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Second Fiddle
By Kay Starr
I was playing second fiddle
I was caught in a losing romance
You were also second fiddle
You, too, played the game with no chance
We were losers, we were weepers
They called us birds of a feather
Now we're finders, now we're keepers
Two aching hearts got together
We were playing second fiddle
Then we met and gave love a new start
No more playing second fiddle
Now that we're first in each other's heart
fiddle=violin-小提琴
play second fiddle: to take a less important and subordinate role to someone or something in a way often considered demeaning: 意思是扮演第二小提琴手的角色,处于次要位置。
This means that both "I" and "you" were somebody else's 第二位情人, i.e., "We were (both) playing second fiddle", and that was why "We were losers, we were weepers". Then the two met (found each other), and "Two aching hearts got together" to start a new love, and became "first in each other's heart".
“I” played second fiddle in my life, so did “You” in your life. We share the same story. “Finders keepers, losers weepers” is just a play of cliché, and doesn’t necessarily carry the dubious ethical merit in this song. It means we’ve found each other, our true love and we’ll keep each other for our own.
英文中有"fiddle while Rome burns"这个短语: to do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; -意思是发生紧急情况时却在做一些无关痛痒的事情。(fiddle在这里是动词-拉小提琴)
传说罗马着火时暴君Nero却在拉小提琴,毫不关心自己的国民和帝国。据说火是他自己放了,当然不紧张了。
birds of a feather (flock together):(informal) used to say that two or more people have similar attitudes, beliefs etc -物以类聚,人以群分
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fiddle while Rome burns
To do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; legend has it that while a fire destroyed the city of Rome, the emperor Nero played his violin, thus revealing his total lack of concern for his people and his empire. 1
http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/fiddlewhiler.html
Nero
(NEER-oh) An ancient Roman emperor, famed for his cruelty. He had his mother and wife killed and kicked his mistress to death while she was pregnant. Nero also persecuted Christians, blaming them for a great fire in Rome. According to tradition, he put the Apostles Peter and Paul to death. 1
‡ A famous legend holds that Nero caused the great fire of Rome himself and played a violin while watching it. To say that someone is “fiddling while Rome burns” is to say that the person is indifferent to catastrophe.
http://www.bartleby.com/59/9/nero.html
我是在The New Oxford Dictionary of English看到fiddle while Rome burns,但是它没有说明fiddle是什么意思。后来在Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English发现了这个短语的origin:This phrase refers to the Roman emperor Nero, who fiddled(=played the violin) during the burning of Rome in AD 64.
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Second Fiddle
By Kay Starr
I was playing second fiddle
I was caught in a losing romance
You were also second fiddle
You, too, played the game with no chance
We were losers, we were weepers
They called us birds of a feather
Now we're finders, now we're keepers
Two aching hearts got together
We were playing second fiddle
Then we met and gave love a new start
No more playing second fiddle
Now that we're first in each other's heart
fiddle=violin-小提琴
play second fiddle: to take a less important and subordinate role to someone or something in a way often considered demeaning: 意思是扮演第二小提琴手的角色,处于次要位置。
This means that both "I" and "you" were somebody else's 第二位情人, i.e., "We were (both) playing second fiddle", and that was why "We were losers, we were weepers". Then the two met (found each other), and "Two aching hearts got together" to start a new love, and became "first in each other's heart".
“I” played second fiddle in my life, so did “You” in your life. We share the same story. “Finders keepers, losers weepers” is just a play of cliché, and doesn’t necessarily carry the dubious ethical merit in this song. It means we’ve found each other, our true love and we’ll keep each other for our own.
英文中有"fiddle while Rome burns"这个短语: to do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; -意思是发生紧急情况时却在做一些无关痛痒的事情。(fiddle在这里是动词-拉小提琴)
传说罗马着火时暴君Nero却在拉小提琴,毫不关心自己的国民和帝国。据说火是他自己放了,当然不紧张了。
birds of a feather (flock together):(informal) used to say that two or more people have similar attitudes, beliefs etc -物以类聚,人以群分
-----------------------------------------------------------------
fiddle while Rome burns
To do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; legend has it that while a fire destroyed the city of Rome, the emperor Nero played his violin, thus revealing his total lack of concern for his people and his empire. 1
http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/fiddlewhiler.html
Nero
(NEER-oh) An ancient Roman emperor, famed for his cruelty. He had his mother and wife killed and kicked his mistress to death while she was pregnant. Nero also persecuted Christians, blaming them for a great fire in Rome. According to tradition, he put the Apostles Peter and Paul to death. 1
‡ A famous legend holds that Nero caused the great fire of Rome himself and played a violin while watching it. To say that someone is “fiddling while Rome burns” is to say that the person is indifferent to catastrophe.
http://www.bartleby.com/59/9/nero.html
我是在The New Oxford Dictionary of English看到fiddle while Rome burns,但是它没有说明fiddle是什么意思。后来在Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English发现了这个短语的origin:This phrase refers to the Roman emperor Nero, who fiddled(=played the violin) during the burning of Rome in AD 64.
-------------------------------------------------------------更多精彩文章及讨论,请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net