Neil: You're listening to Real English from BBC Learning1 English. I'm Neil.
Yang Li: 大伙好，我是杨莉。在今天的地道英语中大家要和大伙一块学习的是英语成语，这类成语在中文里有一样的表达，但所使用的词汇略有不同。快告诉大家这个成语吧 Neil!
Neil: The idiom is: his bark is worse than his bite. His bark is worse than his bite or her bark is worse than her bite.
Yang Li: Bark 的意思是大声的愤怒的喊叫，或是狗的叫声。那样这句话的字面意思就是说他的叫声非常大，但咬得不疼，那这到底的意思是呢？
Neil: Well, if someone's bark is worse than their bite, it means basically2 that someone is not as unpleasant as they seem.
Yang Li: 也就是说一个人虽然外表看起来让人非常不愉快，非常反感，但其实他们内心非常美，使非常善良的人。
Neil: So, for example, you might have a boss at work who shouts a lot and gets angry at times. However, in reality they are a very good boss because they give you a bonus, they manage the team well and they let you have holidays when you want them. So really their bark is worse than their bite. They might not be pleasant to talk to but they're a good manager.
Yang Li: OK. 虽然有的老板常常对我们的职员大喊大叫，但假如职员真的遇见困境，他们总会伸出援助之手。如此的老板看起来过于严厉，其实内心都非常善良，那样大家就能说 their bark is worse than their bite. Here's another example.
Example
A: Our tutor3 at university is always shouting at us about getting good grades. I hate going to see him.
B: Is that Mr. Brown? I wouldn't worry his bark is worse than his bite. He's actually quite a nice guy if he's not your tutor!
A: So, do you get on with your girlfriend's family?
B: They're OK but her Dad is really scary. He's not very friendly to me.
A: What does your girlfriend say about it?
B: She tells me not to worry his bark is much worse than his bite.
Yang Li: 其实汉语里也有一个意思一样的成语，你们了解是什么吗？对了，就是刀子嘴，豆腐心。刀子和豆腐就相对应英语里的 bark 喊叫和 bite 咬。
Neil: His bark is worse than his bite. Her bark is worse than her bite. We hope that's been useful for you. Don't forget you can check out more Real English words and phrases on our website www.bbcchina.com.cn.
Yang Li: 假如想学到更多英语的常用表达和短语，欢迎下次继续收听由BBC英语教学为你制作的教学节目。
Neil: Bye.
