有的人一開(kāi)始就給人一個(gè)壞印象是怎么說(shuō)的呢？ You should say ： to get
off on the wrong foot. To get off on the wrong foot ，這是指某人一開(kāi)始
就沒(méi)給人一個(gè)好印象，或一開(kāi)始由于某種行為而把事情弄糟了。下面這句話里說(shuō)
的這個(gè)人就是一個(gè)例子：

    例句-1： When Joe went to his new job ， he got off on the wrong foot.
On the first morning he upset his new boss by arriving at the store two
hours late. And right now he's out looking for a job again. 這個(gè)人說(shuō)：
“喬找到了一份新的工作，可是他剛開(kāi)始到那家店里去上班時(shí)就給人一個(gè)壞印象。

    第一天上班他就晚到兩個(gè)小時(shí)，讓他的老板好不高興�，F(xiàn)在他又在找工作了。
“

    To get off on the wrong foot這個(gè)俗語(yǔ)實(shí)際上可以適用于任何情況。下面
一個(gè)例子是一個(gè)男學(xué)生在說(shuō)他交女朋友的情況：

    例句-2： I finally got a date with that new girl in class but I sure
got off on the wrong foot with her： I had car trouble and got to her
place almost two hours late.他說(shuō)：“那天我終于和班上新來(lái)的那個(gè)女同學(xué)約
好了出去玩�？墒�，當(dāng)天我的車出了問(wèn)題，晚了兩個(gè)小時(shí)才去接她，所以我一開(kāi)
頭就把事弄糟了。”

    ******

    有意無(wú)意做錯(cuò)事、說(shuō)錯(cuò)話的情況是很經(jīng)常的。下面我們要講的一個(gè)俗語(yǔ)就是
無(wú)意中說(shuō)錯(cuò)了話而傷害了別人，或者叫自己很不好意思。這個(gè)俗語(yǔ)就是：to put
your foot in your mouth.

    我們來(lái)舉個(gè)例子看看什么樣的情況才 to put your foot in your mouth ：

    例句-3： When Sally told that silly joke about the sailor with one
leg she really put her foot in her mouth. She didn't know the man across
the dinner table had a brother at home in a wheelchair. 這句話翻成中文
就是：“沙莉吃晚飯時(shí)說(shuō)了一個(gè)笑話，拿一個(gè)只有一條腿的水手開(kāi)玩笑。她可不
知道坐在飯桌對(duì)面那個(gè)人的哥哥就是個(gè)殘廢，行動(dòng)都得靠輪椅。”Sally 如果事
后了解情況的話，她肯定會(huì)說(shuō)： "Well， I certainly have put my foot in my
mouth."

    下面我們?cè)賮?lái)舉一個(gè)例子：

    例句-4： I certainly put my foot in my mouth at the party last night
when I asked Mister Brown to say hello to his wife for me. Somehow I'd
forgotten that his wife died six months ago.這人說(shuō)：“我昨晚在那個(gè)聚會(huì)
上無(wú)意中說(shuō)錯(cuò)了話。我讓布朗先生替我向他的太太問(wèn)好。不知怎么回事，我忘了
他太太已經(jīng)在半年前去世了。”