女人要出门，梳妆打扮少不了… 忙来忙去，约会有时难免迟到……
不过听到“late wife”时可别以为对方是在抱怨自己老婆总是迟到，回答千万要谨慎！
01 “late wife”是什么意思？
late 除了表达“迟的，晚期的”
还有“已故的，已去世的”意思
所以late wife = 已故的妻子
late husband=已故的丈夫
late grandmother = 已故的奶奶 / 外婆
例：
Anna gave her late husband's clothes to charity.
安娜把丈夫去世后留下的衣服捐给了慈善机构。
02 “midwife”是什么意思？
mid 是个常见的词缀，除了表达“中间的”
还可以表示“with”（和…在一起） 的含义
wife在这里也不直接表示“妻子”
而是取自一层比较古老的含义，即 woman
所以midwife也就是“with woman”
（陪着女人生孩子的人）
即我们常说的：助产士，接生员；产婆
例：
Instead, many mothers rely on midwives and junior doctors for care.
相反，许多母亲依靠助产士和初级医生来护理。
“前缀+wife”还有一个常用的表达：
ex-wife = former wife=前妻
例：
He said he was framed by his ex-wife.
他说他是被前妻陷害的。
03 “man and wife”是什么意思？
来看英文词典的解释：
“
If a man and a woman are man and wife, they are married to each other.
即：如果一个男人和一个女人是“man and wife”的关系，他们已结婚了。
所以 man and wife = husband and wife = 夫妻，夫妇
例：
Apparently relations between man and wife had not been improved.
显然，夫妻之间的关系并没有得到改善。
如果想表达“如夫妻一般地”
可以用：as husband and wife
例：
Although never married, they lived together as husband and wife for 50 years.
尽管没有结婚，他们却像夫妻一样共同生活了50年。
04 “footballer's wife”是什么意思？
footballer's wife指：
丈夫很富有的漂亮女人；阔太太
她们不工作
通常花很多金钱和时间在购物和打扮上
例：
Xiaojiang is a footballer's wife, she never does the housework.
小酱是个阔太太，她从不做家务。
还有一个类似的表达：
trophy wife =花瓶妻子，娇妻
（年纪大的成功男人用来显示社会地位的）
trophy [ˈtrəʊfi] 奖品，战利品
例：
In the USA, many rich businessmen have trophy wives.
在美国，很多有钱的商人都有个像花瓶一样的老婆。
05 “housewife”是什么意思？
housewife 就是我们常说的“家庭主妇”
同理househusband = 家庭主男
例：
My father is a lawyer and my mother is a housewife.
我父亲是个律师，母亲是个家庭主妇。
出处：微信订阅号 @英语酱
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