The English word ‘hoarse’ sounds identical to ‘horse’. Hoarse means 嘶哑的 – like when you have a sore throat 喉咙痛 or a cold. It may be difficult or painful 痛苦 to speak … and you can only ‘speak in a whisper’ 轻轻. You could also say you have a ‘husky’ voice.
If you have a cold or sore throat you can buy some ‘throat sweets’ which contain ingedients 成分 such as lemon, menthol and eucalyptus 柠檬 薄荷醇 桉树 which can ‘ease the pain’ 缓解 of your sore throat.
I often visit the coast with my dog and ‘cut through’ 捷径 a field to get to the sea. There are five horses in that field.
One day as I walked through the field I unwrapped 解开 a throat sweet I was carrying. This horse saw me unwrap the throat sweet and came and stood in front of me, blocking my way 障碍 防止- it would not let me walk past and kept ‘sniffing’ 嗅探 my coat pockets. It wanted a throat sweet. Maybe the horse was ‘hoarse’? I gave it a sweet ..
I go to the coast most days. Every time the horse sees me it comes and stands in front of me and ‘demands’ 希望 a sweet. If I do not give it one it follows me and makes ‘snorting noises’ 鼻吸噪音 in my ear. I get covered in ‘snot’ 鼻涕 and ‘spittle’ 唾液. Wet …
So now I carry a few sweets in my pocket … I must ‘pay a toll’ 费 to get past the horse , just like a car must pay a toll to travel on a highway.
Today, the horse wanted TWO sweets before me and my dog were allowed to cross the field to the sea. One the ‘way back’ 返回 it ‘reappeared’ and wanted another sweet…
The horse is a ‘mugger’ 强盗. It ‘mugs’ 抢劫 me every time I go across the field. I have been ‘mugged’ – robbed 抢劫.
The ‘mugger’ eating a sweet
It is very strange – the horse recognises me and my dog and does not bother anybody else.
Its favourite flavoured sweets are lemon, raspberry, blackcurrant …. well, any flavour really .. It should go to the shop and buy its own sweets ..
In everyday English the expression ‘horsing about’ means to act like a fool .. be silly … A mother might say to her child ‘STOP horsing about!’ .. stop acting/being silly .. behave!
Is this hoarse horse horsing about?
Teaching in China 