Beat one’s gums 嘮叨,廢話連篇
在beat one’s gums這個習慣用語里,gum這個詞有完全不同的含義。它指的是人的牙齦。Beat one’s gums,是從五十多年前第二次世界大戰期間開始流傳的俚語。意思是嘮嘮叨叨、沒完沒了地抱怨。這往往出于習慣,或者只是沒話找話說。
例句 If I didn’t hear my men beating their gums about how bad the chow was, or how hard they worked, I worried. When they were too quiet, I was afraid they were losing their fighting spirit.
要是我聽不到我的部下沒完沒了地抱怨伙食有多差勁,或者他們干活有多辛苦,那我就得擔心了。當他們過于沉默的時候,我害怕他們的斗志消沉了。
嘮叨抱怨也許是人所難免的行為,但是要是做得太過火,就會成了問題,令人生厭。在下面例子里,名叫Oscar的家伙就是這樣一個人。說話的人是在給一位新同事一點忠告。
例句 Look, you don’t want to get a desk anywhere close to that guy Oscar. He’ll drive you crazy - he loves to beat his gums anytime he has anybody close enough to be an audience for him.
喂,你可千萬別靠近Oscar那家伙的辦公桌,他會把你煩死了。任何時候只要附近有任何人能聽他說話,他就會羅嗦個沒完沒了。