Will this dog bite?

Yang Li: 大家好，我是杨莉。在今天的地道英语中我们要和大家一起学习的是英语成语，这些成语在中文里有相似的表达，但是所选用的词语略有不同。快告诉我们这个成语吧 Neil!

Neil: The idiom is: his (or her) bark is worse than his (or her) bite. His bark is worse than his bite – or her bark is worse than her bite.

Yang Li: Bark 的意思是大声的愤怒的喊叫，或是狗的叫声。那么这句话的字面意思就是说他的叫声很大，但是咬得不疼，那这到底是什么意思呢？

Neil: Well, if someone's bark is worse than their bite, it means basically that someone is not as unpleasant as they seem.

Yang Li: 也就是说一个人虽然外表看上去令人很不愉快，很反感，但其实他们内心很美，使很善良的人。

Neil: So, for example, you might have a boss at work who shouts a lot and gets angry at times. However, in reality they are a very good boss because they give you a bonus, they manage the team well and they let you have holidays when you want them. So really their bark is worse than their bite. They might not be pleasant to talk to but they're a good manager.

Yang Li: OK. 虽然有些老板经常对自己的员工大喊大叫，但是如果员工真的遇到困难，他们总会伸出援助之手。这样的老板看上去过于严厉，其实内心都很善良，那么我们就可以说 their bark is worse than their bite. Here's another example.

Example

A: Our tutor at university is always shouting at us about getting good grades. I hate going to see him.

B: Is that Mr. Brown? I wouldn't worry – his bark is worse than his bite. He's actually quite a nice guy if he's not your tutor!

A: So, do you get on with your girlfriend's family?

B: They're OK but her Dad is really scary. He's not very friendly to me.

A: What does your girlfriend say about it?

B: She tells me not to worry – his bark is much worse than his bite.

Yang Li: 其实汉语里也有一个意思相似的成语，你们知道是什么吗？对了，就是刀子嘴，豆腐心。刀子和豆腐就相对应英语里的 bark 喊叫和 bite 咬。

Neil: His bark is worse than his bite. Her bark is worse than her bite. We hope that's been useful for you. Don't forget you can check out more Real English words and phrases on our website www.bbcchina.com.cn.

Yang Li: 如果想学到更多英语的常用表达和短语，欢迎下次继续收听由BBC英语教学为您制作的教学节目。

Neil: Bye.