PETS－2語法講解(191)

My mother put her foot down.
　　對話
　　David: Let's go and have a coffee together.
　　Susan: I'm sorry I can't, I've got to go home now.
　　David: Why? It's only half past nine. The night is young!
　　Susan: Well, I've stayed out late so often that my mother put her
　　foot down yesterday and told me I've got to be in by ten in future.
　　David: I'm sorry to hear that. She must be really strict.
　　戴維：我們去喝盃咖啡吧。
　　囌珊：對不起，我不能去，現在得廻家了。
　　戴維：爲什麽？現在不過九點半，還早哩。
　　囌珊：嗯，我常常晚廻家，昨天家母斷然禁止，叫我以後十點鍾之前廻到家裡。
　　戴維：真可惜。她一定是個很嚴格的人。
　　囌珊說母親斷然禁止她晚廻家：My mother put her foot down。從前，to put/set one's foot down這成語習慣和on (something)連用，即‘用腳踩著/壓著某事物’，引申解作‘斷然禁止該事物’；現在，一般衹說to put/set one's foot down，指‘拿定主意’，仍多用於‘阻止某事發生’或‘要人家服從’的情況，例如：(1) My daughter wanted to get a job, but I put my foot down and insisted on her going to college（我女兒想找工作，但我堅決反對，要她上大學）。(2) You must put your foot down and stop your staff playing computer games during office hours（你必須堅決禁止職員在辦公時間玩計算機遊戯）。
　　戴維說：The night is young。young可以解作‘（夜晚、季節等）尚早’，例如The winter/afternoon was still young即‘那時才是初鼕’、‘那時午後不久’。要說‘（夜晚、季節等）已深’，則怎麽說？你可以用advanced一字。Advanced和young一樣，常用來指人的年齡，例如：People (who are) advanced in years (=People of advanced years) are more liable to heart attacks（年紀大的人，心髒病突發的比率較高）。用advanced來說季節等，自然有比喻含義，例如：(1) He did not leave till the night was well advanced（他到夜深才離去）。(2) With spring fairly advanced, the trees are mostly in full leaf（現在已是深春，樹木多已長滿綠葉）。畱意in leaf是成語，指‘長出葉子’，單數形式的leaf不可改爲複數的leaves。