美国习惯用语-第301讲:微不足道守财奴
<p>我们今天要学的习惯用语都围绕一个中心词汇：<span word="penny">penny</span>。<span word="Penny">Penny</span>是分币。在英美等国的钱币中<span word="penny">penny</span>价值最低。如今你几乎想不出一个<span word="penny">penny</span>能买到什么东西，所以有人甚至提议不必再铸造<span word="penny">penny</span>了，然而即使<span word="penny">penny</span>真被取消，围绕<span word="penny">penny</span>构成的习惯用语却会长久地保存下去。我们要学的第一个习惯用语是: <span word="Penny">Penny</span>-<span word="ante">ante</span>。<span word="Penny">Penny</span>-<span word="ante">ante</span>来自一种扑克牌游戏。在拿牌前，打牌的人先把赌注扔在桌面上，而<span word="penny">penny</span> <span word="ante">ante</span>就是小得不能再小、只一分钱的赌注。当然<span word="penny">penny</span>-<span word="ante">ante</span>在日常生活中有更为广泛的意义。让我们听一个例子来琢磨它的意思吧。</p><p>例句1: <span word="This">This</span> <span word="man">man</span> <span word="tells">tells</span> <span word="everybody">everybody</span> <span word="he">he</span> <span word="owns">owns</span> <span word="a">a</span> <span word="taxi">taxi</span> <span word="company">company</span>, <span word="so">so</span> <span word="they">they</span> <span word="all">all</span> <span word="think">think</span> <span word="hes">hes</span> <span word="a">a</span> <span word="big">big</span> <span word="boss">boss</span>. <span word="But">But</span> <span word="the">the</span> <span word="company">company</span> <span word="is">is</span> <span word="really">really</span> <span word="penny">penny</span>-<span word="ante">ante</span> <span word="he">he</span> <span word="only">only</span> <span word="owns">owns</span> <span word="one">one</span> <span word="taxi">taxi</span> <span word="and">and</span> <span word="he">he</span> <span word="drives">drives</span> <span word="it">it</span> <span word="himself">himself</span>.</p><p>大家一定都听明白了，原来这个人的出租车公司简直小得不能再小；整个公司只拥有一辆车，而老板、雇员、司机统统加在一起也只有一个人，就是他本人。换句话说，他自己就是唯一那辆出租车的司机。从这段话我们看出<span word="penny">penny</span>-<span word="ante">ante</span>含义是微不足道的小事。</p><p>一分钱固然微不足道，但是有些人即使是一分钱也不放松。这就是我们要学的下一个习惯用语: <span word="Penny">Penny</span> <span word="pincher">pincher</span>。<span word="Pincher">Pincher</span>是把一样东西捏在食指和姆指之间的人。如果一个人连<span word="Penny">Penny</span>这样一个小钱也捏得紧紧的，那他可真是个守财奴了。好吧，我们来听一个例子:</p>
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