美国俚语there was no snap in his turtle

上一篇 / 下一篇  2011-02-15 23:11:32 / 个人分类:English Study

面朝大海,春暖花開......

There was no snap in his turtle for two years. ---《老友记》 第一季 第一集

snap是吸,turtle是海龟,但这里指的是男人的那个玩意儿,用英文解释可以是:
The "snap in his turtle" refers to sexual performance, it's kind of a "clean" way of saying a vulgar idea (also known as a euphemism). A man who has no snap in his turtle is impotent; or, unable to have an erection.
I do have an idea on how it was created. "Snap," of course, has many meanings, but most of them have to do with making a quick, sudden movement (or sound), often of a closing or biting nature. In North America, there is an animal known as a "snapping turtle," which is a type of turtle that is known to bite (or "snap") humans and other animals. From what I have heard, if one of those things bites you, it hurts a lot. Now, if one of these turtles can't snap, then there's not so much to fear--if they can't bite you, they can't hurt you. A snapping turtle with no (abilty to) snap, then, is powerless, and from there the slang was created. The word "impotent," aside from its sexual definition, also means "without power."
In the case of "Friends," they decided to use the word "turtle" in this way, and so a turtle without "snap" is understood by Franny and Monica to mean a man without (sexual) power or capability.


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