中国日报双语新闻

许飞一句“我画地为牢厉娜”刷屏,英语咋说

“画地为牢”用英语怎么说?

▌字面义

draw a circle on the ground to serve as a prison
在地上画一个圈当作监狱

例如:
In the classic novel\x26nbsp;Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods), Ji Chang drew a circle on the ground to serve as a prison, relying entirely on the people\x27s trust rather than physical walls.
在古典小说《封神演义》中,姬昌在地上画了一个圈当作监狱,画地为牢,完全依靠百姓的信任,而非物理上的高墙。

▌引申义,有两层

①restrict sb to a designated area or sphere
把某人限制在指定范围内活动

例如:
Employees should not be restricted to a designated area of expertise. Cross-disciplinary skills are highly valued today.
员工不应在专业领域上画地为牢。如今,跨学科技能备受重视。

②box oneself in
自我设限,困在原有处境中

例如:
If you keep dwelling on past mistakes, you will just box yourself in and miss out on new opportunities.
如果你一直纠结于过去的错误,你只会画地为牢,从而错失新的机会。

如果放到许飞那句哽咽的语境里,最贴切的解释不是“被人关起来”,而是trap oneself in the past——自愿困在过去的遗憾里,不肯走出来

这也是“画地为牢”在这个梗里真正戳中人的地方:圈是自己画的,但走不出去,也是真的。

来源:中国日报双语新闻