Name: 英語成語96/100："首尾不能相顧" (English Idiom 96/100: "Can't make heads or tails")
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T06:19:28.000Z
Duration: 4 min 22 s

Welcome to Idiom 100, where we learn 100 commonly used idioms by native English speakers.

歡迎來到俚語100，在這裏我們會學到100個道地的英文俚語

All of the explanations are in English, so it might be challenging for you,

所有的解釋都是英文的，對你而言這可能有點難

but just try to imagine the meanings in your head and study hard and soon you'll be able to use these idioms in your conversations.

只要花點力氣想像這些俚語是什麼意思，很快就可以在日常對話中派上用場

今天的俚語是：make heads or tails（意指理解或明白）

Can't make heads or tails（意指感到不解、一頭霧水）

Alright, so in this idiom 'can't make heads or tails'...

好的，在can't make heads or tails俚語裏

Heads, okay, this is your head and what about a tail?

A tail is something a dog or a horse, an animal has.

尾巴就是狗、或馬、或動物會有的東西

The tail is the hair at the back of the animal.

Alright, so let's imagine a little girl draws a picture of a dog, okay?

我們來想像有個小女孩畫了一隻狗

But, the girl is only 3-years-old, so she's not a good artist.

可是這個小女孩才3歲，她不可能是個藝術家

And she draws a picture and she says it's a dog.

And you look at the picture, 'Oh... It's a dog, okay...'

你看著這張圖說：「嗯…這是狗對吧…」

I don't know. I can't make heads or tails of it, right?

天曉得，我根本一頭霧水，不是嗎？

I really don't understand this picture. I can't make heads or tails of it.

我真的不明白這張畫，簡直是霧裏看花

Alright, so let's keep this image in our head and then listen to some examples.

好吧！就把印像留在腦海裏，接下來看一些例子

Thank you for the e-mail, but I can’t make heads or tails of the contents. What did you want to write?

謝謝你的電子信件，但我實在不明白你寫些什麼？

Oh, I’m sorry, I wrote that in Japanese. I'll rewrite it in English and send it to you.

抱歉，我是用日文寫的，我會改寫成英文再寄給你

Alright, so she wrote an e-mail in Japanese and the other person doesn't know Japanese.

是囉，她用日文寫電子信件，但其他人不懂日文

So, what does it say? I can't make heads or tails of it. I don't understand it, right?

信件中到底寫些什麼呢？我滿頭霧水，我不明白她寫了些什麼

Well, he needed directions, but he only spoke German, so I couldn't make heads or tails of what he said.

他來問路，可是他只會講德語，我不明白他說什麼

Alright, so she doesn't speak German and he was speaking German,

so she couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.

Alright, so this idiom 'making heads or tails' or 'can't make heads or tails' means that you don't understand something.

所以can't make heads or tails意思就是你不明白、或聽不懂

Yeah, it makes no sense and you don't have any idea what it means, alright?

對你而言那根本沒意義、你根本不知道

So, maybe someone is speaking in a foreign language or the situation is very confusing.

可能是某人和你說外語、或是讓你非常困惑的情境

Yeah, maybe you are... you went to IKEA and you bought a big cabinet and it comes in small parts with many screws and bolts

或許你…你到IKEA買了個尚未組裝好的大櫃子，附帶許多螺釘和螺栓

and you don't know how to put it together.

而你不知道怎麼把這些拼揍起來

So, you're reading the manual, the book, yeah, and it tells you how to put the shelf together,

好囉，你看了安裝手冊，上面說明如何將層板組合起來

What? What should I do first? What, how do I do this?

Yeah, I can't make heads or tails of this manual and this shelf, how to do it.

我看不懂手冊、不曉得怎麼處理這些層板

So, if you're in a situation when you don't understand at all,  you can say you can't make heads or tails of it

所以當你完全摸不著頭緒，你就可以說你一頭霧水

and we'll understand that you don't understand, alright?

所以我們就會知道你並不明白，對吧？