捉奸捉双:be caught red-handed

教育   2025-01-24 08:04   北京  


汉语“抓个现行、当场抓住”的英语可用catch somebody in the act of doing,如

【例句1】He was caught in the act of stealing a car. (他偷车时被当场抓住。) [牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句2】The gang was caught in the act of unloading the cigarettes. (那帮人在卸烟时被现场抓住了。)[朗文当代英语词典]

【例句3】It is often difficult to tell when someone is using drugs unless they are caught in the act. (除非被当场抓获,否则通常很难判断某人何时吸毒。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

“抓个”,英语还有个形容词red-handed。

成语“捉奸捉双”和“捉贼捉赃”,并非真的去捉奸和捉贼,而是要有铁证。对于凶杀案,若嫌疑人手上有血,那么在古代英国司法中肯定是重要证据,这就是red-handed的语义逻辑,如

【例句4】He was caught red-handed (=as he was doing something wrong) taking money from the cash register. (他从收银机里偷钱被当场抓住。)[朗文当代英语词典]

【例句5】Earl was caught red-handed taking the money. (厄尔偷钱当场被抓。)[朗文当代英语词典]

【例句6】My boyfriend and I robbed a store and were caught red-handed. (我和男朋友抢劫了一家商店,当场被抓。)[柯林斯高级学者辞典]

上述red-handed被标为形容词,但它更像修饰catch的副词。尤其是对【例句4和5】,形容词修饰动名词,尤其是带宾语的动名词,比较少见,这是因为动名词在短语内部是动词。

red-handed最初与凶杀案关联,但就像汉语的奸捉双”一样也被泛义拓展了。不过,肯定不能用于褒义语境。

in the act of doing something没有贬义,它就是“在做某事的行动中”,也就是“正在做某事”,如

【例句7】Ken was in the act of paying his bill when Neil came up behind him. (肯正在付账,尼尔走到他身后。) [柯林斯高级学者辞典]

【例句8】Lindsay paused in the act of putting down the phone. (林赛放下电话时停顿了一下。)[朗文当代英语词典]




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找逻辑学英语
这是中国农业大学陈奎孚教授思考语言逻辑和如何学英语公众号。 号主执教(力学)专业英语近20年。他企图用力学的死脑筋来思考英语的语法和习惯,有时有点偏执。 号主曾荣获北京市优秀教师、宝钢教育基金优秀教师、中农大教学名师等
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