【摘要】：美式形体词习语比喻神形合一，形式考究，满足使用者的美感心理，语体和功能结构差异构成意境美，具有一定的扩张力，谚语拟人物化。
【关键词】：形似 神似 形体词习语 美学色彩
美国人的形体语言body language豪迈奔放，怡然自得且和谐幽雅；同样 地，她的形体词习语确也神形兼备，直抒心意，极大地丰富了美语的美学色彩。所谓形体词习语idiom with body word，即由耳．鼻．眼．嘴．头．脸．等形体词为核心 构成的习语，相当于中文的成语典故，特能传神达意，体现特定的审美感受，她用词简约，音节简洁，结构简练，高中英语教材和阅读辅导文章中有大量运用，历年高考试卷里的形体词习语也是屡见不爽。而现今大量的教参辅导涉及习语形成规律及美学视角的，却少之又少，多数同学学习时只凭死记硬背，未能在第一时间体会连珠妙语的唯美色彩，进而影响‘神交’的层次。笔者仅从美学视点进行白描，在习语园苑中采撷几朵奇葩，以飨读者。
第一，美式形体词习语借比喻表情思，即恰当，又精彩。
明喻比拟贴切，形体词指代直接又直观。如：with open arms张开双臂表示热烈欢迎。blood in one's eyes两眼充血那当然是极度愤怒e．g．I Can see blood in his eyes。count noses和中国人一样表示清点人头，不过美国人是点鼻子。bury one’head in the sand是顾头不顾尾。．说话者在使用这类习语的同时，形体拌随动作会自然到位，真可谓有声有形，形到意到。渗透出美国人的一种KISS理念，即Keep it simple and stupid，意思是采用简洁直接的方法去解决面临的问题。
暗喻神形合一，借用合乎情理如：give someone a black eye，black eye是黑眼圈，熊猫眼，怎么样才能把熊猫眼送别人呢?只有‘打他一顿’才可以，故有Next time I see him，I'll give him a black eye下次见面我要打他一顿。再如，eyes in the back of one's head,一个人后脑壳长眼睛，那不就是六郎神‘神通广大’啦。Pain in the neck颈上之痛最令人讨厌，因此这话指‘极讨厌之人或物’。
正词反义现象颇具美国特色，如mouth嘴巴一词，嘴巴的功能最大程度地满足我们的生命需求，而带嘴巴的习语却贬义居多：bad mouth说……坏话，sweet mouth拍……马屁，big mouth多嘴e．g．I Can't tell you the secret because you have a big mouth。down in the mouth愁眉苦脸，闷闷不乐，e．g．Better leave him alone for he is down in the mouth看他闷闷不乐还是让他清静一点吧。经济基础决定文化意识，美国发达经济决定她崇尚自由民主，历来对嘴巴的问题比较宽宏大度，甚至于骂骂现任总统也无关紧要，因此，笔者愚钝，至今没有发现‘祸从口出’之类相对应的美式习语。另外，转义现象须谨慎对待如：pull one's leg不能依字面解，否则便闹笑话，要按转义的意思‘开某人的玩笑，取笑某人’e．g．Stop pulling my leg，will you?不要取笑我了，好吧。
第二，美式形体词习语的功能差异和语体差异产生多彩的意境美，最能满足使用者社会角色的多变需求和情感需求。
习语依功能结构分为动词性习语，名词性习语，形容词性习语和副词性习语。1)动词性习语是主力军，在句中主要做谓语如：bite one's head off怒形于色，e．g．You don't have to bite my head off just because I asked you to keep quiet我只不过叫你安静些，你也用不着这样大发脾气。eat one's head off食量惊人，laugh one's head off笑掉下巴,talk one's head off吹得天花乱坠，put heads together共商大计，keep one's head above water免遭灭顶之灾，不背债，have a head on one's shoulder有见识，有能力；make eyes at大送秋波，put one's nose into干涉，打听，bite one's tongue off后悔自己说的话， breathe down one's neck催逼某人干事，严密监视某人的行为，break one's neck竭力去做，twist another around one's little finger玩弄于股掌之上，play for one's own hand为自己的利益而做，go around with a chip on one's shoulder到处寻衅，take a hand in插手，eat out 0f one's hand照着办，take the load off one's feet坐下休息等等，学习阅读时可根据句子结构体会其中含义。2)名词性习语如free hand全权处理e．g．The manager gave me a free hand t0 handle it经理托我全权处理此事。old hand老手,right-hand man左右手，glad eye媚眼，smooth tongue油嘴滑舌，swelled-head自高自大之人，egg head书呆子，cold shoulder冷淡，brain storm突发灵感，brain drain智囊枯竭，person after one's own heart合心意之人。3)形容词习语如，one foot in the grave风烛残年，e．g．He looks as though he has one foot in the grave。on one's last legs死期将至，first—hand一手的，fat-head人头猪脑。4)副词性习语如tooth and nail竭尽全力地， shoe is on the other foot情势有变，with a long face不高兴，等等。
习语有正式语体、口语语体和俚语语体三个平台。如：face构成习语属正式语体：keep a straight face克制自己不要笑出来e．g．The situation was so humorous
that I found it difficult to keep a straight face。talk until one's face is blue谈得嘴干舌燥。Have the face to do sth．与中文意思相近，即‘居然有脸做某事’，通常是用来指一些意义不好的事e．g．How dare you have the face to deny that you are responsible for it? 你竟有脸推卸责任吗?
口语色彩习语多在轻松场合使用，以利于说话者释放情怀，展现自己的平民心态，这是其大行其道的社会基础如：He burned this fingers badly in that deal.
We all warned him against it，but he turned a deaf ear to us，and then in the end he lost nearly all the money he had invested．burn one's fingers作‘由于鲁莽而吃苦头’解；turn a deaf ear to作‘不听话’。再如That's right down my alley表示自己对事情非常精通和熟悉，是自己的拿手好戏。Hands are full手头很忙，hands are tired受限制，have a heart可怜我吧等。再例如：He jumped down my throat at the mere mention of the subject这里jump down one's throat at作‘突然粗暴地回答’解。使用俚语色彩习语旨在同行，同事，同仁等‘圈子’里面产生认同感，它产生的归属作用有时胜过万语千言。有talk through one's nose架子十足e．g．He is a snobbish，always talks through his nose．他是势利小人，架子十足。put the foot into one's mouth出言不逊， straight from the horse's mouth来自一个往往可信的消息来源，take the words out of one's mouth别人说出自己的心里话，get sth off one's chest有话就说不要吞吞吐吐，eat one's heart out伤心异常，等等。
另有些习语因语体差异或者功能不同，或表达的方式不同，意思会大相径
庭，产生不同的意境美和差异美。如‘轻视’这一概念，既用look down upon，也可用look down one's nose at；look down one's nose at是俚语，有地域性感情色彩，在家人、同仁之间使用时，乡音土语加上俚语性习语，乡情亲情油然而生；而look down upon是一个正式用语，属于语言的共核部分，可以在任何场地使用，而无不得体之忌。再如keep an eye on因语调不同，有两种意思，一是‘留意这个人’，有警告、监视之意，是俚语色彩，e．g．Keep an eye 0n this man．He is certainly not a good guy留意这个人，他肯定不是好东西；而在Would you please keep an eye on my children when I am out?里意思是‘留心照顾’，是口语语体。Shake a leg有两个意思，一是‘跳舞’，因为跳舞总是要把腿摆动的；二是‘赶快，有俚语色彩，e．g．We'd better shake a leg or we'll be late我们最好快些，否则会迟到。再比如cut throat作动词时，指用不正当、不公平的手段以达害人之目的，e．g．1'm afraid that he is going to cut your throat this time恐怕他这回要害你；用作形容词时，意思是‘害人的’，e．g．I simply don't like such cut-throat business我毫不喜欢这些害人的勾当。All ears有两个含意：一是‘全神贯注地听’，e．g．I'm an ears我很留意地听；二是‘觉得奇怪，很愕然’，e．g．When John heard his name mentioned ,he was all ears当约翰听到他的名字被提到时，他觉得很愕然。
第三，美式形体词习语遣词构义形式考究，具备一定的扩张力，烘托语言
的动态美和立体美。
所谓形式考究，一是运用对比修辞，构建意群的均齐和立体感，如head over
heels由头到尾，既‘完全，全部’的意思，e．g．He fell head over heels in love with Helen他深深地爱上了海伦。make neither head nor tail of sth对某事丈二和尚摸不着头脑，keep body and soul together存活下来；二是重复修辞促成声节匀称和动态感，如：neck and neck,并驾齐驱，不分仲伯，arm in arm手挽手，see eye to eye同意某人的观点，e．g．I don't always see eye to eye with him：三是利用意义相近的词语起强调作用，如：heart and soul全心全意地，tooth and nail竭尽全力；e．g．When the Indian girl was captured，she fought tooth and nail t0 get away．四是运用押头韵手段以随韵抒情，如：neck or nothing，铤而走险，hard-hearted businessman阴
险狡诈之人，E．g．He is a hard．hearted businessman；you can never take anything from him．
不过，形式考究并不阻碍美式习语的合理扩张，在美国文人骚客的生花妙
笔之下，一反不列颠英语的呆板，沾滞，通过巧妙借鉴与搭配，更好地渲染气
氛，烘托思想或突出某种概念，令习语的意境更为绵延。如：wet behind the ears
意思是。毫无经验，乳臭未干’而将wet一词改为dry behind the ears就是经验丰富；go to one's head这个习语，它和beer，wine，drink等词连用，表示(冲上某人的头脑)，意指头晕dizzy如The wine went to his head，而此习语与success，fame， praize， money, congratulation等词连用，表示‘冲昏人的头脑'Don't 1et his congratulations go to your head。再如把be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth(生来富贵)拆成…the silver spoon stayed in his mouth without spoiling it父母的宠爱并没有把孩子惯坏；Pull a long face(满脸不悦)改作pull an unhappy face如The manager pulled an unhappy face when his football team faltered：又如wear one's heart on one's sleeve(十分坦率)改为wear one's religion on one's sleeve．E．g．During the primacies，Jackson criticized the Baptist deacon for wearing his religion 0n his sleeve．在初选时，杰克逊指责社会执事老是把他那一套教义挂在口头上；Get the upper hand(占上风)分拆成In the debate，you Can get an upper cut，if not the upper hand(在辩论时，你占不了上风，至少可占些便宜)。体现出当代美国人用词标新立异，舍通俗、求时髦；舍具体、求抽象的心理特点；借用典故以此物比那物、以此事比那事，体现他们语言上的灵巧风格。
第四，无理据习语和谚语亦可体现含蓄蕴籍的想象意境。
所谓无理据，是因为整个习语的意义已经不能从构成这一习语的各个词的意义中得出了，以口语化习语居多。如face the music当然不是听音乐那么简单了，含义是‘面对困难’或‘接受惩罚’e．g．As you had it coming to you，you must face the music now你这是咎由自取，自作自受。mud in your eye就不能作‘眼中的泥’解，这是举杯祝饮时的祝词，表示good luck或good wishes，千万不要误会。My eye! 表示惊叹的口语“天啊!”； All my eye! 愤怒时讲的话，意既“岂有此理，瞎说，胡说八道”e．g．“John said you owed him ten dollars．”“That's a11 my eye!Just now I lent him$200．”(约翰说你欠他十元钱。瞎说!刚才我还借了二百元给他哩。)My foot!粗俗一点的感叹词，通常具有看不起的意思e．g．“His brother is quite a handsome log．'…Handsome? My foot!'’(他的弟弟长得很英俊。俊个屁!)
美式形体词谚语拟人物化，寓繁于简，神形活现，和中国谚语有异曲同工之美。如pitcher(有嘴和耳朵柄般的大水罐)，因此有Little pitchers have big ear(人小耳灵，在小孩面前说话要注意)， Walls have ears(隔墙有耳，要人说话注意保密)，in at one ear and out at the other(左耳入，右耳出)，One can not make a silk purse out of a SOW'S ear(巧妇难为无米之炊)；Eyes are bigger than one's stomach(心有余而力不足)， eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth(以眼还眼，以牙还牙)；Is my face red?(问心无愧)；Great minds think alike(英雄所见略同)，Two heads are better than one(三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮)，Fish begins to stink at the head(上梁不正下梁歪)等等。

（本文刊于《屯中教研》第一期）