1. play second fiddle to

to take a less important and subordinate role to someone or something in a way, often considered demeaning.
意思是扮演第二小提琴手的角色，处于次要位置。

请看例句：

His family has had to play second fiddle to his political career.
他因从政而把家庭置於次要地位。

Being a modest person, he was content to play second fiddle to others.
作为一个谦虚者，他愿意居于他人的次要位置。

Steven has no intention of playing second fiddle to the new director, so he has resigned.
Steven不想当新董事的副手，所以辞职了。

借一个寓言用用：

有人问奥地利名指挥家卡拉扬，乐队中哪个位置最难演奏？他说，第二小提琴手。因为他可以轻易地找到一堆杰出的第一提琴手，但要找到一位愿意担任第二提琴手却又充满激情的人很难。

颇耐人寻味的故事：谁都可以担任副手、做配搭，但要时时保持激情那就难了。

但是各位MM们肯定不想做男人心中第二位的女人。Bingo!
Do not play second fiddle to anyone! Be yourself!

2. fiddle while Rome burns

to do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency.
意思是发生紧急情况时却在做一些无关痛痒的事情。（fiddle在这里是动词，拉小提琴）

传说罗马着火时，暴君Nero却在拉小提琴，毫不关心自己的国民和帝国。据说火是他自己放了，当然不紧张了。唉

请看例句：

The local government fiddled while Rome burned, doing nothing about crime, poverty and pollution.
地方政府不解决犯罪、贫困和污染这等大事，却在无关痛痒的细节上瞎忙。

The account was falling through, but he was more worried about missing his golf game -- talk about fiddling while Rome burns!
他真是不分轻重！眼看要破产了，他还在瞎谈着为高尔夫球而难过。

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