It goes in one ear and out the other.

to play by ear

今天我們要講兩個(gè)和耳朵，也就是ear有關(guān)的成語(yǔ)。中國(guó)人經(jīng)常說(shuō)那些不聽(tīng)勸告的人對(duì)別人的話總是"一個(gè)耳朵進(jìn)一個(gè)耳朵出"，把它們當(dāng)作"耳邊風(fēng)"。美國(guó)也有完全相同的說(shuō)法。他們是這樣說(shuō)的： "It goes in one ear and out the other."

下面是一個(gè)父親在說(shuō)他的女兒：

例句-1："I told Sally it was foolish to marry that man, but it went in one ear and out the other. Now she wishes she'd listened to me. He drinks and gambles and she wants to leave him."

這位爸爸說(shuō)："我早就告訴沙利不要那么笨,去和那個(gè)人結(jié)婚?？墒?對(duì)于我的話，她是一個(gè)耳朵進(jìn)一個(gè)耳朵出。結(jié)了婚她才知道那人又喝酒又賭錢(qián)?，F(xiàn)在她后悔當(dāng)初沒(méi)聽(tīng)我的話，想要和他分手啦。"

下面這個(gè)例子是一個(gè)老板在對(duì)他的秘書(shū)說(shuō)話：

例句-2："How many times have I told you to get to work on time. But my words just go in one ear and out the other. So I don't have any choice but to fire you."

他說(shuō)："我告訴了你多少次上班要準(zhǔn)時(shí)?？墒?，你對(duì)我的話老是一個(gè)耳朵進(jìn)一個(gè)耳朵出?，F(xiàn)在，我沒(méi)有辦法了，只好解雇你了。"

下面我們要講的一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)是：play by ear. Play就是玩的意思。可是，play by ear的意思并不是"玩耳朵"。這個(gè)詞匯的來(lái)源和音樂(lè)有關(guān)系。它原來(lái)指的是那些會(huì)彈鋼琴或某種樂(lè)器，但是卻不會(huì)看五線譜的人。每當(dāng)他們要彈奏某個(gè)曲調(diào)時(shí)，他們只能憑著上一回聽(tīng)到的記憶來(lái)彈?？墒莗lay by ear現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為日常用語(yǔ)了，意思是做一件事不是事先有計(jì)劃的，而是走著瞧，臨時(shí)決定。例如，你被請(qǐng)到某處去講話，可是又沒(méi)有時(shí)間準(zhǔn)備。你就可以對(duì)聽(tīng)眾說(shuō)：

例句-3："I haven't had a chance to prepare any notes so all I can do is start talking and play it by ear."

這話的意思是："我今天沒(méi)有什么準(zhǔn)備，所以就只好講到那兒就算那兒了。"

下面一個(gè)例子是一個(gè)人在和朋友約會(huì)：

例句-4:"I am not sure if my wife wants me to go shopping with her on Sunday. If she decides to go with her sister instead, then I can play tennis with you. Let's just play it by ear."

他說(shuō)："我還不知道星期天我太太是否要我陪她去買(mǎi)東西。要是她決定和她姐姐一起出去，那我就能和你去打網(wǎng)球。我們就瞧著辦吧!"