to each his own
to each his own是一個(gè)詞典里找不到但使用頻率頗高的短語(yǔ).它的意思就是"不同的人有不同的看法和品位,無(wú)所謂誰(shuí)對(duì)誰(shuí)錯(cuò)",也就是中文里常說(shuō)的"青菜蘿卜,各有所好".美國(guó)人在兩種情況下特別喜歡說(shuō)這句話:
1)如果碰到喜歡爭(zhēng)論或者喜歡把自己的意見(jiàn)強(qiáng)加給別人的人,to each his own往往是最好的回答,等于委婉地告訴對(duì)方"我不會(huì)聽(tīng)你的,我也不想跟你爭(zhēng)論,因?yàn)闆](méi)什么可爭(zhēng)的."比如:
Brian: I’m planning to catch House of Flying daggers this weekend. (brian:這個(gè)周末我準(zhǔn)備去看《十里埋伏.》)
Justin: Are you kidding me? House of Flying Daggers is boring as hell! Meet the Fockers is so much better! (Justin:你沒(méi)有搞錯(cuò)吧?《十面埋伏》悶死人了.《拜見(jiàn)岳父膽大人2》好看多了.)
Brian: Well, to each his own. I’ll stick with House of Flying Daggers.(Brian: 青菜蘿卜,各有所好.我還是準(zhǔn)備看《十面埋伏》.)
注釋《十面埋伏》和《拜見(jiàn)岳父膽大人2》均為賣(mài)座電影,兩者的內(nèi)容和風(fēng)格截然不同.
2)如果別人征詢自己的意見(jiàn),而磁過(guò)直率的回答可能 會(huì)讓對(duì)方難受時(shí),加一句to each his own可以輕松解決問(wèn)題.你的潛臺(tái)詞就是:"不用理會(huì)我的觀點(diǎn).每個(gè)人看法不一樣,我覺(jué)得不可行未必就真的不可行."這種用法和for what it’s worth有異曲同工之妙(請(qǐng)參考for what it’s worth).比如:
Jance: What do you think of this dress” Is it worth buying? (Jane:你覺(jué)得這條裙子怎么樣?值得買(mǎi)嗎?)
Jennifer: I’d never choose pink, but to each his own. (Jennifer:我是絕對(duì)不會(huì)選 紅色的,但每一個(gè)人品不一樣,可能這條裙子適合你也不一定.)
現(xiàn)在這個(gè)年代,什么都講究男女平等,所以如果跟你意見(jiàn)不同的是位女士,to each his own也可以改為to each her own.當(dāng)然,還有很多人說(shuō)to each their own, 一來(lái)表示男女平等,二來(lái)省掉了區(qū)分性別的麻煩.
英語(yǔ)培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)Joffy順便提醒各位學(xué)員,類(lèi)似的用法在英語(yǔ)里已經(jīng)越來(lái)越普遍.比如:"每個(gè)人都有自己的看法"以前可以理所當(dāng)然地翻譯成"Everybody has their own opinions.”這種趨勢(shì)很值得注意.