Squeeze Blood out of Turnip / 从萝卜里挤出血来

Sometimes, American English does not make any sense.

有时候，美式英语毫无意义。

Like if someone says this: You can't squeeze blood out of turnip.

比如有人说："You can't squeeze blood out of turnip."（你不能从萝卜里挤出血来。）

Vegetables don't have any blood in them ... And who is squeezing turnips?

蔬菜里是没有血的……还有……是谁在挤萝卜啊?

Let's see if we can figure out what this means.

我们看看能不能搞清楚这到底是什么意思。

A: Hey, Can you loan me $50.00, I can pay you back on Friday.

嘿，你能借我50美元吗〉周五就还你。

B: I wish I could help, but I just don't have any money ...

希望能帮上忙，但是我没钱啊……

A: Are you sure? I really need it.

你确定吗?我真的需要。

B: I understand, but you can't squeeze blood out of turnip.

我明白，但是从萝卜里是挤不出血来的。

You can't squeeze blood from a turnip means you cannot get something from a person that they don't have to give you.

你不能从萝卜里挤出血，意思是你不能从别人得到他们没有的东西。

And it's used about money.

（上面的例子中）它是用来形容（借）钱的。

You see, it actually makes sense, because no matter how hard you squeeze a turnip, it will never bleed.

你看，这其实是有道理的，因为不管你怎么用力捏萝卜，它永远不会流血。

And if somebody does not have any money to give you, you'll never be able to get it.

如果某人自己没钱，你永远也拿不到。

And that's English in a Minute.

以上就是本期的《一分钟英语》。

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本文节选自《English in a Minute》，VOA的一个教学栏目，用一分钟的时间介绍一个美式俚语，语速适中，标准美语。