Sailors seem -- to those of us on land -- to lead exciting, even mysterious lives. 
相对于生活在陆地上的人们，船员们似乎过着刺激，甚至神秘的生活。

Many things are different at sea. 
在海上，许多事情都不同，

Even the language is different.
甚至语言也不同。

Simple words like "right" and "left" are not the same.
像“左”和“右”这样简单的词也都有不同的意思。

On a ship, "right" is "starboard."
在船上，用starboard代表“右舷”，

And "left" is "port."
用port代表“左舷”。

Sailors are responsible for many colorful English expressions.
船员们也创造了丰富多彩的英语词语。

One of these is deep-six. 
deep-six就是其中之一。

It means to hide something or put it where it will not be found. 
它意思是把什么掩藏起来，或是放在别人找不到的地方。

You can also deep-six, or reject a proposal.
你还可以deep-six某项提议，即拒绝这项提议。

One language expert says that deep six is the bottom of the ocean. 
一位语言专家说，deep six是指海底。

"Deep," in this case, means deepest. 
“deep”，在这个语境下，意思是“最深的”。

The "six" in the expression comes from the six feet that make up a fathom -- which is a little less than two meters.
该词语中的“six”来源于6英尺，6英尺组成1英寻（水深测量单位），1英寻比2米稍短。

Sailors measure the depth of the water in fathoms. 
船员们用英尺测量水深。

Thus, the deep six is the deepest fathom...the final six feet at the bottom of the ocean.  
这样，deep six代表最深的英尺刻度，即测量绳伸向海底的最后6英尺。

A sailor who never wants to see something again will give it the deep-six. 
如果某个船员不想再见到什么东西，就会把它扔到deep-six深的海底。

He will drop it from the ship to the ocean bottom.
也就是说，他会把这个东西从船上扔进海底。

You can deep-six something even if you are not a sailor. 
即使你不是船员，也可以“deep-six”某件东西。

All you do is throw it away or put it where it will never be found. 
所有你要做的就是把它扔掉，或放到绝不会被找到的地方。

You might, for example, deep-six an unplesant letter from a former friend.
比如，你可以deep-six以前的某个朋友寄来的令人不愉快的信件。

Another expression linked to sailing is batten down the hatches.
另外跟航海相关的词语是batten down the hatches。

That is what sailors do to prepare their ship for a storm at sea.
这是船员为船做好防御海上风暴准备时所做的事情。

Battens are thin pieces of wood. 
battens是些薄木板。

Hatches are the openings in the deck. 
hatches是甲板上的一些开口（即船舱口）。

Before a storm, sailors cover the hatches with waterproof material. 
在风暴来临之前，船员们用防水材料盖住船舱口。

Then they nail on battens to hold the hatch coverings firmly in place. 
然后，他们在薄木板上钉钉子，让船舱覆盖物紧紧地固定在恰当的位置上。

This keeps rain and waves out of the ship.
这样能够把雨水和海浪挡在船外。

Now, people use the expression to mean to prepare for dealing with any kind of trouble.
现在，人们用这个词语来表示准备应对任何类型的困境。

A news report, for example, might say that people in Washington were battening down the hatches for a big winter storm. 
比如，一则新闻报道也许会说，华盛顿的民众正在“严阵以待”应对一场冬季大风暴。

Or a newspaper might report that "defense lawyers were 'battening down the hatches' for testimony by someone who observed the crime."
或者某家报纸也许会报道，“辩护律师正在‘严阵以待’回应目击犯罪现场证人提供的证词。”

An old expression of the sailors that is still heard is to sail under false colors.
有个现在仍然能听到的，关于船员的词语to sail under false color。

Experts on language say the expression was born more than 250 years ago, when pirates sailed the seas, attacking and robbing trade ships.
语言领域专家说，这个词语产生于250多年前，那个时候，海盗经常在海上航行，袭击并抢劫商船。

Pirate ships often flew the flag of a friendly country as they sailed toward the ship they planned to rob.
当海盗船驶向他们打算抢劫的船只时，常常挂起友好国家的旗帜。

They sailed under false colors until they were close enough to attack.
他们用假旗航行，直到足够近以便发动攻击。

Then the pirates pulled down the false flag, and showed their true colors. 
然后，海盗扯下假旗，露出真面目。

They raised the pirate flag -- with its picture of a skull and crossed bones.
他们会升起海盗旗——上面画有骷髅头和两根交叉骨头的图案。

Today, a person, not a ship, is said to sail under false colors. 
今天，我们用sail under false color来指人，而不是船。

Such a person appears to be something he is not. 
这种人会假扮成另外的样子。

His purpose is to get something from you. 
他的目的是要从你身上得到什么。

If you are careful, you will soon see his true colors, and have nothing to do with him.
如果你很细心，将会很快看穿他的真面目，并且与他断绝关系。