【句子】Not acknowledging the elephant in the room is what we do best. 【Desperate Housewives S1E14】
【发音】[nɒt]/[nɑ:t] [ək'nɒlɪdʒɪŋ]/[ək'nɑ:lɪdʒɪŋ] [ði:] ['elɪfənt] [ɪn] [ðə] [ru:m] [ɪz] [wɒt]/[wɑ:t] [wi:] [du:] [best]
【发音技巧】acknowledge不完全失去爆破;定冠词the的发音;
【翻译】视而不见,避而不谈,是我们最擅长的事。
【适用场合】
elephant 大家都知道是大象,个头超级大
(the) elephant in the room 在房间里的大象
偶尔也说 the elephant in the corner 在角落里的大象 意思相同
房间里如果有一只大象,没办法看不到,但是大家居然都装作看不到,
所以引申为很明显,但是大家都刻意回避、不谈的问题。
(尤其是那些让人觉得尴尬、不舒服的)
An obvious truth or fact, especially one regarded as embarrassing or undesirable, that is being intentionally ignored or left unaddressed.
因为是这样的引申义,所以这个短语经常跟ignore/acknowledge等动词连用。
eg: We all sat sipping our tea quietly. No one wants to bring up the elephant in the room about Jay's expulsion from college.
我们都坐着,静静地喝茶,没人想提起Jay被大学开除这个既明显,又尴尬的事情。
eg: They've ignored the elephant in the room: the ever-growing debt burden on college students.
他们都对这个尴尬的问题避而不谈:当前,大学生身上的债务越来越多。
【尝试翻译以下句子,并留言在文章留言区】
It's time for both sides to acknowledge the elephant in the room.