Jason瘋英文 :回首頁

361. To run a tight ship and to sit tight. To run a tight ship 是一個單位的紀律嚴明"I like to run a tight ship around here. That means that you’d better be here at 8:30 and you don’t get off work until 5:30.
362. to sit tight 是觀望,不採取行動。When the stock price dropped drastically in 1987, some investors lost millions of dollars. But the majority of investors were sitting tight waiting for the stock market to bounce back.“
363. Tight-lipped 是指那些說話很少的人,或在某個問題上守口如瓶。she’s been so tight-lipped about her boyfriend Jack. If I ask too many questions she gets angry.
364. Tight with someone. 這是指和某人關係密切。since you’re my son, I’m going to talk to the president of that company and ask him to give you another chance. I happen to be quite tight with him."
365. LOOSE LIPS 是指說話很隨便,不謹慎。"All right, men, don’t talk about the raid to anybody outside this room, not even another cop. This gang is dangerous, so the raid has to be a complete surprise. Loose lips can get somebody killed. And you don’t want it to be you!"
366. AT LOOSE ENDS 是感到沒事幹,很無聊。 I work nearly fifty hours a week. On weekends, I go to movies or take short trips with my friends. I never feel bored or at loose ends. "
367. OUT OF ONE'S SKULL 是以不完全認真的態度說某人大概是不正常,或是有點瘋了。"Honey, you'd have to be out of your skull to lend that no-good brother of yours any more money. He already owes you over two thousand dollars and he has never paid back a penny!"
368. SKULL SESSION 是一些人坐在一起動腦筋,解決問題,或是增加自己在某一方面的知識。"Okay, men, I want you back in the locker room at eight o’clock for a special skull session. We’ll look at films of the team we play for the championship and talk over the new plays we’ve been practicing all week."
369. To have a feeling in one's bones 就是某人有一種感覺,好像什麼事情要發生,但是又講不出道理。"I just came back from Sally and Joe’s wedding. It was beautiful, and they both looked so happy. But you know something? I hope I’m wrong but I have this feeling in my bones that this marriage won't last a year!"
370. To have a bone to pick 是指有理由提出抱怨或爭論。"Honey, I have a bone to pick with you. I don’t mind you getting into the bathroom first in the morning, but do you have to be in there so long? You know, I have to get to work on time, too."
371. Lick 這個字的一般解釋是用舌頭舔,但是在作為俗語的時候,它有攻擊對方,或者是設法克服某種困難的含義。"The young athlete appears to have great potential. Although he was defeated in the end, he got in quite a few good licks during the match. Maybe one day he will emerge as one of the best." "I've had this horrible head cold for weeks and I’ve taken all kinds of medicine to try to lick it. Then I stayed in bed for a couple of days and that finally licked it for good."
372. Lickety split 是跑得非常快。we heard all this yelling, and here came Joe, running lickety split with a big, angry bear about three feet behind him!"
373. To shape up or ship out. To shape up or ship out 翻到中文就是:要就改進,否則就離開這裏。:"Jones, you are without a doubt the worst soldier in the whole company! Your uniform looks like you slept in it! Your rifle is always dirty, and you can’t follow a simple order! I’m telling you, soldier -- either shape up or ship out, you hear me!"
374. To rock the boat. To rock the boat 是找麻煩,或是破壞某個計畫。 "Sure, I agree Smith isn't worth the big salary he gets, but I wouldn't tell the boss if I were you. Smith is one of his favorites, and he'll think you're just rocking the boat and making trouble."
375. Up to one's neck. 這是指某個人要做的工作實在太多,簡直無法應付了。"I'm sorry but I won't be able to fix your TV for two weeks. I’m up to my neck in work right now. But I’ll try to have it ready for you in time for the start of the football season."
376. To break one's neck. To break one's neck 就是一個人拼命地去完成一項工作,或者是儘快地趕到某一個地方去。"My parents agreed to pay my trip to Europe this summer only if I complete all my course work before the end of the semester. So now I’m breaking my neck to finish all the papers I have to write."
377. To get it in the neck 是受到懲罰,或受到損失"Oh, oh! I was supposed to be at home for dinner at six and it's already seven-thirty. I've got to go right now or I'll get it in the neck from my wife -- and she's cooking my favorite dish, a nice, big pot roast."
378. To stick one's neck out 的意思和槍打出頭鳥的意思一樣,也就是說,要是你把脖子伸出去,那你就會有危險受到傷害。有的時候,有的人很有勇氣出頭露面為別人打抱不平,但是這樣作可 能並不明智。"You know I admire you for not being afraid to stick your neck out for your old friend who's running for mayor. But it would be a mistake to stick it out too far -- your friend has no chance at all to win and helping him won' make you popular with the new mayor."
379. Cold shoulder是故意對人冷淡,表現出輕視和討厭的態度。I always thought Mary and I were friends. But when I saw her at the supermarket today and said ’hello,’ she gave me the cold shoulder -- she looked right past me like I wasn’t even there.
380. Hot air.Hot air是指誇誇其談,吹牛。Most candidates make promises during a campaign to win voters’ support. But many promises are nothing but hot air. After the candidates get elected, they tend to forget most of the things they promised to achieve.
381. Over my head是指一門學科、一個問題太複雜，太難懂。Last semester I signed up to take calculus, but I dropped out of class after two weeks -- that kind of math is just too far over my head.
382. . Over the hump是渡過了一項工程、一個計畫最困難的階段。也可以說渡過了一個不幸處境的最緊要的關頭。 :My friend was so sick that we were afraid he'd never leave the hospital alive. But the doctors say he's over the hump now, getting stronger every day, and he can go home next week.
383. Over a barrel是指一個人出於某種無奈，只能聽憑別人擺佈，別人讓他怎麼幹他就得怎麼幹:My partner wants to buy out my share but he's only offering half what it's worth. Of course, he has me over a barrel because I'm anxious to retire and go to Florida and I can't find anybody else who wants to buy.
384. over one's dead body是想方設法阻止某一計畫的實現。You mean you want to marry this man twice your age who's been divorced two times already? You'll only do it over my dead body! 這位母親說：“你是說你要和那個年紀比你大一倍，已經離過兩次婚的男人結婚？你要想和他結婚，除非等我死了。”
385. Out of the woods指擺脫了前途不明，或危險的處境。Our business has been terrible all year and I was afraid we might have to give up and close the shop. But the last two months we've made a profit and I think we're out of the woods at last.
386. Out of the picture就是指一個人已經不再出現在某個局面，或者參與某個項目或計畫了。Thank God the old man is out of the picture at last -- he should have retired ten years ago! Now we can make the changes we need to get the company a lot more business.
387. Out the window是突然失去，或是浪費了某樣東西，或者是某人的辛勤勞力。My husband and I saved for ten years to open our own restaurant. And we worked six months to get it ready. Then the day after we opened, we had a big fire and all our money and hard work went out the window.
388. Out of this world是指某些東西非常好，特別是音樂、電影、吃飯、有時也能指人。Say, I see that Gone with the Wind is on TV tonight. I've seen it ten times already but I'll watch it again. I think it's out of this world -- maybe the best movie ever made!
389. To whistle in the dark從字面上來說就是：在黑暗中吹口哨。這就好像一個男孩兒半夜在墳堆裏一邊走，一邊吹口哨，以表示自己不怕鬼。John says he'll drive to Baltimore by himself to be interviewed by the school he applied for. He's just whistling in the dark. As a matter of fact, he's never driven on that big 8-lane highway and he's a very nervous, inexperienced driver.
390. To blow the whistle作為一個俗語，它的意思是：為了阻止騙局或不正當的事情繼續下去而把它揭發出來。人們經常把進行揭發的人叫做：whistle- blower。 Mister Green did us taxpayers a favor. When he discovered his boss was taking bribes, he blew the whistle and wrote his congressman about it. They investigated, the boss got fired and he may end up in jail.
391. far cry有的時候就是指在很遙遠的地方。比如說，你可以講：Washington is a far cry from Beijing。這是說，華盛頓離北京很遠。但是，人們用far cry的時候往往是指某一樣東西和以往有很大的不同。You'd be surprised how nice people treat me now when they hear my rich uncle died and left me twenty million dollars. It's a far cry from the days when I was just a clerk in a supermarket and nobody paid me any attention.
392. crying towel難道是會哭的毛巾？ 不是的。你們有沒有碰到過那種為了一點事就抱怨沒完，老是訴苦的人？美國人把這種人叫做：Crybaby。 Crybaby就是指那種很軟弱，碰不碰就會抱怨，哭哭啼啼的人。Crying towel就是給這種人一條擦眼淚的毛巾。這當然只是一個假設而已。有的時候也可以解釋為帶有諷刺性的安撫他們。: Pete, one of these days we'll have to get you a crying towel! You complain about everything twice as much as anybody else who works in our office. Don't be such a crybaby!
393. To whistle a different tune作為俗語的意思是：一個人改變了主意，跟他以前說的不一樣了。Tom always said he didn't want any children, but he's whistling a different tune since his wife gave birth to a son. He's so proud of the baby he can't stop talking about the kid.
394. Pipe dream作為俗語，它的意思就是：做白日夢。這個說法的來源可能是以往盛行用煙斗的時候，有的人一面抽著煙，一面享受煙草的香味，同時又在煙霧中胡思亂 想做白日夢。My friend Johnny has this pipe dream about becoming a famous movie star. But it won't ever happen. He doesn't have any talent, and he has this high, squeaky voice people don't like to hear.
395. For crying out loud是不耐煩地、或者是厭煩地表示驚訝。For crying out loud, son! When are you going to do what I've told you and clean up your room! I just looked in there again and it's so messy I had to look twice to make sure your bed was still there under all that junk. 這個爸爸說：“啊呀，我的兒子呀！ 你到底什麼時候才能按照我說的把你的房間打掃乾淨呐! 我剛才又去看了一下，你那房間呐，真是亂成一團，連你的床在哪里都看不到。我仔細看了以後才弄清楚你的床都給那些亂七八糟的東西給埋在下面了！” For crying out loud! Jack took my tennis racket again. How many times have I told him I don't mind letting him use it, but he at least has to ask first in case I need it myself! 這個年輕人說：“我的老天爺！ 傑克又把我的網球拍拿走了。我跟他說了多少遍，他用我的網球拍我倒不在乎，但是他至少得問我一聲，萬一我自己要用呢！”
396. to cool it的意思就是：冷靜一點兒，別發那麼大的火。You kids cool it and stop fighting right now! Not one single day goes by without fighting between the two of you. Can't you be more friendly to each other like Mike and Linda next door?
397. to keep one's cool. 在一般的情況下，cool解釋為：涼快或冷。但是，在這裏，cool的意思是“冷靜”。在某些情況下，有的人恐怕會氣得捶胸垛腳，可是，有的人就能 keep his cool，也就是保持鎮靜。It's hard to be polite to some people who come into our store. But our manager always manages to keep his cool when dealing with the kind of rude, nasty customers who would make most of us blow our top. 這個售貨員說：“要對一些到我們店裏來的人很客氣，那是很難的。有些很粗魯、不講道理的顧客真是會讓我們大多數人火冒三丈。然而，我們的經理在對待這種人 時總是能保持冷靜。”
398. To be cool as a cucumber從字面上來解釋就是：像黃瓜一樣涼爽。但是，要從俗語的角度來解釋，它的意思就不同了。To be cool as a cucumber就是當一個人碰到困難和麻煩時很冷靜、很放鬆。Last week Dad was in this auto accident and the other driver was so mad he was yelling and screaming. But Dad stayed cool as a cucumber and got the other guy cooled off too, once he saw there wasn't any real damage to either car.
399. all in the same boat就是：大家都在同一條船上。既然大家都在一條船上，那麼要是船出事，大家都會掉進水裏。When the steel plant shut down, the town's people were all in the same boat. The workers had no jobs, and this meant the shops had no business. It was really tough all around.
400. to miss the boat就是失去了一個好機會。We found exactly the house we wanted, but we waited to buy it in the hope the price would go down. But we missed the boat; when we called the agent back, he'd just sold it to another family.