上礼拜我在网上买了一件晚礼服,准备周末去朋友婚礼时穿。因为时间紧,我多付了一些钱,要求网站加急送货。谁知,本应两天到货的衣服却拖了5天才迟迟送到。我已经生气了,谁知更糟的是,打开盒子一看,衣服的尺寸完全错了! 我简直气炸了,这种情况可以用一个习惯用语来形容: add fuel to the fire.
Fuel, 是油,fire是火焰,add fuel to the fire的意思是“火上浇油,让情况变得更糟”。晚礼服迟寄,我已经不高兴,然后,the company added fuel to the fire by sending me the dress in the wrong size 商家还搞错尺寸,这就让我更加生气,简直是火上浇油!
下面这段话中的消费者和我一样有非常不愉快的经历。我们来听一听:
例句-1:Passengers like me are fed up with the airline industry. First, they charged us more for checking a bag while discontinuing free meals during flights. That was bad enough. To add fuel to the fire, they’re talking about making us tag our own luggage, too. That’s why consumer complaints have increased so dramatically!
这段话是说:象我这样的飞机乘客实在是受够航空公司了。首先,它们给托运行李费涨价,还取消了免费飞机餐。然后它们又打算让旅客自己动手做行李签,这不是蹬鼻子上脸么! 这就是为什么消费者投诉增加了这么多!
现在有些航空公司的做法的确非常过分。像水啊、耳机啊、小枕头等等原来免费的机上服务,现在都要收费! 难怪旅客们怨声载道。
******
下面这段话中的一对情侣分手了。我们来听听是怎么回事:
例句-2:It’s not surprising that Ellen broke up with Tom. At the party last weekend, she overheard him criticizing her for not watching her weight. The situation got worse when she later caught him exchanging phone numbers with one of her girlfriends. No doubt, that added fuel to fire. By the next morning, she had moved out of his apartment.
这段话的意思是:艾伦和汤姆分手一点都不让人吃惊。上个周末在派对上,艾伦无意间听见汤姆跟别人抱怨,觉得艾伦太胖,不注意体重。更糟的是,艾伦后来又发现汤姆和自己的一个女友交换电话号码。毫无疑问,这么做可是火上浇油。派对后那天的一大早,艾伦就搬出了汤姆的公寓。
这个女孩儿被男友这样对待,一定很伤心。我的一个朋友曾经比她更惨,在被男友抛弃后,还丢了工作,后来又生了场大病。That’s added fuel to the fire。这真是雪上加霜。