More examples, “cross the Rubicon” and “burn one’s boats” in English compare with “背水一战” and “破釜沉舟” in Chinese, these two groups of English and Chinese idioms all have similar historical events。 “Cross the Rubicon” and “burn one’s boats” are from a historical event of the ancient Rome in English。 In 49 BC, Julius Caesar, a military commander of ancient Rome, led his army across the Rubicon river, then burned their boats to show his desperate determination of fighting against Pompeii and made the rebellion become a foregone conclusion。 The Rubicon is a river locating at the junction of Caesar’s territory and Italian headquarters。 Afterwards, people usually use the two idioms to describe someone is determined to do something。 In a word, this kind of history idioms all has their historical and cultural backgrounds。 Therefore, only when we understand the English and Chinese history and culture and master this aspect of knowledge can we use these idioms properly。 Moreover, because of the different historical and cultural backgrounds, a large number of Chinese idioms cannot find the corresponding idioms in English, such as “草木皆兵”, “东山再起”, “卧薪尝胆” and so on。
英汉习语翻译和文化差异(3):http://www.chuibin.com/yingyu/lunwen_87682.html