动物名称名词常转类为动词,其含义之一是“捕捉”(hunt and catch)。 如:
They fished all day in the river.
The dogs went ratting.
然而,动物世界,形象纷繁,其性情又千差万别。动物名称的名词用作动词,或取“形似”,或取“神似”,或“形神皆似”,含义丰采多姿,形象逼真,幽默多趣。现择其要者介绍于下:
1. dog:跟踪,尾随
Whenever I go,my little brother dogs my footsteps.
无论我上哪儿,我的小弟弟总是尾随着我。
2.monkey:耍弄,乱搞
Don’t monkey with my television.
别乱动我的电视机。
3.snake:蜿蜒而行;拖拉(地上某物)
Since the train was snaking along at a brisk clip,the diner
swayed from side to side.
列车开始弯弯曲曲地急速前行之后,餐车便开始左右摇晃起来。
4.wolf:狼吞虎咽
The starving man wolfed down the food。
饿汉狼吞虎咽地吃完了食物。
5.fish:取出(某物);捕捞
He fished out a coin for the boy.
他取出了一块硬币给这男孩。
6. crane:伸长脖子看
Jack craned to see the coins in the well.
杰克伸长了脖子看水井中的硬币。
7. ape:模仿,仿效
Do not ape your betters.
不要效颦。
8.badger(獾):纠缠,缠住
If you badger him long enough,I’m sure he’ll agree.
如果你老是缠住他,他就会同意了。
9.pig:(在肮脏处)挤、睡在一块儿
The hotels were all full so we had to pig it in an old hut for the night.
旅馆都客满了,我们只得在旧棚子里对付它一夜。
10.chicken:退缩,害怕
All the boys ran to put out the fire,but Mike chickened out.
男孩都跑去救火,迈克却退缩了。
11.parrot:鹦鹉学舌般地复述
On the whole,the students seemed serious and hard-working,but they
confined themselves to parroting textbooks。
总的来说,学生看来认真又用功,但是他们只是死背教科书。
12.beetle:(像甲虫一样)匆忙行走
After work we all beetled off for a drink.
下班之后,我们都匆匆忙忙去喝点什么。
13.bug:暗设窃听器;烦恼,折磨
The spy bugged enemy headquarters. .
间谍在敌军司令部暗设了窃听器。
14.worm:(虫一般)慢慢爬行;慢慢钻营
The soldier wormed his way toward the enemy’s lines.
士兵慢慢向敌人的防线爬去。
15.fox:行骗
To his mind everybody was dodging and foxing.
在他看来,人人都在搞鬼和行骗。