Britons love talking about the weather, and with Europe caught in the midst of a heat wave there’s plenty for them to get excited about. Many parts of China have also been struggling with record-breaking temperatures this hot summer.

英國(guó)人喜歡談?wù)撎鞖猓�今夏，熱浪席卷歐洲，他們更是有的聊了。同樣，中國(guó)大部分地區(qū)今夏也經(jīng)受著持續(xù)不斷的高溫“烤驗(yàn)”。

But beside from a simple “hot”, what other ways are there to describe the summer heat? Apart from phrases like “piping hot”, “sweltering heat” and “scorching sun”, there are many interesting expressions that relate to unbearably hot weather and offer a glimpse into foreign culture.

而英文中，除了一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的“hot”，還有什么哪些形容炎炎夏日的表達(dá)方式呢？除了像“piping hot”（滾燙的）、“sweltering heat”（酷熱難耐）、“scorching sun”（烈日炎炎），英文中還有許多有關(guān)“酷熱難耐”的有趣表達(dá)，從中我們也可以了解到一些外國(guó)文化。

Dog days of summer

三伏天

In books and newspaper articles, the period from early July to mid-August is often referred to as the “dog days of summer”. Some think the expression means the weather is so hot that dogs go wild. But in fact, the expression comes from 16th century astrology and refers to the days on which Sirius — the Dog Star, the brightest star in the summer sky and part of the Great Dog constellation — rises at the same time as the sun. The Romans associated the hot weather with this star and would sacrifice a dog every year in April to appease the rage of Sirius.

在書(shū)籍和報(bào)刊文章中，7月初到8月中旬這段時(shí)間通常被稱(chēng)作“dog days of summer”，即中文中的“三伏天”。一些人認(rèn)為這句表達(dá)的意思是“天氣太熱以至于狗都狂躁了”。而事實(shí)上，該表達(dá)源于16世紀(jì)占星術(shù)，指的是夏季里，天空中最亮的大犬座天狼星同太陽(yáng)同起落的日子。羅馬人認(rèn)為酷熱的天氣與天狼星有關(guān)，所以每年4月份會(huì)獻(xiàn)上一只狗作為祭品，來(lái)平息天狼星的憤怒。

So hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk

熱得連在人行道上都可以煎雞蛋了

This expression needs no explanation and although its origin is unclear, it hasn’t stopped thousands of curious tourists from testing if the saying is true, with the result that sidewalks in Death Valley, California – the hottest place in the US – are now littered with broken eggshells and the gooey remainders of mostly raw eggs. Early in July, the local government issued a plea for tourists to stop their cooking experiments. Even so, it is actually possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk, so long as you use a frying pan with a lid and the temperature is at least 49 C.

這一表達(dá)無(wú)需再做解釋?zhuān)�盡管出處不明，但是絲毫也阻擋不了無(wú)數(shù)好奇游客的實(shí)驗(yàn)精神。位于加利福尼亞的死亡谷號(hào)稱(chēng)是美國(guó)最熱的地方。而如今該地的人行道上四處散落著雞蛋殼以及黏糊糊的生蛋液。七月初，當(dāng)?shù)卣�府就發(fā)布通告，呼吁游客請(qǐng)勿“大展廚藝”。即便如此，只要在溫度不低于49℃的條件下，你用帶蓋煎鍋就可以在人行道上“煎蛋”了。