我们公司的司机老张是个怪老头儿，每次坐他的车，总是看到他先把口罩用酒精喷一遍再戴上......而每次 Lawrence 看到都会对他说一句: " I can't make heads or tails of you!" 老张不懂英语就会问我，我就会笑着回答: "I can't make heads or tails of you, too!~我也真是搞不懂你!"

看到这儿大家都明白了吧，这个"can't make heads or tails of..."就是对某人或某事一头雾水、毫无头绪、搞不清状况的意思啦。其实这个短语不就是在说"搞不清是头还是尾巴"，也就是我们中文里的"搞不清一件事儿的来龙去脉(始末)"嘛！它就和"unable to figure something out"是同样的意思。

对了，“heads or tails?”这个短语还有另外一层意思，就是通常咱们在用抛硬币来决定一件事的时候，所指的"正面或反面", 怎么样，你记住了吗？

can't make head or/nor tail of something

头尾都分不清，完全搞不明白；无法理解，搞不懂；一窍不通；毫无头绪；一头雾水；

【En】To not be able to understand something at all. 完全无法理解某事。You are emphasizing that you cannot understand it at all. 就是在强调你根本无法理解（弄明白）某件事。/informal/ to be completely unable to understand something. 【非正式用语】完全无法理解某件事。

好啦，既然搞明白了这个短语的意思，就先来听几个例句磨磨耳朵吧！

---

● I couldn't make head nor tail of the damn film.

我一点儿也看不懂那部该死的电影到底讲的是啥？

● You couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.

你根本听不懂他在说什么。

● Frankly, I can't make heads or tails of them.

坦率地说，我对它们一窍不通。

● I can't make heads or tails of these recipes.

我压根儿看不懂这些食谱写的是什么。

● The directions explaining how to put the pieces together looked easy to follow, but we couldn't make heads or tails of them.

组装说明上如何把这些零件组合在一起看起来好像很容易，但我们却一点儿也搞不懂。

【活学活用 give an example】

● I can't make head nor tail of these instructions on the packet.

我搞不懂包装上的说明。

● Dean is so strange. I can't make heads or tails of him.

迪安太奇怪了。我真是搞不懂他。

● You can't able to make heads or tails of it at all.

你根本就不了解这件事儿的来龙去脉(始末)。

● The homework problems were so complex that all but the most brilliant students couldn't make heads or tails of them.

家庭作业中的问题太复杂了，除了最聪明的学生之外，其它的学生都毫无头绪。

● I can't make heads or tails of this report! It's just too confusing!

我完全搞不懂这篇报告写的是什么！这太让人困惑了！

● I can't make heads or tails of his handwriting.

我看不懂他的笔迹。

● We couldn't make heads or tails of your directions.

我们完全搞不懂你的指示。

heads or tails?

na. 你要正面还是反面? 正面或反面（背面）；掷铜板解决问题； 掷硬币时要正面还是反面？

【En】asked before you throw a coin into the air and want someone else to guess which side it will land on. 在你把硬币抛向空中之前问，想让别人猜硬币会落在哪一边。a gambling game in which a coin is tossed, the winner being the player who guesses which side of the coin will face up when it lands or is caught. 一种掷硬币的赌博游戏，投出一枚硬币，当硬币落下或被抓住时，猜硬币的哪一面朝上的玩家就是赢家。the tossing of a coin in this manner to determine a question or choice. 以掷硬币这种方式来决定一个问题或选择。

【活学活用 give an example】

● "Heads or tails?" the gambler asked as he flipped the coin.

“正面还是反面?”赌徒一边抛硬币一边问。

● You call, heads or tails? That will decide who pays for the drinks.

你说，是正面还是反面？那将决定谁来付酒钱。

● It doesn't matter whether the result of the toss is heads or tails. I won't like the outcome in any case.

抛硬币的结果是正面还是反面都无所谓了。反正我无论如何也不会喜欢这个结果。

声明:本文由"麦兜"发布，不代表"知识分享"立场，转载联系作者并注明出处：https://www.wuxiaoyun.com/life/174461.html