To meet one's Waterloo means to meet one's defeat. This saying comes from the Battle of Waterloo, which ended on this date in 1815. Emperor Napoleon had been in exile but was later back in control of the French Empire. Blucher from Prussia and the Duke of Wellington wanted Napoleon stopped. Therefore, they marched their armies to the French border. Napoleon wanted to attack the armies before they could be joined by more troops. However, it didn't go well for the French. In only a few days, Wellington and Blucher defeated the French, and Napoleon eventually surrendered.
歷史上的今天 6月18日…
某人慘遭滑鐵盧的意思是某人遭受慘敗。這句諺語來自在1815年的今日所結束的滑鐵盧之役。拿破崙皇帝原本被 放逐，但爾後重新掌控了法國政權。普魯士的布呂歇爾和威靈頓公爵想阻止拿破崙，於是他們率軍來到法國邊境。拿破崙想在更多軍隊與他們會合前向他們發動攻 擊，但事情的進展卻對法軍不利。在短短幾天內，威靈頓公爵和布呂歇爾率軍擊敗了法國，最後拿破崙也投降了。
知識大補帖
;)
自從法國大革命（French Revolution）開始，歐洲的強國包括英國、奧地利、俄國、德國（當時稱為普魯士）、西班牙等，組成反對法國的軍事聯盟，先後和法國打了7次大戰， 歷史上稱為「反法軍事聯盟戰爭」（War of Coalitions）。1812年，反法軍事聯盟在第6次戰爭中得到勝利，要求法國無條件投降，拿破崙（圖，資料照片）因此退位，並被放逐到地中海義大 利旁邊的厄爾巴小島，由路易十八復位。但在1815年，拿破崙偷渡回法國重登王座，引發第7次的反法軍事聯盟戰爭。一開始拿破崙擊敗普魯士軍，指派部下格 魯希元帥消滅逃跑的普軍，自己則趕到滑鐵盧村要攻打英軍，但格魯希未能達成軍令，反讓普軍擺脫追蹤，赴滑鐵盧協助英軍而取得勝利。拿破崙腹背受敵最後大敗 被放逐到聖海連娜小島。
單字片語
◎Waterloo n. 滑鐵盧（比利時中部的城鎮）；慘敗．meet one's Waterloo某人遭到慘敗
例：The champion boxer met his Waterloo for the first time last night.（那名拳王在昨晚首遭慘敗。）
◎defeat n. 失敗，挫敗 & vt. 擊敗，戰勝
例：Tom was defeated in the recent election.（湯姆在最近這次選舉中落敗。）
◎exile n. 放逐；流亡
例：The police found that the criminal had died while in exile.（警方發現那名罪犯已在逃亡時喪命。）
◎eventually adv. 最終，最後
例：Ted couldn't stand his wife's bad temper and eventually divorced her.（泰德受不了他太太的壞脾氣，最後和她離婚了。）
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