原文:
I get a kick out of you.
原译:
我挨了你一脚。
辨 析:
原译显然错了,因为“被某人踢了一脚”应该是get a kick/be kicked by somebody而不是get a kick/be kicked out of somebody。
其实原文是一首美国流行歌曲的名字,其意思是“你(的爱情)使我快乐和激动 ”。
这里的kick不是“踢”的意思,而取的是第二版《英汉大词典》所列的kick作为名词的第7个义项:“(口语)极度的快感(或刺激),极大的乐趣”。如:
Watching football always gives him a kick .观看足球比赛总能使他感到很大的乐趣。
此说法也可以用复数:
He gets his kicks bossing people around.他从任意差使别人中感到乐趣。
He didn't expect to win. He played only for kicks .他并不指望能赢,他玩只是为追求刺激。
kick还可以表示“劲道”、“力量”、“迷恋”等,例如:
This wine has no kick in it.这酒没劲儿。
After the fifth round he had no more kick left in him.五个回合之后,他一点儿劲儿也没了。
kick前面可以有定语修饰,(be) on...kick是“热衷于……”的意思,如:
They went on a mystery-reading kick .他们迷上了侦探小说。
那么off a kick当然是“不再热衷于某项活动”的意思,如:
Now most of them were off the surfing kick on the Internet.他们中大多数人已不再热衷于在因特网上冲浪。
不过在有些习语中,kick也可以表示不好的意思,前面说到give someone a kick是“使某人非常愉快”的意思,可是give someone the kick却是字面意思表达的“踢某人一脚”,表示“叫某人滚蛋”、“开除某人”的意思,如:
The boss gave him the kick because he drank when working.因为他工作时喝酒,老板解雇了他 。
get a kick in the pants,get a kick in the teeth也是贬义的,如:
As a result, he got nothing but a kick in the pants .结果他什么也没有捞着,只挨了一顿。
The result of the vote gave that party a kick in the teeth .投票的结果使 该党受到重大的挫折 。
下面这个说法中的kick也属于贬义:
Shaw is not very pleased with his new job; he says there are more kicks than halfpence.肖对新工作不太满意,他说那活计吃力 不讨好。