03.12【每日一词】the envy of

the envy of

释义：to be something that other people admire and want to have very much

“envy”是可以是动词也可以是名词，意思都是“忌妒”。它作名词时有个常见、好用、地道的用法 the envy of，意思是“令......羡慕、望尘莫及”，of 后面一般接的是同类事物，比如其他国家、其他同类产品等。我们可以使用 the envy of 替换 admire, admirable 等词。

例① 法国有令全欧洲羡慕的电影业。

France's film industry is admired throughout Europe.

我们也可以用 the envy of 来改写：

France has a film industry that is the envy of Europe.

例② 牙买加在 100 米、200 米、400 米短跑项目上让其他国家望尘莫及。

Jamaica's sprints are the envy of the world.

例③ Justin 在一篇关于德州扑克的英文随笔中写过这么两句话：

About 350 million people have played on Zynga Poker, the largest poker site in the world. Plus, it boasts millions of daily players, the envy of most apps.

也就是说，很多同类 app 希望能够有 Zynga Poker 这样出色的日活跃用户量。

例④《经济学人》在 2015 年 3 月 The Economist Explains 专栏中就用到了 the envy of：

Even at its subdued current rate, China's growth is still the envy of most countries.

即便目前中国经济的增长已经放缓了，但经济增长仍另大部分国家羡慕不已。

翻译：美国大学让全世界羡慕不已。

American universities are the envy of the entire world.

（参考翻译：American universities are the envy of the earth.）