white elephant象征什么

Question

如题所述

Answer 1

white elephant象征有字面意思白象，还被用来比喻昂贵而没用的事物，也即华而不实的东西。

例如

1、The car is a white elephant for me.这辆小汽车对我来说是无用之物。

2、Bob's father-in-lawhas given him an old Rolls Royce, but it's a real white elephant. He has no place to park it and can't afford the gas for it.鲍勃的岳父给了他一辆旧劳斯莱斯，但那真是华而不实的东西。他没有地方停车，也买不起汽油。

3、The new office block has become an expensive white elephant.这座新办公大楼成了昂贵的摆设。

4、That new shopping centre has turned into a white elephant now asthey can’t rent out any of the shop spaces.那家新的购物中心现在已成了一个摆设，因为他们不能租出任何一个商铺。

跟white elephant有点不一样的是dark horse，我们不要把它理解为黑马，它用来比喻最近刚取得或将要取得成功的新人；黑马用英语表达是 black horse。

例如

1、Don't think you'll beat him easily, he may be a dark horse.不要以为你会轻而易举地胜过他，他可能是出人意料的黑马。

2、Anna's such a dark horse - I had no idea she'd published a novel.安娜真是一匹黑马，我不知道她出版了一本小说。