James國外的大老闆要來,明天要一起開重要的會議,他問老闆秘書,幾點開會。秘書回答:The meeting will start at 10:00 AM on the nose.

他摸了一下鼻子,on the nose是什麼呢?

Nose是「鼻子」,中文裡和鼻子相關的比喻很多,像「鼻青臉腫」、「嗤之以鼻」,或「牽著鼻子走」,英文裡與nose相關的道地用法也不少,一起來看看。

The meeting will start at 10:00 AM on the nose.

(X)會議在10點開始,在鼻子上。
)會議將在10點整開始。

On the nose是指「精確無誤」,經常出現在講求效率的商業場合,用來談論時間或金錢,例如:

I want you there at noon on the nose.
(我希望你在中午準時到達。)

看一段對話:

A: How much do you think my new TV cost?
(你覺得我買新電視花了多少錢?)

B: £300?
(300英磅。)

A: Yes, on the nose! It cost £300.
(完全正確,剛好就是300英磅。)

它也可以指「恰到好處」:

Your guess was right on the nose.
(你猜得對極了。)

We won by a nose.

(X)我們靠鼻子贏了。
)我們險勝。

By a nose字面上是指「以一個鼻子的距離」,這說法來自賽馬,想想看2匹奔跑的馬僅差1個鼻子的距離,是多麼險啊!所以by a nose就是指「以微小的差距取勝」,再看一例:

The candidate lost the election by a nose.
(那候選人以微弱之差競選失敗。)

和by a nose接近的用法,是nose out,有「僥倖取勝、險勝、略勝一籌」的意思。

He nosed out the leading candidate in Iowa.
(他以些微優勢擊敗了愛荷華州的主要候選人。)

The answer is under your nose the whole time.

(X)答案就在你的鼻子底下。
)答案一直就在你眼前。

某個東西顯而易見、就在眼前,中文裡有「眼」,英文卻用nose這個字,而不是eye。Under the eye of someone是指在某人的監督或督導下,例如:

He did his work under the eye of his supervisor.
(他在主管的督導下完成工作。)

Under the nose是「東西就在眼前,我們卻沒有注意到」,常和the whole time搭配,強調「一直都在」。例如:

The solution to the problem was right under our noses the whole time.
(問題的解決方法一直就在我們眼皮底下。)

The keys were right under my nose the whole time, but I didn’t see them.
(鑰匙一直就在我眼前,但我卻沒看到。)

Maggie had a nose job last month.

(X)Maggie上周用她的鼻子工作。
)Maggie上月做了鼻子整型手術。

再來看一個在看劇時可能會遇到的字nose job;nose job就是鼻子整型手術。例句:

How much does a nose job cost?
(鼻子整形手術要花多少錢?)

責任編輯:倪旻勤
核稿編輯:陳瑋鴻