两个错误不等于一个正确;不能利用别人的错误来掩饰自己的错误。
U
Unity is strength.
团结就是力量。
Unpleasant advice is a good medicine.
忠言逆耳利于行。
Until all is over one,s ambition never dies.
不到黄河心不死。
V
Venture a small fish to catch a great one.
吃小亏占大便宜。 欲钓大鱼,先舍小鱼。
Virtue is fairer far than beauty.
美德远远胜过美貌。
W
Walls have ears.
小心隔墙有耳。
Wash your dirty linen at home.
家丑不可外扬。
Water dropping day by day wears the hardest rock away.
滴水穿石。
Wealth is nothing without health.
失去健康,钱再多也没用。
Well begun is half done.
好的开始,是成功的一半。
We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
井干方知水可贵。
We shall never have friends if we expect to find them without fault.
欲求完美无缺的朋友必然成为孤家寡人。
We should never remember the benefits we have offered nor forget the favor received.
自己的好事别去提,别人的恩惠要铭记。
Wet behind the ears.
乳臭未干。
Whatever you do,do with all your might.
不管做什么,都要一心一意。
What is learned in the cradle is carried to the grave.
儿时所学,终生难忘。
What we do willingly is easy.
愿者不难。
When in Rome,do as the Romans do.
入国问禁,入乡随俗。
When everybody,s somebody,then nobody,s anybody.
人人都伟大,世间没豪杰。
When sorrow is asleep,wake it not.
伤心旧事别重提。
When sorrows come,they come not single spies,but in battalions.
新仇旧恨,齐上心头。
When the fox preaches,take care of your geese.
黄鼠狼给鸡拜年,没安好心。
When wine is in truth,wit is out.
酒后吐真言。
Where there is a will,there is a way.
有志者事竟成。
Where there is life,there is hope.
留得青山在,不怕没柴烧。
Where there is smoke,there is fire.
事出有因。
While the priest climbs a post,the devil climbs ten.
道高一尺,魔高一丈。
Who chatters to you,will chatter of you.
搬弄口舌者必是小人。
Whom the gods love die young.
好人不长命。
Wise man have their mouths in their hearts,fools have their hearts in their mouths.
智者嘴在心里,愚者心在嘴里。
Work makes the workman.
勤工出巧匠。
We know not what is good until we have lost it.
有时不爱惜,失后徒叹息。
We soon believe what we desire.
自己希望的事,自己最容易相信。
What is got over the devil,s back is spent under his belly.
(钱财) 来得不正,去得也不正。
What is done by night appears by day.
若要人不知,除非己莫为。
What,s done cannot be undone.
木已成舟,无法挽回;生米煮成熟饭了。
What,s lost is lost.
失者不可复得;覆水难收。
What the heart thinks the tongue speaks.
言为心声。
When the belly is full,the bones would be at rest.
肚子饱了,骨头就想休息;腹饱思睡。
Well fed,well bred.
吃得饱,懂礼貌;衣食足然后知礼义。
When candles are out,all cats are grey.
猫在暗中都是灰色;黑暗中难分丑妍。
When the cat,s away,the mice will play.
猫儿不在,老鼠成精(大王外出,小鬼跳梁)。
When two ride on one horse,one must ride behind
两人骑一匹马,总有一人坐在后面(意指只能有一个当第一把手)。
When the heart is afire,some sparks will fly out at the mouth.
心里有什么,嘴里总要说出来。
While the grass grows the horse starves.
远水救不得近火。
Wit bought is better than wit taught.
亲身体验胜过老师教导。
Wit once bought is worth twice taught.
一次的亲身经验抵过两次老师教导。
Words are but wind.
话是空的(意指行动才有意义)。
Words are the wise man,s counters and the fool,s money.
聪明人把言语当筹码,傻瓜把言语当金钱。
Words pay no debts.
空话还不了债;空言无补。
Y
You cannot burn the candle at both ends.
蜡烛不能两头点,精力不可过分耗。
You cannot eat your cake and have it.
鱼与熊掌,不可得兼。
You can take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink.
强扭的瓜不甜。
You may know by a handful the whole sack.
由一斑可知全貌。
You never know what you can till you try.
是驴子是马,拉出来遛遛。
You can,t judge a tree by its bark.
不要根据树皮判断树木;不能以貌取人。
You may go farther and fare worse.
往前走情形可能更坏(劝人适可而止)。
动物谚语
Fish 鱼
The best fish swim near the bottom.
好鱼常在水底游。
Never offer to teach fish to swim.
不要班门弄斧。
Go to the sea,if you would fish well.
不入虎穴,焉得虎子。
There,s as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it.
海里的好鱼多的是。
It is a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait.
智者不上两次当。
If water is noisy,there are no fish in it.
咆哮的水中无鱼;夸夸其谈者无真才实学。
Chicken 鸡
Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
鸡蛋还未孵,先别数鸡雏;莫过早乐观。
Though the fox run,the chicken hath wings.
狐狸虽会跑,小鸡有翅膀。
Young cocks love no coops.
小公鸡不恋笼。
A cock is bold on his dunghill.
站在粪堆上,公鸡也称王。
A barleycorn is better than a diamond to a cock.
对一只公鸡来说,一颗麦粒优于一颗钻石。
He that will have his farm full,must keep an old cock and a young bull.
想使农庄充裕,就得养一只老公鸡和一头小公牛。
If the hen does not prate,she will not lay.
不叨叨的母鸡不下蛋。
It is no good hen that cackles in your house and lays in another,s.
这样的母鸡可不好:在你家里咯咯叫,却到别家去下蛋。
Fat hens lay few eggs.
肥鸡下蛋稀。
Grain by grain,and the hen fills her belly.
一颗接一颗,母鸡填饱肚。
Bird 鸟
Kill two birds with one stone.
一箭双雕;一举两得。
It,s an ill bird that fouls own nest.
家丑不可外扬。
Fine feathers make fine birds.
人要衣装,马要鞍。
Each bird loves to hear himself sing.
鸟儿都爱听自己唱;自我欣赏。
You cannot catch old birds with chaff.
用粗糠捉不住老鸟;有经验的人难骗。
Birds in their little nests agree.
同巢之鸟心儿齐。
A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
江山易改,本性难移。
All your swans are geese.
你的美好希望(或诺言),全部成了泡影。
The bird loves her nest.
鸟爱自己的窝。
Birds of a feather flock together.
物以类聚,人以群分。
The bird that can sing and won,t sing must be made to sing.
生来能唱的鸟,不愿唱也得叫它唱。
The fowler,s pipe sounds sweet until the bird is caught.
捕禽人笛声悠扬,直吹得鸟儿落网。
He that will take the bird must not scare it.
捕鸟休惊鸟。
The noisy fowler catches no bird.
捕禽人大肆声张,鸟儿就不会落网。
Old birds are not caught with new nests.
新网难捕老鸟。
The early bird catches the worm.
早起的鸟先得虫;捷足先登。
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
双鸟在林,不如一鸟在手;十赊不如一现。
A bird is known by its note,and a man by his talk.
鸟以声闻,人以言知。
Eagles fly alone,but sheep flock together.
鹰爱独飞羊爱群。
A kite will never be a good hawk.
鸢永不会变成隼。
Empty hands no hawk allure.
空手不能诱鹰来。
The crow thinks his own bird fairest.
乌鸦总以为自己的雏鸟最美。
A crow is never the whiter for washing herself often.
乌鸦不管怎样经常洗澡,也不会变白。
Wheresoever the carcase is,there will the ravens be gathered together.
哪里有死尸,乌鸦就成群。
One swallow does not make a spring.
孤燕不报春。
One swallow does not make a summer.
一燕不能成夏天(不可仅凭一种现象而遽作判断)。
The snail slides up the tower at last though the swallow mounteth it sooner.
燕子一飞就上塔,蜗牛悄悄爬,最后也上塔。
The cuckoo comes in April,and stays the month of May;sings a song at Midsummer,and then goes away.
布谷鸟,四月来,五月一直在,仲夏唱支歌,然后就离开。
If the sky falls,we shall catch larks.
天垮正好抓云雀;不要杞人忧天。
An owl is the king of the night.
猫头鹰是黑夜之王。
When the owl sings,the nightingale will hold her peace.
枭鸟唱歌,夜莺屏息。
Cat 猫
A cat has nine lives.
猫有九条命;吉人天相。
Cats hide their claws.
知人知面不知心。
All cats are grey in the dark..
黑暗之中猫都是灰色的;人未出名时看起来都差不多。
A gloved cat catches no mice.
戴手套的猫,老鼠抓不到;不愿吃苦的人成不了大事业。
Who will bell the cat?
谁去给猫系铃?谁愿意为大家冒风险?
The cat shuts its eyes when stealing cream.
狗偷吃奶油的时候总是闭着眼睛;掩耳盗铃。
There are more ways of killing a cat than by choking it with butter.
杀猫的办法很多;达到目的的途径很多。
Care kill a cat.
忧虑愁死猫。
Cats hide their paws.
猫儿不露爪。
When the cat,s away,the mice will play.
猫儿不在家,老鼠就玩耍;猫儿不在耗子闹。
Ale will make cat speak.
喝了淡啤酒,猫也会开口;酒后使人说话多。