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800俚語第三講

81. A stuffed shirt是指那些愛擺架子，表現得神氣十足的人。"My boss is a stuffed shirt: all he talks about is how important his ancestors are.

82. to give you the shirt off his back 就是把他的襯衣從背上拿下來給你。一個人要是肯把襯衣脫下來給你的話，那就是一個在你患難的時候能拿出他所有的一切，包括他的襯衣，來幫忙的人。But if I ever need it, I know he would give me the shirt off his back."

83. To bail out 現在已經成了一個日常用的辭彙，它的意思就是擺脫一些麻煩或危險。當飛行員在空中發現汽油不足或是機器出了故障，他們就不得不用降落傘，以保生命的安全。這在英文裏就叫：To bail out。"Smith was lucky enough to bail out and quit the company just before it went bankrupt."

84. nose dive也可以用在生活的其他各方面。例如，一家報紙報導說：

例句-3: "Today the stock market took a nosedive and dropped 25 points."

85. Up in arms的意思是起來進行武裝鬥爭，或者非常憤怒，準備打架。"All us students are up in arms at the news the school is raising our tuition ten percent."

86. At arm's length就是指和某人保持一定距離。"I keep trying to get friendly with that lovely blonde who sits next to me in biology class. But she keeps me at arm's length."

87. to shake a leg就是趕快行動的意思。"Come on, shake a leg, son, or you're going to be late for school."

88. To pull one's leg的真正意思是逗別人，開別人玩笑的意思。when I invited her to a movie, I learned he was just pulling my leg."

89. To twist someone's arm它是指給某人施加壓力，迫使他做你要他做的事。: "I didn't want see that movie about Mozart, but my roommate twisted my arm.

90. to charge someone an arm and a leg的意思就是要價太高。"Don't go to that fancy new restaurant. The food isn't very good and they charge you an arm and a leg for it!"

91. To take candy from a baby的意思就是：某件事情很容易辦成，就像把孩子手裏的糖拿來一樣。"Getting grandmother to loan me the money was as easy as taking candy from a baby."

92. A piece of cake的意思當然可以是指一塊蛋糕。可是，作為俗語，它的意思就成了：這件事太容易了。"Honey, I finally asked Old Man Jones for my raise. And it was a piece of cake!"

93. top Gun這個常用辭彙在噴氣式飛機誕生前很久就已經出現。那還是在美國開拓西部的時候，那些西部神槍手有時為了獲得最佳槍手的稱號而互相殘殺。"Read this book by Professor Winter -- he's a top gun in Shakespeare research."

94. bottom line每個公司的會計在財政報告上都要把收入和開支加起來，然後得出一個最關鍵的數字，也就是這個公司究竟盈利多少，或虧損多少。if we don't get more customers the next three months, the bottom line is that we'll go out of business."

95. Just for laughs這個俗語在不同情況下，它的意思也就不同。首先，它可以解釋為：做某件事純屬為了高興，"Come on and get your jacket -- let's go out and have a couple of beers just for laughs." Just for laughs有時也可以指做愚蠢的事，或有害的事。下面的情形就是一個例子： 例句-2: "Just for laughs they tossed Mary in the swimming pool with all her clothes on. Then they found out she didn't know how to swim."

96. To laugh up one's sleeve的真正意思就是偷偷地笑話某人，因為這個人有些可笑的地方，而他本人還沒有發現。"We were all laughing up our sleeves at the teacher when he was up at the blackboard explaining the math problem.

97. a horse laugh是一種表示不信任的嘲笑。"When this guy running for Congres told us how much money he'd save us taxpayers, we all gave him the horse laugh.

98. The last laugh的意思就是，在某人開始做一件事情的時候，許多人都說他不會成功。但是最後他還是成功了。: "I used to laugh at my roommate in college -- he'd stay in and study on weekends while I went out for a good time. But I guess he has the last laugh on me.

99. to roll out the red carpet to honor a visiting head of state鋪上紅地毯來歡迎外國貴賓。"When Ann came back from her long vacation, we gave her the red carpet treatment."

100. in the red，指虧本。

101. A red letter day 的中文意思就是：大喜日子。:"It was a real red letter day for me when my son came home from three years in the navy. We rolled out the red carpet to welcome him home."

102. Red tape 是指官僚主義，或文牘主義。古時候官方的檔一般都用紅帶子捆起來的"With all the red tape I ran into at city hall, it took me three months to get my business license."

103. in the black 就意味著賺錢，而不是虧本。

104. a black sheep 指的是一個給他周圍的人帶來恥辱的人。"Uncle Joe is the black sheep in the family.

105. A white lie 的意思就是那種為了避免使對方感到難受而說的謊話。"I told a white lie when I told Jennie her boyfriend was good-looking.

106. Rain check 的意思就是，你買了票，但是因為下雨而沒有看成球。為了補償你的損失，就給你一張下次可以用的免費票。可是，rain check 這個詞已經不局限在體育球賽方面了。它已經應用於生活的各個方面。它的意思是：給予第二次機會。

107. Rain check 的意思就是，你買了票，但是因為下雨而沒有看成球。為了補償你的損失，就給你一張下次可以用的免費票。可是，rain check 這個詞已經不局限在體育球賽方面了。它已經應用於生活的各個方面。它的意思是：給予第二次機會。 "I'd love to go out with you, Ben. I'm sorry I'm busy tonight, but I'd like a rain check."

108. It never rains but it pours 這句成語翻到中文就是“禍不單行”的意思。I invited my girlfriend to lunch and after we ate, I found I'd left my wallet at home. It never rains but it pours."

109. To stick to one's guns 從字面上來解釋是指槍。但是這個俗語現在幾乎和槍沒有什麼關係，它的意思就是：在日常生活中堅持原則，穩步前進，不屈服外界的壓力。"Pumpkin, I hear that some of the students at your school are fooling around with drugs. But I hope, young woman, that you stick to your guns and keep saying no!"

110. Shoot 就是開槍的意思。Shooting the breeze 就是在很輕鬆、很愉快的氣氛下和朋友聊天。"Say, Bill, how about coming back to my room after class? I'll get a couple of cold sodas and we'll shoot the breeze for a while."

111. Green thumb指的是某人在種花或種菜方面很有才能，或在這方面很有知識和技術。"I wish I had a green thumb like Mrs. Lee -- look at the beautiful roses in her yard."

112. Green light就是綠燈。在美國，一個在某公司工作的管理人員可能會對他的秘書說：

例句-3: "My boss liked my idea to open a branch office in Los Angeles and gave me the green light to go ahead."

113. Singing the blues 的意思就是訴苦、抱怨。"Every time I ask Joe to pay back the money he borrowed from me, he sings the blues about all the things at home he needs money for."

114. like a bolt out of the blue。Bolt 是閃電，blue 在這兒是指藍色的天空。 Like a bolt out of the blue 的意思就是晴天霹靂，也就是出乎意外、沒料想到。: "A driver may testify that he was going the normal speed limit when a truck appeared in front of him out of the blue and he did not have time to stop."

115. As American as apple pie." 這句話的意思是：就像蘋果排一樣具有美國特色。Football and baseball are as American as apple pie as they were invented by Americans and played and watched everywhere in this country.

116. Hot potato作為俗語，它的意思就是一個爭論很激烈的問題，沒有一個人願意為它承擔責任。例如：

"The question of whether to raise taxes to cut the budget deficit is a real hot potato for a lot of politicians."

117. To put all his eggs in one basket 的意思就是把所有的雞蛋放在一隻籃子裏，這樣是很冒險的。Go out with several people -- don't put all your eggs in one basket.

118. To eat crow 的確切意思是一個人把自己弄得很丟臉，因為他犯了一個很難堪的錯誤，而又不得不承認。But he had to eat crow when the woman running against him won by more than 60,000 votes.

119. Monkey business 是指不道德或不合法的行為，往往是偷偷摸摸和具有欺騙性的行為，例如盜用公款等。The newspapers say there's a lot of monkey business going on at city hall

120. 。To make a monkey out of somebody 這個俗語的意思是：把某人弄得好像一個傻瓜一樣。My friend Pete made a monkey out of me the other day.