名人教英文：大败输亏
to come a cropper
大败输亏
josé: isn't that pablo gonzalez over there going into the pawn shop?
何塞︰看，走进当铺的那个人，不是巴勒罗．冈萨雷斯吗？
sasha: yes, that's him. he looks really miserable.
莎莎︰不错，正是他。他看来很苦恼。
josé: that's no surprise. he played the stock market and came a cropper.
何塞︰这不奇怪。他炒股票，大败输亏。
sasha: what does he know about the stock market? he's a shoemaker.
莎莎︰他是个鞋匠，对股市有什么认识？
josé: well, the answer is very little. that's why he came a cropper.
何塞︰认识不多，所以一败涂地。
sasha: so he lost a lot of money?
莎莎︰他输了很多钱吗？
josé: almost everything. so it's no wonder that he's trying to pawn his valuables. he needs to raise money to pay the bills.
何塞︰几乎输掉一切。他现在要把值钱的东西拿去当，并不奇怪，他要钱付账。
he played the stock market and came a cropper这一句，用了两个成语﹕to play the market和to come a cropper。
to play the market的market，指stock market（股票市场），to play the market直译是「玩股票市场」，即视股市为赌博游戏，和不求侥幸的投资有别，例如﹕he made a fortune playing the market（他炒股票，赚了很多钱）。
to come a cropper也作to fall/get a cropper。这本是打猎用语，指「（猎人）摔下马来」。那cropper究竟是什么意思？
按crop作动词，可解作「剪短（头发等）」，例如﹕she had her hair cropped short for the coming summer（她把头发剪短，迎接夏天）。cropper就是「剪了短发的头」。从马上摔下来，头着地，当然跌得很惨，所以to come a cropper即「重重跌倒」或「大失败」，例如﹕(1) he slipped on the wet floor and came a cropper（他在湿地板上一滑，重重跌倒）。(2) even the savviest investor can come a cropper（即使最精明的投资者，都可能一败涂地）。
冈萨雷斯炒股票失利，要拿值钱的东西去典当。「典当」英文叫pawn，而西洋棋的卒也叫pawn，但这两个pawn其实没有关系。解作「卒」的pawn出自拉丁文，原意是「步兵」；解作「典当」的pawn出自法文，原意是「抵押品」。当铺老板叫pawnbroker，所以当铺有时也叫pawnbroker's shop。