汉语中有些带“蛇的成语，如蛇蝎心肠(have a heart as malicious as snakes and scorpions)、毒如蛇蝎(to be as venomous as snakes and scorpions)、牛鬼蛇神(字面意思 ox-headed ghosts and snake-bodied demons，比喻意义 all sorts of bad characters, wicked people of all descriptions)、地头蛇(字面意思 snake in its old haunt，比喻意义 local villain, local bully)等，也具有阴险凶恶的含义，例如：

3. 强龙难压地头蛇。 1) Even a mighty dragon finds it hard to control a snake in its old haunt.(字面意思) 2) A powerful outsider can hardly overwhelm a local bully.(比喻意义)

汉语另有些带“蛇的成语则与阴险凶恶无关：虎头蛇尾(字面意思 with a tiger's head but a snake’s tail，比喻意义 fine start and poor finish)，比喻先紧后松、有始无终的鲜明反差;人心不足蛇吞象(to be greedy like a snake that tries to swallow an elephant)，比喻人心的贪婪;画蛇添足(字面意思 to draw a snake and add feet to it，比喻意义 to ruin the effect by adding sth. superfluous, to do sth. entirely unnecessary)，这里“蛇足(字面意思 foot added to a snake，比喻意义 sth. superfluous)比喻多余的事物;蛇影杯弓(字面意思 to mistake the reflection of a bow in the cup for a snake，比喻意义 to be extremely nervous or suspicious)，比喻紧张猜疑的心情。例句如：

4. 我们无论做什么工作，都不能虎头蛇尾。 No matter what we do, we should not let the work tail off once it gets started.

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