虎头蛇尾怎么说？Tigher head with a snack‘tail吗？

ANTICIMACTIC！天才如是说

先来看这个词的构造：anti➕climactic

anti这个前缀大家都不陌生，那么climactic是什么意思呢？

要想明白climactic，不能不提到的一个词就是climax：顶峰、高潮。

那么climactic其实是与climate无关的哦～不是指天气的，而是高潮的、顶点的

just pertaining to or coming to a climax: a climactic second act

至此，我们也就能够大概猜出anticlimactic的本义：反高潮，即突然降低、突减的

Some Examples of anticlimactic in a Sentence

After the drama of the prior months, the transplant itself was anticlimactic.— Ginny Graves, Good Housekeeping, "Searching for Bone Marrow Can Be Harrowing For Anyone — But It's Especially Difficult for People of Color," 17 Nov. 2020

But the Lions' defense fell apart to Nashville in the final minutes of the match, ceding the loss for an anticlimactic finish to the team’s historic season.— Julia Poe, orlandosentinel.com, "Orlando City falls to Nashville SC in regular-season finale," 8 Nov. 2020

我们能够很明显地感受到二者之间的区别：前者有一种in process的突‘减’之感，而后者则更强调finish得anticlimactically

我们再来看看歪果网友的解释：

Like when you're excited for something but you discover it won't be like you though and all the excitment go away.

这更倾向于表达了一种对已知结果未发生的失望，就好像小学组织春游，前一天老师说我们明天准备去公园，第二天却因为学校有领导来检查而不得不放弃行程。这时你就可以说：

ANTICLIMACTIC!

那么，除了这个表达，我们还可以用什么方式来说“虎头蛇尾”呢？

我们知道，虎头蛇尾指的是开始时声势很大，到后来却变得很小。 即：一个很好的开始但是很仓促的结束，用英语说就是

a fine start but a poor finish

那么我们就可以将其用在表达中啦～

We should not make a fine start but a poor end no matter what we do. We must have a good end.

无论做什么事都不要虎头蛇尾，一定要有一个完美的结果。

还有些表达方式，在翻译时也可以译成虎头蛇尾，比如：

In like a lion, out like a lamb.

A flash in the pan

Start off with a Bang and end with a whimper

The mountain has brought forth a mouth

等等等等

再来看看例句：

I've asked you to do this for me because I know you're not a quitter.

我要求你为我做这件事,因为我知道你做事不虎头蛇尾。

The story begins dramatically but the plot peters out before the end.

这故事有些虎头蛇尾.

Whatever we do, we must see things through from beginning to end, and must not do things by halves.

我们做任何事情都要善始善终，不要虎头蛇尾。

I must postpone the reply for one moment, or we shall have an anticlimax

我必须推迟片刻，暂不作答，否则我们将虎头蛇尾了。

He is of a variable mood; he never finishes what he starts.

他这个人朝三暮四，做起事来总是虎头蛇尾

小结一下：

虎头蛇尾的表达很多，就像中文有很多近义词一样，英文也有很多相似的句子

不过要记得Anti-climax-anticlimactic哦～