小橙子的生活館~~吃喝玩樂都在這

　　記得曾經以「開車時如何保持好心情」為題，請學生寫篇英文作文。其中有位同學這樣寫道：提前出門不趕時間，萬一途中遇上突發狀況還可以從容不迫地處理，甚至還可以欣賞沿路風景，如此一來，你的心情就會很好。最後一句他這麼寫：Your mood will be as bright as the sky。這個句子讀來讓人覺得意象十分鮮明，由於大多數外國人屬於視覺判斷，他們常引用具體事物作為比喻以及描述，這就是所謂：A picture is worth a thousand words。例如大家耳熟能詳余光中的詩句所描述：「天空很希臘」，從這簡明的句子中可以明顯感受出具體的美景與光彩。因此我想來談談句子結構中as…as的用法。

　　相信大家都知道as…as中間可加形容詞或是副詞，例如：She is as tall as her sister、 She talks as fast as her sister。但是as…as的成語到底還有哪些呢？例如最常見as cold as ice和冰一樣的冷，也就是冷若冰霜的意思。對此可以這樣說：She is as cold as ice to everybody.她對每個人都是冷若冰霜。但是as right as rain又是什麼意思？和雨一樣嗎？這個片語原指農作物適逢及時雨之後，紛紛顯得生氣勃勃，因此引申出身體狀況健康之意，巧的是right和rain這兩個字又還相互押頭韻，例如：She twisted her arm last week, but she is as right as rain now. 上星期她扭到手但是她現在可好的很。另外還有as fit as a fiddle 指的是一個人身體很健康，字面上意思fit是適合，fiddle是小提琴。小提琴的演奏在十六世紀廣受大眾所喜愛，在當時fiddle也指拉奏小提琴之人，因為要有健康的身體才能演奏小提琴，所以此片語引申出身體狀態很好之意。

　 　As dead as a dodo的典故也蠻特別。遠在1581年葡萄牙人在模里西斯島發現了Dodo鳥，該鳥生得肥鈍樣，不會飛更是跑不快，完全沒有防禦能力，但肉質卻異常美味。由於Dodo鳥被後續登陸該島的歐洲殖民者大肆屠殺，不幸於十七世紀完全絕種，所以as dead as a dodo引申不再流行或早已廢棄的東西，例如：Pagers are as dead as a dodo, people use cell phones instead。再說as mad as a hatter又是指什麼意思呢？hatter是「愛麗絲夢遊奇境」故事中那位說話沒頭沒腦的瘋狂製帽匠，因此放在片語中引申為瘋狂的意思，例如：When he decides to quit that high-paying job, everyone thinks that he must be as mad as a hatter.

其它以動物形容的片語：
as busy as a bee/beaver....像蜜蜂(海狸)一樣忙碌或勤勞。
as brave as a lion....英勇如獅子
as blind as a bat....盲目的像蝙蝠
as happy as a lark....和雲雀一樣高興
as slippery as an eel....像鰻一樣滑溜,指狡滑
as cunning as a fox....和狐狸一樣狡猾
as quiet as a mouse....非常安靜
as strong as an ox....非常強壯
as patient as an ox....像牛一樣非常有耐心
as silly as a goose....像鵝一樣蠢
as wise as an owl....像貓頭鷹一樣聰明

形容顏色方面：
as black as coal / night....像煤炭(黑夜)一樣黑
as red as a cherry / a rose / a ruby....像櫻桃(玫瑰/紅寶石)一樣紅
as white as a sheet / the driven snow....像床單(雪)一樣白

用物體來形容：
as clear as mud....完全不清楚(因為mud是泥巴，和泥巴一樣髒，意思就是不清楚)
as comfortable as an old shoe....很舒服
as easy as pie....很容易
as flat as a pancake....很扁平
as light as a feather / as light as air....很輕盈

As…as 片語衍伸出的用法相當地多，在此僅提供一些做為參考，在細讀品味之下有些比喻還真令人莞爾。