Seeing is believing 百聞不如一見,only a sight of something is a real proof of its existence 眼見為實。
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 情人眼裏出西施。Tastes differ 人人品味不同;there is no disputing about tastes 談到品味無爭辯。
If you see eye to eye with someone 你同意某人對某事的看法,you both have the same views about something;而 an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth 則是以眼還眼,以牙還牙。
有人目光遠大,深謀遠慮 far-sighted;也有人目光短淺,識見狹小,cannot see beyond the end of his nose,見樹不見林,見小不見大 cannot see the wood for the trees,只見細節,不見全面,over attentive to details and fails to understand the main issue 老是糾纏於細枝末節,看不見事情的全局和整體,這句成語相等於美式說法:you cannot see the forest for the trees。另一句有趣的諺語是:in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king 盲人國度裏,獨眼也稱王;山中無虎,猴子稱王。
謀定而後動:wait and see 等着瞧;耐心等待結果,才决定怎樣做 you await the outcome or a decision,有两句相似說法:see which way the cat jumps 你延遲決定採取行動,觀望形勢後,等到知道得更多時,才動手;see which way the wind is blowing 觀望形勢,先看風向,然後再作打算。
See through something 識破某事,understand the truth about a situation; see something through,也可以解作進行到底 handle a situation and bring events to a happy conclusion,堅持到底 persevere with something to the end。See through somebody 看穿、看透某人,realize that somebody is not telling the truth。If you see somebody in their true colours 等於說 you see what they really are,例如你突然發現:某人並不如你原先認識他那樣誠實或者道德高尚。而 see someone through 也可以表示幫助某人克服困難,渡過難關,help someone through a difficult time。
眼球 eyeball,眼眉 eyebrows,睫毛 eyelash,眼皮 eyelid,各有自已的習用語:eyeball to eyeball 面對面,針鋒相對;up to your eyeballs/eyebrows in something 深陷於、埋頭於、專心於某事物;bat your eyelashes 眉目傳情,擠眉弄眼;raise eye brows 令人驚訝、震惊、反感;not bat an eyelid 面不改色,眼晴都不眨一下。
Vision/Eyesight/Sight/Perception
Vision 視野,the area that you can see from a particular position,最原本的含義是指眼睛正常的功能,通常引申為敏銳的洞察力。睡夢中、幻覺中所見到的東西,幻想的、虛構的、理想的,以及超自然的東西,都可以用vision;而 sight 則指實實在在的東西引起的視覺。心理學常用的 perception,與 sight 同義,可以指視覺,也可以指其他器官的功能。Eyesight 同 sight 視力的含義基本上一樣。應用例句:
a vision that came to him in his sleep
cataract blurred his field of vision
a sharp perception of the aroma of coffee
visual perception of our physical limitations
the first sight he saw on disembarking the ship
his serious injury resulted in his complete loss of sight
insurance against loss of eyesight
my eyesight is perfect
At first sight 是眼睛初看時的第一印象;second sight 則是先見之明:the ability to foretell the future。讓人賞心悅目的景象,樂於看見的人物,a sight for sore eyes is a pleasant surprise。假如你下定決心,以某樣東西為奮鬥目標,並努力爭取,you set your sights on something。假如你跟某人面熟,不用介紹,就認得某人,you know somebody by sight。至於 out of sight,out of mind 眼不見,心不想,很長時間沒見到,就會很容易忘掉,if you do not see someone,you forget about them;諺語:what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over 眼不見,心不傷。
對於外語學習者,三個跟眼睛有關的專業人士,容易引起混淆:optician 眼鏡製造者(美)光學儀器商、眼鏡商(英);optometrist 驗光師、配鏡師;ophthamologist 眼科醫生:Words for eye doctors and eye-glassmakers and sellers can be confusing to foreigners。三者有別:an ophthalmologist 眼科醫生 is a doctor who specializes in diseases of the eye; an optometrist 驗光師 is a specialist who measures visual accuracy and orders and fits lenses for eyeglasses; an optician 眼鏡商 makes or sells eyeglasses and other optical goods。
本專欄逢周二、五刊登