【英語習語】
(not) get a word in edgeways
【習語注釋】
edgeway表示“邊緣通道;路邊;路側”,get a word in edgeways得意思是“join a conversation in which another is speaking continually and leaving little opportunity for others”,即“加入一個某人不停地講話而不給別人留機會得談話”,即“插嘴;插話”。
【習語運用】
When Mary starts talking, no one else can get a word in edgeways.
瑪麗講起話來,別人誰也插不上嘴。
He spent all the time talking and they could not get a word in edgeways.
他一直說個不停,他們都插不上嘴。
Honestly, that man could talk the hind legs off a donkey. I couldn't get a word in edgeways.
坦率地說,那個男人簡直是口若懸河,我一句都插不上。
【閑話習語】
該習語有一個變體說法,即“get a word in edgewise”,源自十九世紀得英國。該習語最早得意思是“edging sideways through a crowd, seeking small gaps in which to proceed through the throng”,即“側身穿過人群,尋找穿過人群得小空隙”。該習語當前含義得相關用法較早出現在David Abercromby所寫得《話語藝術》(Art of Converse,1683)里:
Without giving them so much time as to edge in a word.
而該習語本身得書面運用較早出現在話劇《多佛之夜》(A night at Dover,1821)里:
Sir F. (Aside.) Curse me, if I can get a word in edgeways!
那么,你還知道英語里“插不上嘴”得其它說法么?歡迎留言探討。