| 词源 |
a miss is as good as a mile. Charlemagne’s faithful warriors Amis and Amile shared many things in common, even their martyrdom—but they aren’t the inspiration for this old saying. The expression is really meaningless until you study its original form: “An inch in a miss is as good as an ell.” In the 19th century the phrase was shortened by Sir Walter Scott, who also substi- tuted the alliterative mile for “ell.” |