CET6 TOEFL TEM8
外刊例句
- Mr Schwarzman has little time in the book for the little guy. Other financiers wring their hands over the wealth gap between bosses and workers. Not him.
苏世民在书中没留多少笔墨给小人物。其他金融家为老板和工人之间的贫富差距忧心。他没有。
——《经济学人》 - New yorkers, and particularly Manhattanites, are wringing their hands about the two dozen or so supertall luxury towers sprouting along the southern edge of Central Park.
二十多座超高层豪华公寓楼沿中央公园南缘修建起来,令纽约人,尤其是曼哈顿人扼腕痛惜。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[verb] squeeze and twist (something) to force liquid from it
[动词] 挤压和扭曲(某物)使液体从中流出
深入解读
Wring 的基本含义比较简单,就是日常生活中常用的“拧、绞”,基本上每个人每天无论起床之后还是睡觉之前都要重复这个动作好几次来把毛巾弄干。如果没有洗衣机的话,可能还要拧干衣服,比如:
- 她拧干一件俗气的衬衫并挂到外面晾干。
She wrung out a tawdry shirt and hung it out to dry.
然而, wring 还有一种暴力拧法是不常见的,那就是“拧断(鸟或其他动物的脖子,以将其杀死)”。不过正如中文口语里常说“我掐死你”并不是真的要掐死人一样,英语有个习惯表达叫“I'll wring your/his/her neck!”也并非真的要拧断谁的脖子,而是表示非常生气,比如:
- 他要是再剽窃你的主意来写文章,我非掐死他不可!
I'll wring his neck if he expropriates your ideas for his own article again!
拧断脖子比较血腥,换做拧手画面感就柔和许多。拧别人的手(wring sb's hand)指的是握手时“攥紧……的手”,若是拧你自己的手(wring your hands)则表示“(因焦急或烦恼)绞扭双手”,比如:
- 由于目前人们对消费的信心降到了低谷,汽车销售商们正为低迷的销量而着急上火。
Since consumer confidence is currently at a low ebb, car dealers are wringing their hands over low sales.
除了拧脖子拧手以外,有时候还不得不直接拧人,比如 wring sth from/out of sb ,这个动词短语说的是“强迫(某人)交出”或“说服(某人)给予”,毕竟是拧出来的,所以这种强行压榨或者说逼取往往也就意味着比较费力,比如:
- 他们设法迫使这些精明的老板们作出了一些让步。
They managed to wring a few concessions from the shrewd bosses.
最后值得注意的是, wring 与 ring 的发音相同,在听的时候要小心区别。
名著用例
On her flower frowning miss Douce said:
杜丝小姐朝自己的花皱了皱眉,说:
—Most aggravating that young brat is. If he doesn't conduct himself I'll wring his ear for him a yard long.
“那个小子太放肆啦。他要是不放规矩些,我就把他的耳朵扯到一码长。”
出自爱尔兰现代主义作家詹姆斯·乔伊斯(James Joyce)于1922年出版的长篇小说《尤利西斯》(Ulysses)。《尤利西斯》作为意识流小说的代表作,被誉为20世纪百大英文小说之首,并被奉为20世纪最伟大的小说。
同近义词
- twist: form (something) into a particular shape by taking hold of one or both ends and turning them
- squeeze: firmly press (something soft or yielding), typically with one's fingers
- crumple: crush (something, typically paper or cloth) so that it becomes creased and wrinkled