‘家丑不可外扬’用英语怎么说？

English Idioms 英文成语

1. nothing to write home about

（nothing to write home about = not especially good or exciting：不是特别好或令人兴奋的）

英文解释：When you're traveling, you write letters and e-mails to people at home telling them about all the exciting things you're seeing on your trip. However, if something is boring or mediocre, then you wouldn't mention it when you write home. 当你旅行时，你写信或发电子邮件给家里的人，告诉他们你在旅途中看到的所有令人兴奋的事情。然而，如果某件事很无聊或平庸，那么你就不会在写信回家的时候提到它。

例句：We finally went to the most popular Italian restaurant in the city - but I wasn't impressed.The food was OK, but nothing to write home about. 我们最后去了城里最受欢迎的意大利餐厅——但我没什么印象。食物还可以，但没什么值得称道的。

2. come out of the woodwork

（come out of the woodwork = appear unexpectedly：突然出现）

英文解释：Decorations made of wood are called "woodwork." If insects appear unexpectedly from inside the woodwork, it's an unpleasant surprise. So "come out of the woodwork" is used when people appear unexpectedly from a hidden place - and it usually has a negative connotation. 用木头做的装饰品叫做“木制品”。如果昆虫意外地从木制品内部出现，这是一个令人不快的惊喜。所以当人们从一个隐蔽的地方出乎意料地出现时，就用“come out of the woodwork”——而且它通常有负面的含义。

例句：After I won the lottery, a lot of people who I hadn't seen in years came out of the woodwork and acted like they were my best friends. 自从我中了彩票以后，突然冒出了很多我多年没见的朋友，还表现的跟我关系很好一样。

3. down the drain

（down the drain = wasted or lost：浪费了或丢失了；没了）

英文解释：If an object goes down the drain, it is usually lost forever. Another idiom that means wasted or lost is "down the toilet" 如果一个物体进入下水道，它通常是永远失去了。另一个表示浪费或丢失的成语是“down the toilet”

例句：I can't believe I got a computer virus that erased my entire hard drive. I didn't have a backup, so it's over two years' work down the drain. 真不敢相信我中了电脑病毒，把整个硬盘都清空了。我没有备份，所以两年多的工作就付之东流了。

4. air your dirty laundry

（air your dirty laundry = reveal inappropriate personal things in public：在公共场合暴露不恰当的个人隐私）

英文解释：In this expression, the verb "air" means to hang your dirty clothing in a place where air can circulate (and help remove the bad smell of the dirty clothes). It would be considered rude to air dirty laundry in a public place - so the idiom “air your dirty laundry” means to reveal extremely personal information in an inappropriate place. 在这个表达中，动词air的意思是把脏衣服挂在空气流通的地方（有助于去除脏衣服的臭味）。在公共场合晒脏衣服会被认为是粗鲁的，所以“air your dirty laundry”这个成语的意思是在不合适的地方透露非常私人的信息。

例句：I wish my sister would stop posting the details of her arguments with her boyfriend on Facebook. In my opinion, the internet is no place to air your dirty laundry. 我希望我的妹妹不要在脸书上发她和男友吵架的细节了。在我看来，不应该在网络上公开你的家丑。