Jason瘋英文 :回首頁

201To go on the stump在這裏的意思是參加競選的人到各處去發表講演，爭取選民的支持。"The governor is running for reelection, and he's looking hard for votes--he'll go on the stump in the whole state next month and make speeches in over fifty cities and towns."

202本州的候選人就是favorite son。其他競選者要到那些有favorite son的州去參加初選，那可就麻煩了。this year other presidential hopefuls did not spend much time in Iowa because Senator Harkin from Iowa was a favorite son candidate."

203Sound bite就是插入電視新聞節目當中的一個和選舉有關的錄影片段。"Some of the presidential candidates are more interested in sound bites than sound policies."

204Blame game是候選人把造成某些社會問題的責任推到競選對手身上去的手法，那怕他明明知道這是他自己的責任。"I'm not going to play the blame game and say who's at fault that so many people are out of work.

205Negative campaigning的意思是一個候選人採用的主要策略是告訴選民他的對手是如何的壞，而不是說自己是如何如何的好。”

"Some political observers say that negative campaigning isn't working this year--that voters want to hear positive ideas about how to create new jobs and give people better health care."

206兩個黨都要爭取這些動搖不定的選民，也就是swing voter。It's the swing voters who will decide who wins there and we don't know what they are thinking."

207 to come out swinging就成了互相攻擊的意思。After a day off, President Bush and Governor Clinton this morning again launched another hard week of campaigning, and they both came out swinging."

208 Don't change horses in the middle of the stream"也就是說：不要在過河過到一半的時候換你騎的馬。就美國選舉來說，這個俗語的意思就是：即便你們對我不滿意，但是目前美國問題很多，不是換總統的時候。-with the economy in bad shape, this is no time to change horses in the middle of the stream."

209候選人特別受人擁護，那些無足輕重的小政客就會登上那輛馬車，讓人們知道他們和這位元名人關係很好。這就是jump on the bandwagon。

After the latest polls I think that Green is going to win. Let's jump on the bandwagon right now and endorse the man before we get left behind."

210 sleaze是指“攻擊對方的私生活”。"On the campaign trail today the Republicans and the Democrats both hurled charges accusing the other side of using sleaze despite promises by Bush and Clinton to stop such tactics."

211 gridlock這個字來指美國政界存在的那種兩派僵持不下，任何問題無法得以進展的現象。Both the Republicans and the Democrats agree that the big problem with the government in Washington is political gridlock. But they certainly don't agree who is to blame."

212 lame duck就是：一隻瘸的鴨子。但是，我們這兒指的不是鴨子，而是一個經選舉產生的政府官員競選連任失敗，可是他的任期還有幾個星期或幾個月。

"The governor of our state ended up as a lame duck when he lost the election. He still has six weeks left in office but there's nothing to do except to pack up his papers."

213 golden parachute就是那些下任的官員在失去他們原來的工作後在經濟上提供保障的安排。"Congressman Blank lost the election. But he has a golden parachute--he's been offered a job as a senior vice president in a big company in his home state of New York."

214 on the fence。Fence就是“籬笆”。On-the-fence的意思也就是騎在籬笆上，左右不定，也就是說，還沒有決定投贊成票，還是反對票。Sorry, friend: I can't tell you right now how I will vote on the new tax bill. I'm still on the fence:

215 Maverick的牲口！’現在，Maverick這個字已經用到政治上來，形容那些有獨立主見，不像大多數黨員跟著自己党的意志行事的議員。This vote on the foreign trade bill is going to be close, and I sure wish we could be sure of that man's support. But he's such a maverick we can't count on his voting with the party."

216 To give someone a piece of one's mind是指對某人大發雷霆。"This stupid idiot passed me on the left, then cut in ahead of me so close I had to jam on the brakes to keep from hitting him. When I caught up with him at the stoplight, I rolled down my window, and boy, did I give him a piece of my mind."

217 To tell someone off也是表示生氣，但是也包含一些拒絕某人要求的意思My brother-in-law borrowed $200 from me six months ago and never paid me back. So when he tried to borrow another $200 last night, I certainly told him off."

218 Hick這個字和中文裏的鄉下老差不多。20 years ago, he was only a hick fresh out of the cornfields of Kansas.

219 city slicker 也就是說話很圓滑，衣著很時髦，但是很可能是一個不老實、不可信任的傢伙。Yep, I told Susie not to go out with any of them city slickers with their smooth talk and fancy clothes. If she has to go out, look for a farm boy. He may be a hick, but she can trust him a whole lot more."

220 to throw to the wolves的意思就是：犧牲別人來解救自己。The voters have been demanding that the mayor do something about all the corruption at city hall, so he threw a couple of minor officials to the wolves

221 To throw the baby out with the bath water從字面上來解釋就是：在潑洗澡水的時候連孩子一起潑掉了。這是很難想像的。但是這個俗語真正表達的是：在扔掉你不要的東西時把寶貴的東西都無意地一起扔掉了。I'd really like to fire this man tomorrow. But if I fire him, his brother will probably leave with him. His brother is one of our best people, and I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water."

222 To throw a wet blanket on something就是消除別人的熱情或者是破壞別人的享受。"Let's not invite Dick to the dance--he is such a wet blanket with that sour look on his face and his boring talk."

223 to throw a monkey wrench的意思，那就是影響、或終止某些本來該發生的事。the boss threw a monkey wrench into our plans today when he told me I have to go to a business meeting in New York next week."

224 to let the cat out of the bag的意思是：讓那只貓從口袋裏出來。但是，它的實際意思是：在不小心的情況下瀉露了秘密。I bought a nice wrist watch as a surprise for my wife's birthday. But I'm afraid I let the cat out of the bag-

225 Look like the cat that ate the canary這個俗語是用來形容一個人顯得非常滿足，就像一隻貓終於實現了它長期來的願望，把鳥籠打開，把裏面那只可憐的金絲雀吃了一樣地感到滿足。The horse won by a nose and my friend came back with the two thousand bucks he'd just won, looking like the cat that ate the canary."

226 buddy這個字可以說是指那些和你親如兄弟一樣的朋友。What sticks most in my mind is all the good buddies I saw killed there. I'll remember their faces as long as I live, because they were like brothers to me."

227 Sidekick這個字的來源很有趣。以前，那些小偷把西裝褲兩邊的口袋叫做sidekick。要從這兩個口袋裏偷錢包是最困難的，因為人們在走路的時候兩隻手老是在口袋邊擺動。逐漸，sidekick這個字就演變到好朋友的意思，指那些非常忠實的朋友，每當你需要的時候，他們總會在你身邊幫忙的。

I'm really looking forward to the tenth reunion of the class of 1983. For one thing it's a chance to see my old sidekick Billy Bob. We roomed together, played side by side on the football team--well, he was my best buddy back in the good old days."

228To put on the dog就是擺排場給別人看。"Joe Doak is sure putting on the dog since his rich aunt died and left him 10 million dollars.

229 To go to the dogs這個俗語的意思就是：變得很窮，徹底破落。As soon as the gold was all gone, these towns went to the dogs almost overnight.

230 To let sleeping dogs lie，從字面上來看，這個俗語的意思就是不要去惹正在睡覺的狗，因為睡著了的狗不會咬人。If I were you, I would not tell Nellie you saw her husband having lunch with another woman. It might have been perfectly innocent, so I'd let sleeping dogs lie."

231 Every dog has his day這個俗語的意思是：每個人總會有實現自己願望的一天。Darling, I know how upset you are that you didn't get the promotion. But don't take it too hard--your turn will come. You know what they say--every dog has his day!"

232 To throw a curve就是在打棒球時發曲線球。但是作為俗語，它的意思是給別人造成錯覺，讓他難以應付。Professor Green certainly threw us a curve today. Half the questions were from parts of the book he told us to read but he never covered them in class.

233 To throw a curve還可以解釋為“欺騙”。"My supervisor threw me a curve when he told me he would recommend me for the promotion. He didn't tell me he was also recommending three other people for the same job. So I didn't get it."

234。To throw for a loop是指“感到非常震驚”或者是“情緒很波動”。it threw me for a loop when I saw him walking into the movie theater with that stupid girl who sits next to him in biology class.

235 Crocodile tears和中國人常說的“貓哭老鼠假慈悲”是一樣的意思。But you should have seen his crocodile tears when the old man died and left him a million dollars!"

236Sob story的意思就是某人編造一個令人傷心的故事來贏得別人的同情，甚至於讓人給錢來幫助他。this nice young man told me a sob story about needing money for a bus ticket to see his dying mother, so I gave him two dollars."

237To cry in one's beer，它的意思是坐在酒吧間裏對著啤酒哭，自己可憐自己。"Come on, Joe! Instead of sitting around in a bar all day crying in your beer about not having any money, why not get off your bottom and go out and look for a job!"

238老是哭哭啼啼、抱怨日常生活中一些瑣事的人？美國人把這種人叫作：cry baby。"Come on, Jack, you're twenty years old--don't be such a cry baby about everything.

239In the clouds可以解釋為：心不在焉。Cloud後面加一個字母y就成了形容詞，意思是：多雲。但是，它的含意也可以解釋為：暗淡、不樂觀"When you look at all the trouble spots around the globe right now, the future of international trade looks very cloudy."

240我們一邊走路，一邊在想心事，或者是一邊做什麼事，一邊在想其他事情，身邊發生什麼事全然沒有注意到。美國人把這叫做：in the clouds。

In the clouds可以解釋為：心不在焉。"Sally is my best friend but she walked right past me today, and didn't even say hello. Her head certainly was in the clouds--she looked like her mind was a thousand miles away."