一、Lamb, sheep, goat你分得清吗?
Lamb的意思是小羊羔(a young sheep)。
Sheep是农场里的羊(a farm animal which is covered with thick curly hair called wool)。
而goat是山羊的意思(a goat is a farm animal or a wild animal that is about the size of a sheep. Goats have horns, and hairs on their chin which resemble a beard.)。 学会了吗?
二、外国人的“羊”成语
英文短语、俗语中关于各种羊的说法又有哪些呢?一起来看看吧!小羊羔在西方也是温顺可爱柔弱无邪萌萌哒!所以就有了以下的表达：
As gentle as a lamb – very gentle
温顺如羊，像小羊一样温和，是不是很形象呢!
For example:
The girl is as gentle as a lamb when she is with her little sister.
As innocent as a lamb – having no guilt, naive
天真无邪
For example:
The little girl is as innocent as a lamb and everybody loves her.
Like lambs to the slaughter – quietly and without complaining about the dangers that may lie ahead
，从容就义
For example:
Our football team went like lambs to the slaughter to play against the best football team in the country.
小羊摇尾巴的速度也是醉醉的，所以我们有白驹过隙之瞬，西方有小羊摇尾之间：
in two shakes of a lamb’s tail – very quickly
For example:
I promised that I would meet my friend in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
三、英语文化背景知识：”羊“的故事
在各种中文小故事里，羊都是善良柔弱的存在。英文中可不一样呐!由于《圣经》的影响，sheep和goat在英语中的形象截然不同，前者比喻好人，后者比喻坏人。英语中有关goat的成语，大多贬义。如：to play the goat=play the fool(瞎胡闹);to get sb's goat(触动肝火) 等等。
《圣经》说牧羊人要分辨绵羊和山羊，“把绵羊安置右边，山羊左边”。据说野山羊常混进羊群里，引诱绵羊，故牧羊人必须把它们区分开来，以免混淆。有一俚语便来源于此：separate the sheep from the goats“区别好坏，分清良莠”。
For example:
We had to separate the sheep from the goats when we began to make selections for the school choir.
不过凡事总有例外，the black sheep of the family就不是夸奖，这个sheep指的是 the worst or the most unpopular or disliked member of a family，败家子，害群之“羊”。
For example:
My cousin is the black sheep of the family and nobody likes to talk about him.