英语论文网

y’s sail”(先发制人) ,“at sea”(茫然), “to trim one’s sail to the wind” (见风使舵),“never offer to teach fish to swim” (不要班门弄斧),“full fish” (乏味的人),“sail under false colors”(欺世盗名)(庄和诚，2002. P572),etc. What’s more, climate, agriculture are also another factor in the living condition. While Britain is located in western hemisphere, with North Temperate Zone and marine climate, so “west wind” is the symbol of spring. The west wind blows from the Atlantic Ocean is warm and gentle, so that Britain abounds in rain can be proved in some idioms concerning rain: “to make hay while the sun shines”(趁热打铁), “to rain or shine”(无论如何), “rainy day”(穷困时期), “as right as rain”(非常正确)etc.
The British people are good at hunting and fishing; they often use horses working in the field, so they made their way of life and made of production. There are many idioms from agriculture. E.g ,“beat around/about the bush”(拐弯抹角)(高凌，2002.10. p43)this from hunting, “a hard row to hoe”(难办的事情), “have all one’s eggs in one basket”(孤注一投), “put out to grass”(年老退休), “ride on the high horse”(盛气凌人), “feel like a fish out of water”(感到不自在).
B．Idioms from religions and beliefs
As a cultural phenomenon, religion, which is the manifestation of cultures, is the vital part of human thought .Religion is an important source for idioms. Most of westerners are Christians, who believe that the world was created by God. They think that God is omnipotent and sacred. God, Christ, devil, Adam and some educational segments of the stories in Bible are passed down, because of people’s favor or even some historical and political causes, especially religious beliefs. Many British who believe in Christianity all read the Bible; therefore, numerous idioms have come into people’s colloquial speech, and have become mottoes. For example: “Judas’s kiss”(犹大之吻) from the Matthew, Judas, one of the Twelve, agrees to betray Jesus that the chief Priests counted out for him only thirty silver coins. A kiss as the betrayer had arranged a signal with the chief Priests. Jesus had crucified, and then died. So, Judas’s kiss means “with the best of intention or forsake. “Turn the other cheek”（甘受侮辱）
from the New Testament, Jesus’ advice: Resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turns to him the other also. “Build up on the sand”（根基不牢）from the Matthew: “…and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand……”in it, “build upon the sand” metaphorical meaning is unstable foundation. There are quite a few English idioms from religion. Such as: “Benjamin’s mess（最大的份额）, “raise Cain apple of Sodom（金玉其表，败絮其中）,“handwriting on the wall”（不祥之兆）, “God preserve us”（神明保佑）(骆世平，2005. 2.2)etc.
C. Idioms from historical allusion
Britain as an ancient country passes a long history, which mainly comprises allusion, myths, poem, ancient books and records etc. Among them, allusion is the most important, it reflects the national characteristic. Idioms from history culture are the gems of human cultural heritage. It is worthwhile for us to learn them well. English idioms have their legends and anecdotes about historical figures which have provided rich and varied materials, and consequently give a national color to the idioms. It is necessary for us to learn and use the English allusion, it can enlarge our scope of knowledge, widen our field of vision, and it is useful to learn about the idioms’ origin. Maybe we can learn it by its historic