| 释义 |
sell /sel/► SEE ALLsell sb down the riversell sb shortsell your soulsell yourself/sb/sth shortsell/go like hot cakessell sb/buy a pup
●sell sb down the ˈriver (informal) act very unfairly to sb who trusts you; betray sb you have promised to help 出卖；背叛；背信弃义◆The workers thought that their own leaders had sold them down the river.
工人们以为他们的领袖已经出卖了他们。 ORIGIN This idiom comes from the days of slavery in the US. A slave who was sold to an owner further down the Mississippi river would experience worse conditions than in the states further north. 这个习语源于美国奴隶制时代。被卖到密西西比河下游的奴隶比在北方各州的生活条件更加恶劣。●sell sb ˈshortcheat sb by giving them less than they have paid for 卖给某人的东西不够分量；缺斤短两◆He sold us short! We paid for five kilos of mushrooms and only got four!
他缺斤短两！我们买了五公斤蘑菇，他却只给了四公斤！●sell your ˈsoul (informal, often humorous) do something morally or legally wrong in order to get sth that you want very much 出卖灵魂（做不道德或不合法的事）◆He’d sell his soul to get that job.
为了得到那份工作他会不惜出卖自己的灵魂。 NOTE This expression refers to selling your soul to the devil in exchange for power, money, etc. 这个表达法原指将自己的灵魂出卖给魔鬼以换取权力、金钱等。 ●sell yourself/sb/sth ˈshortdescribe yourself/sb/sth as being less good, valuable, etc. than you, etc. really are 低估自己／某人／某事物◆Don’t sell yourself short when you go for an interview.
去面试的时候不要贬低自己。◆It was a great idea, but you sold it short.
真是个好主意，你小瞧它了。●sell/go like ˈhot cakes (informal) be sold quickly in great quantities 畅销；热卖◆The band’s latest record is selling like hot cakes.乐队的最新专辑正在热卖中。●sell sb/buy a ˈpup (old-fashioned, BrE, informal) sell sb or be sold sth that has no value or is worth much less than the price paid for it 卖给某人伪劣货；买到伪劣货◆I’m wondering whether this really is a genuine Rolex. Do you think I’ve been sold a pup?我怀疑这是不是真的劳力士，你觉得我买了假货吗？ ORIGIN The idea behind this idiom seems to be that someone dishonestly sells a young dog with no experience to someone who is expecting a more valuable older trained dog. 这个表达法的原义是，有人使用欺诈手段，把一条未经训练的幼犬当作一条身价不菲、训练有素的成年狗卖了出去。 |