To tar somebody or something with the same brush

一杆子打翻一船人

To tar somebody or something with the same brush

yī gan zǐ da fān yī chuán rén

To tar somebody or something with the same brush,字面的意思是"用同一把刷子涂焦油",其实是指"因为某人或某物不好,就误以为和他们类似的人或物都不好",也就是"一杆子打翻一船人".比如,某人因为看到一家连锁店的服务不好,就断定另外一家连锁店的服务也不好,这就是Tar it with the same brush,一杆子打翻一船人.毕竟,两家店虽然是一个品牌,但服务员的素质可能并不相同.

在生活中,这种一概而论的事经常发生.比如,下面这个老板在招聘员工时的态度：

"One of the applicants for a part-time sales position came with good references. Yet my boss didn't want to hire him because he was still in high school. Apparently, he'd had a bad experience with a teenaged employee. To me, he TARRED HIM WITH THE SAME BRUSH. Why did he blame him because of another teen's poor performance?"

这段话意思是：在应聘兼职销售员的人中,有个人条件不错,获得以前雇主的强力推荐.可是,我们的老板不想雇他,因为他还是个高中生.很显然,老板以前雇过高中生,可那个孩子表现不好.这下,老板一杆子打翻一船人,凡是高中生,他都不雇了.我觉得,这对应聘人来说是不公平的.

在日常生活中,如果你常常对人对事一概而论,可能会错过很多机会.比如,在挑选恋爱对象时,就应该有个开放的态度,不能随便把对方脸谱化.

"My buddy thinks that I shouldn't ask Jean out because she's divorced and he'd dated divorcees who seemed desperate. But I'm not going to TAR HER WITH THE SAME BRUSH. I'm not about to fault Jean because of my friend's bad dating experience with other divorced women. It isn't fair."

这个人说：我的一个哥们儿觉得,我不应该和Jean约会,因为她离过婚,而我这位哥们儿交往过离婚女人,觉得她们的人生态度都很消极.不过,我不会一概而论,不会因为我朋友同离婚女人合不来就觉得Jean不好,这么做对Jean是不公平的.

说到一概而论,我想到我的表姐.她家那个市的市长贪污公款被判了刑,因为这个,她就决定再也不在选举中投票了.这么做太过了吧! 我承认,一些政客的确是腐败的,但也不能因此就Tar them with the same brush,一杆子打翻一船人,觉得他们个个都坏.