看剧时间到！！！

我们在看美剧时

经常看见salt of the earth这个表达

直译过来就是地球之盐

但我肯定不是这意思啦~

你知道到底怎么翻译吗？

壹   一系列美剧片段来袭

在美剧《摩登家庭》中，Jay在发现自己不被人喜欢之后，说了这么一句：

“Nobody doesn’t like me. I’m Jay. I’m salt of the earth.”。

没有人不喜欢我，我是杰，人见人爱的杰。

在《教父2》中，听证会的剧情可谓全片高潮，之前看不起柯里昂家族的议员为其在听证会上辩护，也提到了这个表达。

所以

salt of the earth

这个表达是什么意思呢？

贰 来源

“salt of the earth”这个表达来源于《圣经》中的《马太福音》第5章，也称“登山宝训”中耶稣站在山上对门徒的训导“You are the salt of the earth.”。

盐不仅是一种增味剂，也是一种保鲜剂。在《旧约·民数记》中，以色列人和上帝之间的盟约就被称为“永远的盐约”，用以表示对此约的永不背弃。

“登山宝训”中耶稣的训导是希望门徒们能够成为积极的力量，去改变世界，去感化世人。

后来，“世上的盐”（或“地球之盐”）就被用来指代社会精华或社会的中流砥柱。

比如：

The taxi driver who saved the drowning boy from the river is the salt of the earth.

那个拯救落水儿童的出租汽车司机是大家学习的榜样。

People regard him the salt of the earth here. He is not only knowledgeable, but also helpful and nice to everyone in the department.

人们认为他是这儿的精英。他不仅知识渊博，而且乐于助人，对部门内每个人都很好。

叁   其他和salt of the earth有关的表达

Take something with a pinch of salt

This is a great way of saying that you don’t want to fully believe something, because you are sceptical about the information. By the way, you can also say a grain or salt, which is more common in American English: When you read the tabloids, you should take things with a pinch of salt.

当你想表达“你不想完全相信某事，因为你对信息持怀疑态度”时可以使用这个习语。另外，a grain of salt也是可以的，这种说法在美式英语中更常见。

例如：When you read the tabloids, you should take things with a pinch of salt.

读小报的时候，你应该持怀疑态度。

Rub salt into the wound

This basically means to make a difficult situation even worse for someone and it is often done deliberately. Alternatively, you can say pour salt onto the wound. This originates from a medical wound becoming more painful: It was bad enough getting sacked, don’t rub salt into the wound by joking about it!

这个短语意味着让某人的困境变得更糟，而且通常是故意的。你也可以用“pour salt onto the wound”替代。这句话源于往伤口撒盐的真实感受。

例如：It was bad enough getting sacked, don’t rub salt into the wound by joking about it!

被解雇已经够糟糕的了，不要再拿这件事开玩笑了!

Be worth your salt

This expression means that someone deserves respect and praise in their field of work because they are good at their job: If you’re looking for a personal assistant, Jenny is worth her salt, without doubt.

这个表达的意思是某人在他们的工作领域值得尊重和赞扬，因为他们很擅长他们的工作.

例如：If you’re looking for a personal assistant, Jenny is worth her salt, without doubt.

如果你正在寻找一个私人助理，Jenny毫无疑问能胜任。

Go back to the salt mines

This is perhaps a lesser-known idiom. If someone has to go back to the salt mines, they unwillingly or reluctantly have to return to work: Unfortunately, I have to go back to the salt mines on Monday.

这个习语可能不太为人所知，它用来形容人们不情愿地或不得不回去工作.

例如：Unfortunately, I have to go back to the salt mines on Monday.

不幸的是，我不得不在星期一回去工作。