西方文化喻指
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68.不管顺风和不顺风

[词语]by and large

[含义]总的来说;大体上;从各方面看

[趣释]【物事喻指】在海上航行时,帆船无论遇到侧风或正风,只要操纵得好都可以照样行驶。by多指帆侧面吃风, large指帆正面吃风。美国成语by and large原是航海用语,意思是“不论顺风还是不顺风”。后来,这个成语用在其他领域,喻指总的来说、大体上、从各方面看。美国作家马克·吐温(Mark Twain)在其小说《傻子国外旅行记》(The Innocents Abroad)中就引用了这个成语。

[运用]Talking it by and large…we had a pleasant ten day's run from New York to the Azores islands.总的来说……我们做了一次为期十天的从纽约到阿速尔群岛的愉快旅行。(马克·吐温语)

Your city is by and large a consumer city. 你们的城市大体上归消费型的城市。

The difference is that by and large they are not adopting English as their native tongue, or, many of them, even learning much English at all. 不同在于,总的来说,这些拉美移民,或者说他们中的大多数,不准备接受英语为母语,即使他们已经学了很多。