与hot有关的词汇

刘佳佳

Every language has its own special words and expressions. And a story can be told about each of them.

每种语言都有它自己的单词和短语。每个单词和短语都有它自己的来历。

Hot is a simple， easily understood word. So are most of the expressions made with the word hot. But not always， as we shall see.

Hot是一个简单易懂的单词。由hot组成的短语也大都如此，但也不是一直这样。正如我们下面将看到的这些短语。

The words hot potato， for example， give you no idea at all to the meaning of the expression， hot potato.

例如“hot potato”这个短语，从字面上你完全看不出它是什么意思。

The potato is a popular vegetable in the United States. Many people like baked[1] potatoes，

cooked in an oven or fire. Imagine trying to carry a hot， baked potato in your hand. It would be difficult， even painful， to do so.

在美国，土豆是非常受欢迎的蔬菜。许多人喜欢用火或者烤箱烤土豆。想象一下，你想用手拿一个刚烤出炉的烫土豆，肯定很不好拿，甚至会烫得手疼。

Now we are getting close to the meaning of hot potato.

现在我们已经差不多了解hot potato的意思了。

Some publicly disputed[2] issues are highly[3] emotional. The issues must be treated carefully， or they will be difficult and painful if an elected official has to deal with them， as difficult and painful as holding a hot potato.

一些有争议的舆论话题很容易使人情绪激动。当选官员对这类话题必须小心对待，否则处理起来就会特别麻烦，特别痛苦，就像拿着“hot potato”。

Another expression is not so hot.

另外一个短语是not so hot。

If you ask someone how she feels， she may answer “not so hot”. What she means is she does not feel well.

如果你问一个人感觉如何，她可能回答你“not so hot”。意思就是“感觉不太好”。

Not so hot also is a way of saying that you do not really like something. You may tell a friend that the new play you saw last night is not so hot. That means you did not consider it a success.

Not so hot 也可以用来表达“不喜欢某样东西”的意思。你可以告诉你的朋友，昨天晚上那场新话剧看起来“not so hot”。也就是说你认为该话剧不是很成功。

A hot shot is a person， often a young person， who thinks he can do anything. At least he wants to try. He is very sure he can succeed. But often he fails. The expression was born in the military forces. A hot shot was a soldier who fired without aiming carefully.

hot shot是指一个自以为无所不能的人，特别是指年轻人。至少他想去尝试，他确定自己能够成功，但结果常常是失败。这个短语来源于军队，hot shot是指那些不认真瞄准就射击的士兵。

Hot is a word that is often used to talk about anger.

Hot也经常用来表示愤怒。

A person who becomes angry easily is called a hothead. An angry persons neck often becomes red. We say he is hot under the collar. You could say that your friend is no hothead. But he got hot under the collar when someone took his radio.

容易动怒的人被称为hothead。人生气的时候脖子常常会变红，我们可以用hot under the collar来形容他怒气冲冲。比如你可以说你的朋友不是hothead，但是如果有人拿了他的收音机，他就会变得hot under the collar。

In 1963， hot line appeared as a new expression. The hot line was a direct communications link between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States. The hot line had an important purpose： to prevent accidental[4] war between the two competitors during the period known as the Cold War. The American president and the Soviet leader were able to communicate directly and immediately on the hot line. This helped prevent any conflict[5] during an international

crisis[6].

1963年，hot line作为一个新词汇出现了。在那时“热线”是指前苏联和美国领导人之间的直接通信连接。它有一个重要的用途，就是在冷战期间，防止这两个竞争对手突发战争。两国领导人可以通过热线实现直接的、即时的沟通。所以热线在当时的国际危机期间起到防止冲突的作用。

[1] bake v. 烤，烘培 [2] dispute v. 辩论；争论

[3] highly v. 非常；高度地 [4] accidental adj. 意外的

[5] conflict n. 冲突；矛盾 [6] crisis n. 危机；危险期