I got the short end of the stick.
我吃亏了。
固定表达“get the short end of the stick”,也可以简单地说成“get the short end”。字面意思是“得到了棍子短的那头”。这个习语的应用,英文的解释是“to feel that you are being treated particularly badly in comparison with other people; to suffer the bad effects of a situation.”(觉得与他人相比,你受到了特别不好的待遇;遭受一种情形的坏的影响)。
中文里,“亏”与“盈”相对,表示的是没有占到便宜、没有捞到好处。英文中,“短的一头”与“长的一头”相对,据说,这种表达方式来源于拔河比赛,输的一方手里握着绳子短的一头。而习语后半部分的stick是随着时间的演变加上去的。
例句:
When the mayor cut our budget almost in half, I felt like we were getting the short end of the stick.
市长削减了我们将近一半的预算,我觉得我们吃亏了。
My two partners and I each put up one-third of the money to start our business. But I was the only one to lend the company more money. So when it went bankrupt, I was left with the short end of the stick.
我跟其他两个合伙人每人拿出三分之一的资金来开办我们的公司。但是,只有我一个人为公司提供了更多的贷款。所以,当这个公司破产的时候,我就吃了亏了。