Mum's the word意思是“媽媽的話”？沒(méi)你想的那么簡(jiǎn)單！
這個(gè)習(xí)語(yǔ)來(lái)自于莎士比亞的《亨利六世》。Seal up your lips and give no words but mum.直接翻譯是：閉上嘴巴，啥也不說(shuō)，除了保持沉默。于是，mum is the word就從句子中提取出來(lái)，用在提醒別人保持沉默，恪守諾言的語(yǔ)境。
其中的"mum"是"momme"的俚語(yǔ)說(shuō)法，在中古英語(yǔ)中是“保持沉默”的意思。"mum"的這層意思，是由"murmur"--“啞劇演員”發(fā)展而來(lái)。
A boy presents a handkerchief he made for his mother at a kindergarten in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, May 9, 2013. Children made cards, handkerchiefs and other gifts for their mother to celebrate the coming Mother's Day. [Photo/Xinhua]舉個(gè)例子：
“I won the lottery!”Paul whispered in his wife's ear.
“我中彩了!”保羅在妻子的耳邊悄聲說(shuō)。
“Don't breathe a word!”
“千萬(wàn)要保密!”
“Okay，honey;mum is the word.”
“好的，絕對(duì)不講出去。”
那么，當(dāng)別人跟你說(shuō)Mum's the word讓你給他保密時(shí)，除了Yes還可以怎么回答得更加真誠(chéng)呢?
I won't say a word.
我保證對(duì)誰(shuí)都不說(shuō)出去。
I won't say anything.
我什么都不說(shuō)。
My lips are sealed.
我的嘴很緊。
當(dāng)然可能有些大嘴巴，忍不住就說(shuō)出去了，通常開(kāi)場(chǎng)白是這樣的：我跟你說(shuō)件事，你不要告訴別人哦!然后就開(kāi)始泄露秘密了。
I'll level with you.
好吧，我就直說(shuō)吧。
I have a confession to make.
有件事我一定要坦白。
Well, as a matter of fact...
好吧，說(shuō)實(shí)話……
那如果是你不小心說(shuō)漏嘴了咋辦?
It was a slip of the tongue.
無(wú)意中說(shuō)漏了嘴。
Really? Didn't she know about it?
真的嗎?她不知道這件事?
I spilled the beans.
我泄露了秘密。
I stuck my foot in my mouth.
我把不好/失禮的事說(shuō)出去了。
不過(guò)做人嘛，還是要有分寸和底線的。當(dāng)你忍不住要說(shuō)出去的時(shí)候，就想一想：別人跟你說(shuō)這個(gè)秘密的時(shí)候，有多信任你吧!
另外，我們整理了一份和媽媽有關(guān)的表達(dá)。
01 Mummy's boy
Mummy's boy指的是：很聽(tīng)媽媽的話，什么事情都讓母親來(lái)做主，而自己毫無(wú)主見(jiàn)的男生或者成年男性。也就是我們常說(shuō)的“媽寶男”!
Don't marry him! He's just a mummy's boy.
別嫁給他!他就是一個(gè)媽寶男。
Tim is a mummy's boy. He left his girlfriend because his mother didn't like her.
提姆是一個(gè)媽寶男，因?yàn)樗麐寢尣幌矚g他的女朋友，所以他離開(kāi)了對(duì)方。
02 everyone and their mum
Everyone and their mum:
每個(gè)人和他們的媽媽 ×
大多數(shù)人，很多人 √
這個(gè)短語(yǔ)，用夸張的手法來(lái)形容“非常多的人，幾乎每一個(gè)人”
Everyone and their mum is going on a vacation, but I have to work.
大家都要休假了，可我還得工作。
03 stay-at-home mom
Stay-at-home mom:大家應(yīng)該很好猜出來(lái)是什么意思吧?呆在家里不外出工作，全身心在家?guī)殞毜膵寢?，也就?ldquo;全職媽媽”。
Being a stay-at-home mom is as much hard work as going to an office everyday.
全職媽媽和每天出去工作一樣辛苦。
John: So we've been talking about women's roles in society. And are you a stay-at-home mom or a working mom?
約翰：我們來(lái)談?wù)勁栽谏鐣?huì)中的角色。你是全職媽媽還是職場(chǎng)媽媽?
Sarah: Well, I guess I'm both. Right now, I'm on maternity leave and I'm on six months of maternity leave.
薩拉：嗯，我想我兩者都是。目前我在休產(chǎn)假，我正在休為期6個(gè)月的產(chǎn)假。
John: What does that mean?
約翰：這是什么意思?
Sarah: So maternity leave is when you have a job but then you become pregnant or you're going to have a baby, maybe adopt, too. So you're going to have a baby, and so you take time off of work to stay home with the new baby.
薩拉：產(chǎn)假是指你有工作，不過(guò)因?yàn)槟銘言辛嘶蛘呒磳⑸a(chǎn)，或是領(lǐng)養(yǎng)，在你要生產(chǎn)的時(shí)候，你可以休假，留在家里照顧孩子。
04 mother's knee
At your mother's knee直譯過(guò)來(lái)是“在你媽媽的膝上”，而實(shí)際要表達(dá)的是：幼年時(shí)或是兒時(shí)學(xué)到的技能，比如畫畫，鋼琴，舞蹈這些啟蒙技能。
舉個(gè)例子，小白很小的時(shí)候就學(xué)會(huì)了畫畫，他就可以這樣說(shuō)：
I learnt to paint at my mother's knee.
我在幼年時(shí)學(xué)會(huì)了涂色。
