Diamond是钻石的意思,而rough, 意思是粗糙的,未经雕琢的。连起來,diamond in the rough, 字面意思是粗糙的钻石,实際上就是我們在中文里所說的“未经雕琢的璞玉”。上面例子里谈到的那個實习生就是这樣。She may not be an established broadcaster, but she shows potential. She's a DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. 她现在還不是一名播音员,但是她很有潜力。她是一块未经雕琢的璞玉。下面的例子里,一个刚买房的人对他的房子有什么跟别人不一样的见解呢? 我們来听聽看:
"My friends don't have a very high opinion of the house I bought. True, it's small and outdated. But the way I see it, its my DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. Once I build an addition on to it, install new windows, doors and give it a fresh coat of faint, it'll be quite inviting. "
我相信他很善于投资房地产,因为他能够意识到什么房子有翻修的价值。我的一个好朋友也是这樣,她从来没有投资过房地产,不过她投資对了人。在她和她男朋友恋愛的时候,大家都不看好,可是她认为她男朋友是个潜力股。事实证明,His husband then started a great business. He was a DIAMOND IN THE TOUGH after all.
Diamond in the rough, 未經雕琢的璞玉。对于教练或者教师来說,发现这种潜力股的能力很重要。下面的这名网球教练就试图说服大家他发现了一个很有潜力的新球员,我們来听听看:
"Samantha's coach has tried to convince anyone who will listen that he's discovered the next great tennis star. But nobody believes that she's a DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. No matter how much she trains, they think it's doubtful that she'll ever become an exceptional player."