Reader question:
Please explain “lay an egg”, as in: “Flyers lay an egg Sunday, drop yet another contest at UMass” (Topix.com, January 10, 2011).
My comments:
What eggs? You wonder.
Quit wondering or looking for them. No real eggs around here.
By saying the Flyers “lay an egg”, the writer simply wants to convey the idea that the Flyers, a basketball team from the University of Dayton, Ohio suffered an embarrassing loss against UMass, (University of Massachusetts).
I don’t follow US college basketball, but I’ve got a similar example from the pro ball. A few years ago, I came across this headline “Spurs Lay an Egg at Home Against Toronto”.
That was a game played on December 28, 2007, a long time ago to be sure, in which the San Antonio Spurs, a strong team, a powerhouse in fact from Texas lost their home game against the Toronto Raptors, 83-73.
The Raptors are, to this day, widely considered to be a weakling in the NBA, hence the ridicule inferred from that headline: Spurs Lay an Egg at Home.
Anyways, the idiom “lay an egg” means for someone to embarrass or disappoint with their performance. The “egg” here is not a real egg, as from a chick or duck, but originally stands for the number “0”, which is shaped like an egg.
In China, we have a similar saying in “he scored an egg”, say, in math, meaning he scored 0 (zero points) in a school test Same idea. In English, whenever people use the expression that someone “laid an egg”, you may infer that they failed, and failed big time.
The expression is used a lot in sports, as evidenced by the two examples we have gone through here. But it can be used, always figuratively of course in other areas as well.
Here are examples (all culled from media headlines) – see if you can figure out the messages (of disappoint, frustration, embarrassment, ridicule) hidden underneath:
1. Gamecocks lay an egg in loss to UConn, 20-7 (KnoxNews.com, January 3, 2010).
2. Don’t lay an egg with food inspection reform (JournalTimes.com, August 25, 2010).
3. Financials Lay an Egg (TheStreet.com, January 19, 2011).
4. Best of the Web Today: Birthers Lay an Egg (WSJ.com, July 28, 2009).
5. Birthers Lay an Egg - Without dissent, the House declares President Obama a native of Hawaii (WSJ.com, July 28, 2009).
About the author:
Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.
英语心得:菜鸟英语如何考到65分+?(2)
备考:把握高考命题规律 缓解心理高原反应
2015考研英语:阅读考场上比的就是细致
金秋10月 阅读训练好时节
2015考研英语冲刺:史上最全解题方法
70分过来人分享四步干掉考研
考研英语经验技巧分享之阅读篇
解读考研英语阅读中的“十大符号秘密”
考研英语一VS英语二的四大区别
2015考研英语高分备考秘籍
2015考研英语高分策略
2015考研英语应注重单词的第二层意思
考研英语一和英语二有什么区别,谁的难度大一些?
考研英语答题最佳策略及时间
最后20天三招打响考研反击战
献给过往的勇士们:考研英语二83分经验谈(2)
2015考研英语备考阅读材料之辐射
2015考研英语冲刺:最后二十天复习规划
考研英语 : 2015年考研英语词汇记忆心得
2012考研临近 紧张复习警惕“神经性疲劳”
考研英语高分策略:阅读考场上比的就是细致
英语专四考试技巧分享
2012考研备考进行时:严冬备考TIPS分享
四级未过,考研英语87分经验分享
考研进入倒计时怎么复习事半功倍?
考研英语必胜之三大法宝
50句经典箴言:一个过来人的考研失败总结
考研英语中后期:全科建议突破瓶颈
心得:菜鸟英语如何考到65分+?(1)
60岁“学霸”考取法学研究生 与90后成同学
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |