I can't decide whether I should invite my girlfriend's brother Tom to the party. After all he is her brother. But he's such a wet blanket I'm afraid he'll spoil the party for all my other guests。
Wet blanket这个习惯用语可能来自扑灭大火的一种老办法。要是着火了,而你又没有其它灭火用具的话,那就可以用打湿的毯子来扑盖火苗。所以就产生了这样一个习惯说法:throw a wet blanket on。这个说法相当于中文里的一句俗语: 给人当头泼凉水。人们逐渐引申了这个说法,用a wet blanket来比喻把周围兴高采烈的人们都弄得热情冷却的一个人。然而wet blanket并不只是用来说人,也可以指事情。比如:
My friends and I were going to the beach this weekend for some sun and swimming. But the weather forecast threw a wet blanket on our plans - it says it'll be rainy and cold。
I was small for my age so I made friends with the biggest boy in my class. He was my security blanket - none of the other kids dared give me any trouble when he was around。