每次一词丨Day 7：small wonder

经济学人双语精读 · 公众号 · 国际 · 2017-03-24 16:12

正文

问：Small wonder是什么意思?

Small wonder, then, that pulses quickened on both sides of the Pacific when Donald Trump, as president-elect, questioned the policy. (“I don't know why we have to be bound by a one China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade” he said.) （TE 17-03-11 One China, many meanings）

答：“small wonder”也可作“(it's) little/no/small/wonder (that)”。所以看到其中的no wonder你应该明白了，即不足为奇，十分正常的意思。所以以后看到这种no wonder的变体要一眼看穿，自己写作能用上就更好啦。

举几个栗子：

1.Small wonder (that) he was so tired! （牛津双解）

难怪他这么累！（昨晚干嘛了，坏笑）

2.It’s little wonder the children are bored. （麦克米伦）

怪不得孩子们感到很无聊。

3.After five years with the company she hadn't been promoted - small wonder then that she decided to quit her job. （剑桥高阶）

在公司呆了5年都没能升职，难怪她决定辞职。

一个闲着无聊的彩蛋：表示你不吃惊，你是淡定哥（姐），还可以说：plus ça change [ˌplu sɑː ˈʃɑnʒ]，意思是used as a way of saying that people and situations never really change over time, although they may appear to 变来变去还是老样子；表面虽变本质犹存。源自 “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” 即the more it changes，the more it stays the same。懂法语的同学可以露个脸～

最后，小编舍友也开公众号了阿，资源多多，福利多多，可长按二维码关注！大家快点来撩他，毕竟是千疮百孔的单身狗(T_T)