日本高清色视频在线视频在,国产香蕉97碰碰视频碰碰看,丰满少妇av无码区,精品无码专区在线,久久无码专区免费看,四虎欧美精品永久地址99,亚洲色无码一区二区三区

 
 
 

Over the top?

中國日報網(wǎng) 2015-06-23 10:12

分享到

 

Reader question:Over the top?

When "his language" is described as "way over the top", what does it mean?

My comments:

"Way" is an American colloquialism that means very much, by a long way, by far.

"Over the top" means excessive.

Here the man used language that is considered too strong, way too strong as a matter of fact.

He cursed perhaps, using four letter words and such like.

Or he made remarks that are considered racist or something like that.

In short, "his language" is considered improper and unfair, and excessively so.

Way over the top, in short.

Way as an Americanism is easy to understand. What's "over the top" about then?

As it turns out, "over the top" originally means over the top of one's head.

Or more accurately, over the top the trenches soldiers dug in World War I. Back then, soldiers dug trenches, or long tunnels in the ground to evade enemy bullets. By lowering their head, they could hear bullets whizzing by, over the top, without getting hit.

Over the top of the trench, or over the top of their head.

Whatever, this is how "over the top" came to be, according to Phrases.org.uk – as follows:

In the First World War the phrase was used by the British to describe the infantry emerging from the safety of their trenches to attack the enemy across open ground. An early example of that in print is from a 1916 edition of War Illustrated:

"Some fellows asked our captain when we were going over the top."

By going over the top, the soldiers literally were emerging from the trenches to attack the enemy on the ground level, which means added risks and, therefore, requires greater bravery – or recklessness, as the case may be.

World War I along with its trench warfare is long gone and largely forgotten, but the term "over the top" found its way into the English language and stayed.

It's been thriving, too. Today, it has become a most popular expression for anything that is excessive and overdone, especially when it comes to anything excessively bold, harsh and inappropriate.

Anything that's over the limit, that is, beyond reasonable or acceptable limits.

Beyond the pale, in other words.

上一頁 1 2 3 4 下一頁

上一篇 : Name and shame?
下一篇 : Bring the house down?

 

分享到

中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津版權說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創(chuàng)作品,除與中國日報網(wǎng)簽署英語點津內(nèi)容授權協(xié)議的網(wǎng)站外,其他任何網(wǎng)站或單位未經(jīng)允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883561聯(lián)系;凡本網(wǎng)注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉載,請與稿件來源方聯(lián)系,如產(chǎn)生任何問題與本網(wǎng)無關;本網(wǎng)所發(fā)布的歌曲、電影片段,版權歸原作者所有,僅供學習與研究,如果侵權,請?zhí)峁┌鏅嘧C明,以便盡快刪除。

中國日報網(wǎng)雙語新聞

掃描左側二維碼

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我們這兒都有!

中國日報雙語手機報

點擊左側圖標查看訂閱方式

中國首份雙語手機報
學英語看資訊一個都不能少!

關注和訂閱

人氣排行
熱搜詞
 
 
精華欄目
 

閱讀

詞匯

視聽

翻譯

口語

合作

 

關于我們 | 聯(lián)系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版權聲明:本網(wǎng)站所刊登的中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津內(nèi)容,版權屬中國日報網(wǎng)所有,未經(jīng)協(xié)議授權,禁止下載使用。 歡迎愿意與本網(wǎng)站合作的單位或個人與我們聯(lián)系。

電話:8610-84883645

傳真:8610-84883500

Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn

<strong id="xdwva"><div id="xdwva"></div></strong>
<label id="xdwva"></label>

<thead id="xdwva"></thead>
    <label id="xdwva"></label>

  1. 日本高清色视频在线视频在,国产香蕉97碰碰视频碰碰看,丰满少妇av无码区,精品无码专区在线,久久无码专区免费看,四虎欧美精品永久地址99,亚洲色无码一区二区三区 久久九九久精品国产日韩经典 国产国语国拍精品 啊v在线观看高清无码 视频一区二区欧美 久久精品爱爱唉爱