【英语习语】

against the grain

【习语注释】

该习语中的grain常用来表“谷物；细粒”，但在该习语中其转义为“（树木的）纹路”，用来喻指人的倾向或自愿。(to be/go) against the grain用来喻指是“to be/go gainst one’s inclination or natural tendency”，即“违背或人的自愿或天然倾向”，也就是咱们常说的“与…方枘圆凿”或“适得其反”或“有违赋性”。

【习语运用】

In splitting wood, don’t try to go against the grain.

劈柴时，不要企图逆其纹路（要顺其纹路）。

Some people, however, go against the grain by pursuing a life of” inaction”, simplicity and tranquility.

与之相反，有些人却在日益寻求着一种日子的“无为”与恬静淡泊。

Enterprise must has the strongest ability to meet an emergency in the new economy, but the conventional form of organization is against the grain with this desire.

在新经济条件下，公司有必要具有极强的应变才能，而传统的组织规划方法显着与这一需求方枘圆凿。

【闲话习语】

该习语的切当来历无从查起，其字面意思（逆着树木的纹路）很少运用。较早运用该习语的引申义的人是莎士比亚（Shakespeare），他在其代表作之一《科里奥兰纳斯》（Coriolanus，1607）中曾这么写道：

SICINIUS:

Say, you chose him More after our commandment than as guided By your own true affections, and that your minds, Preoccupied with what you rather must do Than what you should, made you against the grain To voice him consul: lay the fault on us.

那么，你还晓得英语里“适得其反”的其它说法吗？等待留言谈论。