel coaches, carriages, and wagons, dating back to the 17th century. Some speculation from the Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says that this was a spare wheel, useful in emergencies but cumbersome in general.
However, not all carriages had four wheels. One alternate mode of transportation was the one-horse shay, a two-wheel carriage (commemorated in the 1858 poem "The Deacon's Masterpiece" by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.). Although shays did not carry a third wheel, the metaphor transferred.
Examples of the idiom used in two 19th century magazines:
- "Am I not bringing you a box of champagne glasses, which, I am sure, you need about as much as a cart does a third wheel?" -- The Living Age, 1845
- "We always mean to be on hand, ready to take a part.
Though but as fifth wheel to the coach, or third wheel to the cart." -- The New England Magazine, 1899
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关于嘴馋的说法，参考下这个：
http://www.showxiu.com/fan_yi/%E5%98%B4%E9%A6%8B/
我觉得中文里的一个字或词，在英文里难以有一个完全对应的字/词，即使字面意思对应了，可能内涵、褒贬义等等都不对应，所以中文翻成英文怎么说，很多情况下要看上下文是怎样的，有时也许中文的一个词，在英文里需要一个句子才能说清。
http://www.showxiu.com/fan_yi/%E5%98%B4%E9%A6%8B/
我觉得中文里的一个字或词，在英文里难以有一个完全对应的字/词，即使字面意思对应了，可能内涵、褒贬义等等都不对应，所以中文翻成英文怎么说，很多情况下要看上下文是怎样的，有时也许中文的一个词，在英文里需要一个句子才能说清。
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td align="right" valign="middle">Main Entry: </td><td align="left" valign="bottom">third wheel </td></tr><tr><td align="right" valign="middle" nowrap="nowrap">Part of Speech: </td><td align="left" valign="bottom">n </td></tr><tr><td align="right" valign="top">Definition: </td><td align="left" valign="top">a third person joining a couple in a social context, esp. one who is in the way </td></tr><tr><td align="right" valign="top">Example: </td><td align="left" valign="top">Veronica Mars felt like a third wheel. </td></tr><tr><td align="right" valign="top">Usage: </td><td align="left" valign="top">informal </td></tr></tbody></table>
