今天我们要讲的美国习惯用语是:over the moon. Over是在上面的意思,moon是月亮的意思。over the moon连在一起,不是登月,而是高兴万分的意思。不管遇到什么好事,比如说是涨工资、生宝宝、或是自己支持的球队赢了比赛的冠军,都可以说over the moon, 来表达兴奋的心情。下面我们来看一个例子。

这名男子多年来一直暗恋一名女友,让我们看看什么能让他over the moon:

例句-1:You can imagine how nervous I was when I finally told her how I felt. I didn't know what to expect. She could have gotten angry or acted like I was joking or even felt sorry for me. But, when she said she felt the same way, I was just over the moon.

他说:你可以想象,我向她表白的时候心里有多紧张。我不知道她会有什么样的反应。她可能会生气、也可能会觉得我是在开玩笑,甚至可能会同情我。可是她竟然说,她也喜欢我,这简直让我喜出望外。

这个片段不由得让我们想起爱情影片的最后一幕。在生活中,最大的快乐往往会在最意想不到的时刻出现。

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Over the moon这个习惯用语来源于一个古老的童谣。

童谣: Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle/The cow jumped over the moon./The little dog laughed to see such fun/ And the dish ran away with the spoon.

这个童谣本身并没有什么具体意思,但是童谣里的over the moon却被作为习惯用语,一直沿用至今。在下面这个例子中,一名老人回忆他第一次被提升的时候说,

例句-2:It was two weeks after I married your mother. We were living in a tiny apartment and we had no idea how we were going to afford a family. So when I heard I was being promoted to sales manager, I was just over the moon.

他说:当时我娶你妈妈刚刚两个星期,我们住在一个小小的公寓里,不知道怎么能养得起孩子。因此,当我听说自己被提升为销售经理时,简直高兴极了。