在英语中有些短语的字面意思可能不是它的实际意思，它们通常是由一些耳熟能详的单词组成的，如 sit on the fence，而有些短语的字面意思就是它的实际意思，因为这个意思就是中文里面使用的意思，如 dark horse.
Sit on the fence 不要理解为“坐在围栏上”，它意为“持观望态度，犹豫不决，骑墙，保持中立”等，例如：
He tends to sit on the fence at meetings. 开会时他往往持观望态度。
When Jane and Tom argue, it is best to sit on the fence and not make either of them angry.简和汤姆吵架时，最好保持中立，不要让他们两人生气。
Dark horse 的字面意思”黑马“就是它的实际意思，在中英文中都用来比喻最近刚取得或将要取得成功的新人，例如：
In the 1955 golf championship, dark horse Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan.在1955年的高尔夫锦标赛上，黑马杰克·弗莱克击败了本·霍根。He was such a dark horse in the competition.
类似的还有 big mouth，它的字面意思”大嘴巴“就是它的实际意思，在中英文中用来比喻自吹自擂、多嘴的人或嘴巴不严的人，相当于 blabbermouth，意思相当于 talk too much，常用于搭配 have a big mouth 中，例如：
His friends are scared of inviting him to the parties as he turns into a big mouth after a few drinks.他的朋友们害怕邀请他参加聚会，因为他喝了几杯后就变成了一个大嘴巴。天哪，你真是一个大嘴巴！你就不能停止谈论别人的事吗？I have a tendency to talk too much when I'm nervous. He does not talk too much and what he has to say is precise and to the point. 
当然 big mouth 在中文有本意的用法，也就是大嘴巴，通常指鱼的嘴巴很大，例如：
A largemouth bass has a big mouth.Look at the big mouth on that bass, Jerry! You could fit a coke can in it.看看那条鲈鱼的大嘴，杰瑞！你可以在里面装一个可乐罐。
我们还可以用 talkative，loquacious，verbose 等来形容一个人话多、喋喋不休或健谈的，但 loquacious 是正式用语，它们都是可分级形容词，其中 verbose 带有贬义，因此在使用时要注意区分，例如：
She's very happy, talkative, and outgoing.Once a loquacious politician, he now makes rarely grants interviews and reads speeches from texts.他曾经是一位口若悬河的政治家，现在很少接受采访，也很少从文本中阅读演讲稿。He was a notoriously verbose after-dinner speaker.Wordy 跟 verbose 类似带有贬义，但 verbose 更正式，它们更常用于表达文章的冗长或堆砌词藻的，例如：His writing is difficult and often verbose. As usual she gave a reply which was wordy and didn't answer the question.
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