20190404 mantra

mantra /ˈmæntrə/

【英英释义】

n. a mantra is a word or phrase repeated by Buddhists and Hindus when they meditate, or to help them feel calm.  可数名词 （佛教和印度教中的）曼特罗，祷文，符咒

n. you can use mantra to refer to a statement or principle that people repeat very often because they think it is true, especially when you think that it not true or is only part of the truth. 可数名词  尤指认为并不正确或只是部分正确的准则，原则，圭臬  —> 老话，口头禅，口号 

a word or phrase representing a rule or pinciple which someone often uses, but which other people often find annoying or boring.

a word or phrase which is often repeated and which sometimes expresses a belief

【词义深度解析】

mantra是个可数名词，原意是佛教和印度教中的“祷文，符咒”，现在常用来表示“口头禅，口号”。想引用一句名言或介绍一种现象时就可以用到它。

【例句学习】

1. Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook's CEO, said that " Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough." Now, "Move fast and break things" has become a poupular startup mantra. 创业公司的流行语/口号。

2. "Pay off renqing（人情, or personal feelings）before you clear debt" is a widely known culture mantra in China.

3. The mantra of some activists that "trans women are women" implies they should be treated no differently from inmates who were born female. 一些激进分子宣称“变性女人也是女人”的口号意味着变性女囚与生来就是女人的囚犯应当被同等对待。

activist n.激进主义分子   inmate n. 囚犯

trans women （经过）变性（成为的）女人

4.  "Give, get or get off" is the unofficial mantra of most American museum boards.“自己给钱，劝别人给钱，或者离开/给予，得到或离开”是美国博物馆董事会最常见的非正式口号。

【词汇运用】

1.翻译：“只有偏执狂才能生存”是硅谷最著名的口号之一。

"Only paranoia survive" is one of the most famous mantras in Sillicon Valley. （自己）

"Only the paranoid survive" is one of the most well-known mantras in Sillicon Valley. / One of Sillicon Valley's most striking mantras goes, "Only the paranoid survive". （参考翻译）

分析：差异在于famous的替换，well-known，striking（可以理解为“很抓人的”）。

2.生活场景应用

He repeated his mantra that " Tianwan is safe and the people have money". （猜He是谁？）