地道美语：老外如何“抢风头”

屈联西

  2012年02月13日  中国日报网-英语点津

　　Jessica在北京学汉语，她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词，就会来请教她。今天是怡茹要问的：抢风头。
　　YR: Hey Jessica! 你听说那个大新闻了么？
　　JESSICA: What? What happened?
　　YR: 就是上礼拜话剧社的演出啊！ Anna完全不顾原来话剧的剧本，使劲抢戏，女主角的风头全被她抢去了！ 听说她们俩在后台因此大吵了一架！ 对了，这个“抢风头”用美语要怎么说啊？
　　JESSICA: Hmm.。.抢风头就是“steal someone's thunder". Steal is spelled s-t-e-a-l; and thunder, t-h-u-n-d-e-r, thunder. Basically, steal someone's thunder means to do something that takes attention away from what someone else has done。
　　“抢风头”英语怎么说
　　YR: 没错！ Anna 把本来属于女主角的戏份都抢去了，She totally stole her thunder! 现在学校里人人都在说这事儿。
　　JESSICA: Ha! I think Anna is getting her 15 minutes of fame here!
　　YR: 15 minutes of fame? 出名15分钟？……这是什么意思？
　　JESSICA: 15 minutes of fame means that she's only famous for a very short period of time。
　　YR: 哦……我明白了，这也就是短暂出名的意思吧！ 就像上回电视真人秀单身女郎里的女主角，那会儿人人都在谈论她，现在节目结束了，她也就销声匿迹了。
　　JESSICA: Yep! Reality shows definitely give a lot of people a chance to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame!
　　YR: 嗯，没错！ 听说Anna原来都没被选进剧本，可后来她就一直巴结男主角Andy，这么才慢慢得到角色的！
　　JESSICA: Hmm. Sounds like she's riding on Andy's coattails! Coattail is spelled c-o-a-t-t-a-i-l, coattail. To ride on someone's coattails means to use someone else's success to get ahead。
　　YR: 哦，就是趋炎附势的意思喽！ So, Anna would not get a role in the drama without riding on the leading man's coattails! 这么说对吗？
　　JESSICA: Exactly! Now tell me what you've learned today!
　　YR: 第一，抢风头是steal someone's thunder。
　　第二，短暂出名可以说15 minutes of fame；
　　第三，趋炎附势叫ride on someone's coattails!