后来我注意到,每次有人要在这个女的旁边坐下,她就会开始自言自语,如果没人,她就很安静。我这才恍然大悟,原来她是在装疯卖傻,为了就是不让别人坐在自己身边。这也让我想起了今天要学的习惯用语,method to one's madness。
在中文里,method是方式方法;madness是疯狂。我们说method to one's madness,意思是表面看似疯狂的举止,其实有它隐含的目的。
刚才说到的火车上的那个女人,为了不让别人坐在自己身边而装疯卖傻。我们就可以说,There was a method to her madness. 在生活中,让人摸不着头脑的事情有很多,但是仔细分析,往往又会发现其中的道理。让我们一起听听下面这个孩子的回忆。
例句-1:When I was a kid, my dad used to take long drives around the state I grew up in. I thought he wanted to go sightseeing. Then I realized he was looking around for the service station offering the cheapest price on gas. I should have known there was a reasonable explanation for those odd road trips. Yes, there was a method to his madness.
说到省钱,我爷爷可不是一般人。我还记得小时候到爷爷家去,看到他攒了很多空的铁罐子,后来我才发现,他把这些铁罐子整齐地摆放在一起,上面铺块布,然后睬在上面够东西。虽说我肯定不会这样做,但至少 I saw a method to one's madness.
下面例子里有人别出心裁,为了涨工资而背水一战。让我们一起听听看。
例句-2:My colleagues assumed I'd gone crazy when I threatened to resign my position as assistant sales manager. What none of them suspected was that I wanted the boss to give me a promotion. And it worked. Within a week I was running the department. See, there was a method to one's madness!