咱陕西最出名的是苹果,我们就从苹果开始我们的“水果之旅”:民以食为天,从美国人爱吃苹果派不难看出他们对苹果也是情有独钟,所以我们要描述一个非常地道的美国人,就可以说 He is as American as apple pie. 而要描述一个地方非常整洁,一切都安排的井井有条,可以说 Everything here is in apple-pie order. 通常,那些卖苹果的商贩会将苹果擦地锃亮以勾起人们的购买欲望,但请大家注意,在英语中与之相对的 apple-polisher 可不是“擦苹果的人”,而是那些“溜须拍马的人”,俗称“马屁精”;动词是apple-polish。而我们经常说的“掌上明珠”在英语中叫做 “the apple of one's eye”。比如说“ 梅是她父亲的掌上明珠”翻成英语就是 May is the apple of her father's eye. 还有大写的 (the)Big Apple,指的是美国大名鼎鼎的纽约市。
英语中与水果有关的习语当然不止苹果那么简单:top/big banana是“大老板”,例如:Who's your top/big banana? 谁是你们的老板?go bananas 可以指一个人“大发雷霆”,例如:Tom was worried that his parents would go bananas when they found out that he had put a dent in their car.汤姆担心一旦他父母发现他们的汽车被他撞出一块凹痕,就会大发雷霆;也可以用来指一个人“发狂”,例如:He went bananas when he was informed of passing college entrance examination. 当被告知通过高考时,他高兴地发狂。banana skin 香蕉皮,引申为“造成麻烦的事物”;至于 banana split,就是女孩子不可不知的甜品“香蕉船”了。lemon 柠檬,可以指“劣质商品,蹩脚货”,例如:His car was a lemon—it broke down twice in a month.他的车质量有问题,一个月内坏了两次。sour grapes 酸葡萄,也就是我们常说的“吃不着葡萄说葡萄酸”,例如:He said he didn't want the job anyway, but that's just sour grapes. 他说他其实并不想干这份工作,这不过是吃不着葡萄说葡萄酸而已。这里要注意,sour grapes 虽然是复数形式,与之搭配的动词则是单数形式。