| 释义 |
spoil /spɔɪl/► SEE ALLspoil sb rottenspoil the ship for a ha’porth/ha’penny-worth of tartoo many cooks spoil the brothspare the rod and spoil the child
●spoil sb ˈrotten (informal) give sb everything they want or ask for 宠坏；惯坏◆She spoils the kids rotten.
她把孩子们都给宠坏了。●spoil the ˌship for a ha’porth/ha’penny-worth of ˈtar (saying) spoil sth good because you did not spend any or enough money on a small but essential part of it 省了半便士的柏油，毁了一条大船；贪小便宜吃大亏◆Always buy good quality floppy disks. Don’t spoil the ship for a ha’porth of tar.
永远不要买劣质软盘，以免因小失大。 ORIGIN Ship in this idiom was originally sheep and ha’porth or ha’penny-worth referred to a very small amount of money. The basic meaning of the idiom was originally ‘allow a sheep to die because you won’t buy a very small amount of tar’, tar being used to treat cuts on a sheep’s body. 在这个习语，ship 原为 sheep （“绵羊”），ha'porth 或 ha'penny-worth 指很少量的钱。这个习语原先的基本意思是“因为不愿买少量用来治疗绵羊伤口的焦油而致其死去”。●too many cooks spoil the ˈbroth (saying) if too many people try to do sth it will not be done well or properly 厨师多了烧坏汤；人多手杂反坏事；人多添乱 NOTE Broth is a kind of thick soup. * broth 是一种浓汤。 ●ˌspare the ˈrod and ˌspoil the ˈchild (saying) if you do not punish a child for behaving badly, he/she will behave badly in future 省了棍子，宠坏孩子；孩子不打不成器 |