看到“egg him on”，您是不是很迷惑？给他鸡蛋？那是什么意思？事实上，这一短语和朝人身上扔鸡蛋根本不搭边儿。
Egg 在英文字典中被解释为：the hard-shelled spheroidal reproductive body produced by females of animals such as birds, reptiles, fish, etc especially that of a domestic hen. 即是指鸟类、爬行动物、昆虫等产的卵、蛋；尤指鸡蛋。
别着急，egg 还可以做动词用，常见的形式为egg somebody on (to do something)，意思是 to incite, urge or strongly encourage sb to do sth 用中文来说就是怂恿或鼓动某人作某事。例如: "He wouldn't have thrown that stone if the other boys hadn't egged him on. " (要不是那些男孩子怂恿他，他不会仍那块石头。) 再例如: I didn’t want to do it but Tom kept egging me on. (我本不想做那件事, 但汤姆一直怂恿我。)
这个用法借自古代斯堪的纳维亚语，和现代英语的edge一词同源。从语义的角度来说，两者的联系似乎并不明显。但是在英文中，edge 本身也能这么用。 “to give an edge to” 即为 “to encourage”。
(中国日报网站译)
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