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281 beefy，那就是說，那個人個子很高大、肌肉很發達These two guys were pushing me around until my brother, who's a beefy football player on the school team, came out and asked me if I needed help

282 To beef up 的意思是：增加力量。"A general beefs up his forces before a battle by adding more tanks and artillery.

283 snowball 也可以當動詞用來形容某一樣東西很快就變得越來越大，就像滾雪球那樣。Business was slow at first but it's really snowballed the last couple of months: now you have to wait in line to get a table."

284 Snow job就是用拍馬屁、誇張等手法來欺騙或說服別人。This guy kept telling me how much I'd save with his company. But when I read the policy he was selling, I realized he was giving me a snow job.

285To break the ice 作為俗語是指：緩和緊張氣氛，使在場的人放鬆一些。he went around the table and asked everybody to stand up and tell a little about themselves and that broke the ice in a hurry."

286iceberg是指一個人很冷漠無情，缺乏正常人的熱情，"My boss is the smartest man I know. But he's a real iceberg

287where's the beef?也就是：牛肉在哪里? "Our history teacher is a good talker but there isn't much real meat about history in what he says. I'd like to ask him, 'Where's the beef?' because we sure don't learn much from him."

288turkey farm呢? 在每個政府機構或者私營公司裏總會有一些工作能力低或者是不願勤懇工作的人；但是，由於種種原因，領導又沒有辦法解雇這些人。為了使工作不受影響，這些機構的領導往往把這些人調到一個地方，就像打入冷宮一樣。The man is so incompetent we'd like to fire him. But he has good political connections so we sent him to our turkey farm out in Denver where he can't cause much damage."

289sitting duck 是一個俗語，它的意思是：一個很容易受騙，或被打擊的物件。Sure. My friend Joe is a sitting duck for any phony offer that promises to make him rich in a hurry. Anytime a fast-talking salesman comes along with a promise to make Joe a millio

290處於一個毫無希望的境地，給予它任何幫助都無濟於事。美國人把這種情況稱為：dead duck。

"If I were you, I wouldn't put any more money into the restaurant. It's simply in the wrong part of town. Honey, I'm afraid it's already a dead duck -- there isn't any way to save it."

291 To chicken out也可以說是臨陣退卻。Today I was sure I could work up my courage and dive off the ten-meter board at the pool. I walked right out to the edge, but then I chickened out -- it looked like a long way down to the water!

292 Feed 在這兒的意思就是喂雞的飼料。Chicken feed作為俗語，它的意思就是：很小數量的錢，少得像喂雞的飼料一樣。My grandfather says that 50 years ago a salary of $5,000 a year meant you could live very comfortably. But these days $5,000 is just chicken feed; you'd have a tough time just surviving on it.

293 Spring chicken不是指春天孵出來的小雞，而是指年輕的少女。she's certainly no spring chicken; that man looks young enough to be her son!"

294 Goose bumps就是當一個人看到討厭的東西，或是情緒激動的時候皮膚上起的雞皮疙瘩。Do you know, I have seen every movie with Madonna in it at least five times. Just seeing her picture in a magazine gives me goose bumps -- she's such a beauful woman!

295 To make hay在用作俗語的時候，它     的意思就和準備飼料沒有什麼太大關係了。它的意思就是：看到賺錢的機會就儘量從中獲利。, some oil companies are really making hay out of the Gulf crisis.

296 To go haywire的意思就是：一個人非常生氣，以致於無法控制自己。美國的農民一般都是用一根細的鐵絲把乾草一捆捆地捆起來。這種捆乾草的鐵絲在英文裏叫做：haywire。每當一個農民要餵牲口的時候，他就用斧頭把鐵絲砍斷。可是，要是他不小心的話，鐵絲可能會彈起來，鐵絲的尖端還會刮破他的皮膚和衣服。But when he saw this kid trying to steal his new car, he really went haywire.

297straw that breaks the camel's back，意思就是：那根壓斷了駱駝背的稻草。現在，人們經常把它簡化為:the last straw。But when I find out you are spending money on another woman, that's the last straw!

298wild oats就是野生的燕麥。美國人常用燕麥來餵牲口，野生的燕麥那就更不值一錢了。可是，to sow wild oats 並不是播種野生的燕麥,它的意思是沉醉於放蕩的生活中I told him he ought to stop sowing his wild oats, wasting his time and money drinking with his buddies and chasing after girls. It's time for him to settle down, marry a nice girl and start raising a family."

299buddy就是指親密的朋友，哥兒們

300belly laugh就是捧腹大笑。Fifty years ago, there were three clowns who made a lot of short movies. They are all dead now, but their comedies live on television because they are so full of belly laughs

301Knee-slapper的意思就是一個能讓人笑的拍大腿的笑話。Last week, at a party he told a couple of knee-slappers about Bush and Gorbachev.

302a straw in the wind是指：在事情發生前的一些風吹草動，也就是事態發展的一些跡象。"Economic experts said today that the increase in auto sales the last 30 days is a straw in the wind that the nation's economy is beginning to recover from the brief recession."

303To grasp at straws字面上的意思就是抓緊稻草，但它的實際意思和中文裏的[撈救命稻草]很相似。"Harry, you're grasping at straws if you think you can pass that exam by starting to study the night before.

304 trailblazer，指的是那些為別人掃除障礙，開創道路的人。"Sometimes the real trailblazers never get in the history books. One of the greatest inventors of all time was the inventor of the wheel, but nobody knows his -- or her -- name."

305 Cutting edge就是在科技領域或其他方面領先的技術或做法。"For the past ten years, younger composers like Philip Glass have been on the cutting edge in composing operas that defy most of the traditional rules of writing music."

306 penny-pincher也可能是很簡樸的人，有時具有一定的積極意義。You know, with the national debt getting so big, maybe we ought to elect some penny-pinchers to the Congress next time instead of these guys who are so good at spending the taxpayers' money."

307 Penny-pincher和cheapskate都是指花錢很小心的人。但是，penny-pincher也可能是很簡樸的人，有時具有一定的積極意義。Cheapskate似乎比penny-pincher更含有貶義。

But none of my friends want to go out with him because he's such a cheapskate. His idea of showing a girl a good time is to take her to MacDonald's for a hamburger and then to the zoo because admission is free."

308 Not all there是美國人普遍用的一個習慣用語，它的意思是：某個人的行為表現很奇怪，或者是很傻。"This new kid looks like he is not all there. All he does is sit and stare out the window as if the only thing he sees is blank space."

309 to have a screw loose從字面上來解釋就是：一個螺絲松了。作為一個俗語，它的意思就是：某人的腦子不正常，因為他腦子裏有些地方的接頭松了。I knew a guy at college who had a screw loose somewhere -- he was scared to death of catching a disease so he'd run off to wash his hands after he shook hands with anybody."

310 under the weather的意思是：我不太舒服，和天氣沒有關係"Mr. Jones, this is Sally Smith. I'm sorry, but I can't come to work today -- I'm feeling a little under the weather."

311 Down with a bug是指受到流行性病毒的感染而身體不舒服。

"Doctor, this is John Smith. I think I'd better come in to see you for a check-up. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm afraid I am down with a bug."

312在46年到64年之間出生的人，被稱為baby boomers。他們當中不少人在事業方面已經有了成就。"President Bill Clinton's election in 1992 was a transfer of power from the old generation to the new generation -- he's the first baby boomer to be elected to the White House."

313 yuppy這個字。實際上，yuppy是一個縮略字，它是由 young urban professional這三個字的第一個字母組成的，也就是yup。後面再加上p和y這兩個字母來形成第二個音節。新出版的字典會告訴你，所謂yuppies就是那些很有抱負，受過高等教育，住在大城市有專業性的工作,生活很富裕的年輕人。"I guess you can call me a yuppy. I'm 37 and I make enough money to afford the right things in life.

314 Dinks代表的是double Income, no Kids. "Mary and I are dinks -- we both have good professional careers. Mary keeps her own maiden name for business reasons.

315 sandwich generation就是既要贍養老人，又要撫養下一代的人。他們和挾在三明治當中的肉一樣挾在老一代和小一代之中。if they don't have pensions big enough to live on, this means their children in the sandwich generation have to bear the financial burden longer."

316 Couch potato是指那些一有時間就坐在沙發上看電視的人"I'm a couch potato and it's too late for me to change.

317 mall rats，是指那些老喜歡到購物中心去逛的年輕人。Hey, there's always something to do there for us mall rats.

318 Backslider是指那些想要改掉壞習慣，但是往往在改了一段時間後又恢復老習慣的人。I'm a terrible backslider. I'll lose a couple of pounds and then walk by an ice cream shop and go in and eat a quart of the stuff."

319 Backslapper是指那些老是拍肩握手,想向別人表示友好的人。

He backslaps all the men and he kisses every baby he sees and tells the mother it's the most beautiful baby he's even seen."

340 Backseat driver是指那些自己不在崗位上，但是卻喜歡不斷給在位的人提供別人不需要的意見或建議的人。One place where you find lots of backseat drivers is in politics.