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美国习惯用语 |
0. blow-out
We arrived two hours late at the big blow-out for Charle’s birthday because our car had a blow-out.
1. lock, stock and barrel | hook, line and sinker
Mr. Rockefeller bought the whole oil company lock, stock and barrel.
I warned Sally not to believe that man’s stories about how rich he was, but she swallowed them hook, line and sinker. After she married him, she found out he owned money to everybody in his office.
2. greasy spoon | potluck
Honey, let me take you out to dinner. But you know I don’t feel like dressing up to go someplace fancy. How about just going down the street to the greasy spoon and getting hamburgers.
Mike, you ought to try the potstickers at that little Chinese joint on New York Avenue. It looks like a greasy spoon but the potstickers are great and the price is cheap.
Say, Charley, if you don’t have plans for tonight, why don’t you come out to our house and take potluck with us. Helen won’t have time to cook anything special, but she can put an extra plate on the table for you.
I’ve been so busy lately. Last week I went to a greasy spoon with a friend and this Sunday I’ve got to go a potluck.
3. It goes in one ear and out the other | to play by ear
I told Sally it was foolish to marry that man, but it went in one ear and out the other. Now she wishes she’d listened to me. He drinks and gambles and she wants to leave him.
How many times have I told you to get to work on time. But my words just go in one ear and out the other. So I don’t have any choice but to fire you.
I haven’t had a chance to prepare any notes so all I can do is start talking and play it by ear.
I’m not sure if my wife wants me to go shopping with her on Sunday. If she decides to go with her sister instead, then I can play tennis with you. Let’s just play it by ear.
4. doggy bag | sunny side up | over easy
Waiter, could you please wrap up the rest of this steak for me? I’d like to take it home for my dog.
We had so much food left over from dinner at the China garden last night that we took enough home in doggy bags to feed the whole family tonight.
I would like to have my eggs sunny side up.
Miss, I’d like two fried eggs sunny side up and the sausage on the side.
Not me. I don’t like to see my eggs staring up at me with big yellow eyes. Miss, two fried eggs, over easy and not fried too hard.
5. in hot water | to throw cold water on something
Joe is really in hot water now – his girlfriend just found out he’s seeing another woman.
That movie actor tried to cheat on his income tax, but he got caught and now he’s in hot water with the government.
Everybody else in the office thought my idea was great, but the boss threw cold water on it.
I’ve been planning to go to medical school but my dad threw cold water on this idea the other day when he told me he wasn’t sure he had the money to pay my tuition for so long.
6. to hold water | water off a duck’s back | it makes my mouth water
The accused man claimed that he’d been in another city the night of the murder. But his story didn’t hold water after three different witnesses testified in court that they had seen him running from the scene of the crime.
I keep telling my friend it’s foolish to gamble all his pay, but it’s like water off a duck’s back.
The doctors tell us it’s dangerous to smoke, but such good advice rolls off some people like water off a duck’s back.
The roast duck that restaurant serves is my favorite dish. Every time I think about it, it makes my mouth water.
7. blow up | blow out
The retreating German army tried to blow up all the bridges across the Rhine river to stop the Allied troops from crossing into Germany.
I really blew up when I learned my girlfriend was going out with another man.
I have to stop at the gas station to blow up my front tires. 我得到加油站去给汽车的前轮打气。
I’d like 8 by 10 blow ups of these negatives, please. 请把这些底片放大成8×10那么大的照片。
My car smashed into a tree when I had a blow-out. 当我的轮胎炸了的时候，我的车就撞到一棵树上去了。
You’d better blow out that candle before it sets fire to the tablecloth.
All the lights went off in the building and the elevators stopped when the master fuse blew out. 大楼的总保险丝一断，楼里的所有灯都灭了，电梯也停了。
When the Lees celebrated their 25th anniversary, they invited all their friends to a big blow-out at the best hotel in town.
8. to be led by the nose | under your nose
Ed’s wife is a strong-minded woman and leads him around by the nose.
Remember, Son, don’t let other people lead you around by the nose. You’ll get along a lot better in life if you use your own judgment and do what you yourself think is the right thing.
See, they are right under your nose all the time.
Did you read in the paper how bold that robber was at the art museum? He cut three paintings from their frames and walked out with them right under the nose of the guards.
9. to pull your socks up | to knock your socks off
Pull their socks up and get back in the game.
I have had news: our sales were off 18% for the last quarter. So I’m telling you guys – you have to pull your socks up and get out and sell more stuff, or you’ll be looking for new jobs this summer.
Wait until you hear my new marketing plan – it’ll knock your socks off!
Have you seen Jack’s sister, who’s visiting here from California? She’ll knock your socks off: she’s the most gorgeous-looking woman I’ve seen for a long time.
10. poker face | close to your vest
I never know whether my boss likes my work or not – he is a real poker face.
I tried to keep a poker face even though I was scared to death when I went back to my doctor to hear the results of my lab tests. But I admit I gave him the biggest smile of my life when he told me the tests were negative and there was nothing wrong with me.
Two other governors have already announced that they will run for president in the next election but the governor of our state is still keeping his plans close to his vest – nobody is sure what he will do.
John, keep this close to your vest but I want to tell you our company is going to merge with a big New York Corporation – they’ll announce it sometime next week.
11. the shoe is on the other foot | to work hand in glove
Back in school we made fun of Jones because we thought he spent too much time studying instead of having fun. Now the shoe is on the other foot – he’s made lots of money and the rest of us are just barely making enough to feed our families.
For the last ten years the Tigers have been the worst team in the league: we’ve finished down at the bottom. But now the shoe is on the other foot: we have all these good young players and we’re beating everybody else in the whole league.
The local police are working hand in glove with the FBI to find the bank robbers. 当地的警察正在和联邦调查局密切合作设法找到那些抢劫银行的罪犯。
I read in the paper about this customs officer they arrested at the airport. They caught him working hand in glove with a gang of smugglers to bring diamonds into the country without paying duty. 我在报纸上看到有关那个在机场被逮捕的海关官员的消息。他们发现他和一些走私者密切合作，把钻石带进来而不缴关税。
12. follow your nose | pay through the nose
Turn left at the next corner and then follow your nose – you can’t miss it. 到前面的路口向左转，然后一直走就到了，你不会看不到的。
You say you’re looking for the French Bakery? Just walk two blocks north, turn left, and you can smell that wonderful smell of fresh bread baking: just follow your nose and it will bring you right to the front door. 随着香味走（利用嗅觉找到什么东西）
My brother Bob borrowed the money to open his restaurant five years ago when the interest rate was so high, so he’s been paying through the nose ever since. 我哥哥在五年前借钱开他那个饭馆的时候正好利率非常高。所以，他从那时起就一直在大笔地还债。
Life is funny. When the famous Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was alive, nobody wanted to buy his pictures. But now rich people will pay through the nose for one, sometimes more than five million dollars.
13. to keep an ear to the ground | up to one’s ears
Every two weeks while the Congress is in session, I try to get back home to California to talk to people. This doesn’t give me much time to relax with my family, but I have to keep an ear to the ground and hear what voters are thinking about.
I try to keep an ear to the ground and what I hear these days is that most people think we spend too much money on building roads and not enough on our schools.
Half the people in my office are home sick, so I’m up to my ears! 我办公室里有一半的人有病请假，所以我简直忙得不可开交！
Gee, honey, you know I’d like to help you paint the kitchen tonight, but I’m up to my ears in paper work I had to bring home from the office.
The mayor says he didn’t know people on his staff were taking bribes. But my guess is he’s up to his ears in it. 市长说他不知道他手下的工作人员接受贿赂。可是，我猜想他完全是介入这件事的。
14. sweeten the pot | the cards are stacked against you
Miss Smith didn’t want the job until the company sweetened the pot by offering her a higher salary and the use of a company car.
They’ve built so many new office buildings here that they have trouble renting out all the space. So some landlords sweeten the pot; they offer a company six months free rent if it signs a three-year lease.
Last night I got into a poker game with these men I met in the hotel bar. And I lost a thousand dollars before I realized the cards were stacked against me. All I could do was pick up the money I had left and walk away.
I really wanted to try out for the basketball team when I was in college. But the cards were stacked against me: I’m only five feet six inches tall and everybody else was six-two or even taller.
15. to fly off the handle | to bark up the wrong tree
My wife spent all afternoon yesterday cooking a special dinner for our wedding anniversary. So she really flew off the handle when I came home three hours late.
Honey, please don’t fly off the handle – I had a little accident with the car, but it certainly wasn’t my fault.
If my brother-in-law hopes to borrow any more money from me, he will be barking up the wrong tree.
Hey man, if you think I was the guy who rubbed that bank today, you’re barking up the wrong tree! I was nowhere near the place.
16. right on the beam | to fly by the seat of his pants
Your school report is right on the beam: you followed the direction exactly and got all the facts down in the right order.
I though Mr. Claghorn’s speech is right on the beam last night! Just like what he says, we need to spend more money on educating our children. He makes a lot of sense to me.
When Jones started up business in a new town, he didn’t know anybody, so he had to fly by the seat of his pants.
Driving to a friend’s house last night I took the wrong turn off the main highway and got lost. I didn’t have a road map but I flew by the seat of my pants and after twenty minutes I found the street I was looking for.
17. to keep one’s shirt on | to lose one’s shirt
Keep your shirt on, Harry; we have plenty of time to catch the train.
Honey, keep your shirt on, please! I’m sorry, but the boss made me work late at the office.
Did you hear what happened to Joe? He’s lost his shirt, the poor guy – invested all his money in a fancy restaurant and it just went out of business.
Be careful of salesmen who call on the phone and offer to sell you land on the beach down in Florida. You can lose your shirt because the chances are the land is under the water at high tide.
18. a stuffed shirt | to give you the shirt off his back
My boss is a stuffed shirt: all he talks about is how important his ancestors are, how he was number one in his class at his university, and the wonderful things he thinks he’s done for your company.
I think I’ll vote for Jimmy Brown instead of the other guy James Leland Elegant the third. Jimmy isn’t a stuffed shirt like Elegant – he’s a friendly, informal guy like us ordinary people.
Of course Dad gets mad at me sometimes for no good reason. But if I ever need it, I know he would give me the shirt off his back.
Pete never says very much. But when he hears about somebody who’s sick in the hospital or lost his job, he’s always the first to put his hand in his pocket and bring out money to help. Yes, sir, he’s the kind of man who’d give you the shirt off his back.
19. to bail out | nose dive
Smith was lucky enough to bail out and quit the company just before it went bankrupt.
After his restaurant failed, Bill couldn’t pay back the money he had borrowed from the bank. He was afraid the bank would take the house he’d put up as security. But his dad bailed him out and paid the loan off for him.
Today the stock market took a nose dive and dropped 25 points.
Everybody thought this young actor would have a brilliant future after he starred in two pictures that made a lot of money. The he appeared in three films that nobody want to see, and his career took a nose dive – no producer wants him anymore.
20. up in arms | at arm’s length
All us students are up in arms at the news the school is raising our tuition ten percent. 当我们学生听到学校要提高百分之十的学费时，我们都火冒三丈。
No way am I going to vote for a bill to raise income tax again. The voters back home are already up in arms about how much he government takes out of their pay already and I have to run for re-election this fall.
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.（和某人保持一定距离）
Let me warn you about this Smith fellow. He seems like a nice, friendly guy. But it’s like wise to keep him at arm’s length. You get too friendly with him, and the first thing he’ll do is ask to borrow money from you.
21. to shake a leg | to pull one’s leg
Come on, shake a leg, son, or you’re going to be late for school.
Let’s shake a leg there, you guys! I got to get this truck unloaded and on the way back to the warehouse before dark.
My roommate said this girl had told him she wouldn’t mind going out with me. But when I invited her to a movie, I learned he was just pulling my leg. （开某人玩笑）
Hey, stop pulling my leg, will you! I don’t believe that girl really said she likes me and would like me to take her out.
Break a leg! 祝愿成功！
22. to twist someone’s arm | to charge someone an arm and a leg
I didn’t want to see that movie about Mozart, but my roommate twisted my arm. I’m glad he did – it was a great show. （给某人施加压力，迫使他做你要他做的事）
My son has been twisting my arm to let him take my car out on a date ever since he got his driver’s license. This weekend, I finally let him take it. And now it’s in the body shop for a thousand dollars of repairs: he had an accident on the way to pick up his girlfriend.
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!
Say, if you need a dentist, you might want to try my brother. He’s fresh out of dental school and trying to set up a practice. But he does good work, and he won’t charge you an arm and a leg for it like most other dentists.
23. to take candy from a baby | a piece of cake
Getting grandmother to loan me the money was as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Lousy told us that robbing this bank would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. But somebody told the police and they were waiting for us. We had no choice but to throw down our guns and surrender.
24. top gun | bottom line
Read this book by professor Winter – he’s a top gun in Shakespeare research.
Sorry, I don’t handle divorces myself, but if you really want to divorce your husband, I can give you the name of two of the top guns in New York when it comes to getting a good divorce settlement.
I hate to tell you this, but if we don't get more customers the next three months, the bottom line is that we'll get out of business.
Our new cook from Sichuan is bringing in a lot more people. And the bottome line is that last month we made a profit of fifteen thousand dollars.
25. just for laughs | to laugh up one's sleeve
Come on and get your jacket -- let's go out and have a couple of beers just for laughs. （做某件事纯属为了高兴。）
Just for laughs they tossed Mary in the swimming pool with all her clothes on. Then they found out she didn't knwo how to swim. （指做愚蠢的事，或有害的事。）
I really enjoyed that movie last night. It won't win any prizes, but it has two funny guys in it that are worth watching just for laughs.
We all laughing up our sleeves at the teacher when he was up at the blackboard explaining the math problem. He had a rip in the back of his paths and didn't know it. （偷偷地笑话某人，因为这个人有可笑的地方，而他本人还没有发现。）
We were all laughing up our sleeves at our brother when he sat down at the dinner table. He'd seen his girl off at the airport and had lipstick on his face and didn't know it.
26. a horse laugh | the last laugh
When this guy running for Congres told us how much money he'd save us taxpayers, we all gave him the horse laugh. We knew when he was in the state legislature he always voted for higher taxes.（表示不信任的嘲笑）
Harry thinks he's God's gift to women: that none of them can resist his charm. So we all gave him the horse laugh when he asked the new girl in class to go to a movie and she told him to get lost.
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. He's a famous brain surgeon and me, I'm selling used cars and barely make enough to live on. （最令人满意的笑，得意的笑）
27. a red letter day | red tape
When Ann came back from her long vacation, we gave her the red carpet treatment. 当安度了一个很长的假期后，我们像贵宾一样欢迎她回来。
It was a 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. （大喜的日子）
I'm lucky -- my birthday is a real red letter day. It's on December 31, New Year's eve and all over the world people are out celebrating it.
With all the red tape I ran into at city hall, it took me three months to get my business license. （官僚主义）
You can't believe hwo much red tape there is in getting a visa. You have to get a birth certificate and other personal papers and fill out a branch of complicated forms and have an interview. After that you wait and wait.
28. a black sheep | a white lie
Uncle Joe is the black sheep in the family. Instead of getting a job, all he dose is drink too much, gamble away any money he gets and chase after women.（一个给周围人带来耻辱的人）
We all though my youngest brother was the black sheep in our family. In fact he was in so much trouble he ran away to Australia. But he started a new life there, married a wonderful girl, and now he's a millionaire.
I told a white lie when I told Jennie her boyfriend was goodlooking. The truth is he's just about the ugliest man I've ever seen.
My mother and dad taught me never to tell a lie. So I feel guilty every time I tell even a white lie, although I do it just to make somebody feel better.
29. rain check | It never rains but it pours
Say, I'm sorry but we just sold the last TV set we had on sale. But I'll give you a rain check so you can still get the special price when we get in a fresh stock a couple weeks from now. （给予第二次机会）
I'd love to go out with you, Ben. I'm sorry I'm busy tonight, but I'd like a rain check. 本，我很愿意和你出去玩。但是，非常抱歉的是我今天晚上很忙。我们下回去玩好吗？
I really feel sorry for Mike. First his wife left him. Next he lost his job. Then somebody stole his car. Like they say, it never rains but it pours. （祸不单行）
Oh boy! You can't believe the trouble I had today. My alarm clock didn't go off, so I missed biology class. Then I lost my home work assignment for math. 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.
30. to stick to one's guns | shooting the breeze
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!（在日常生活中坚持原则，稳步前进，不屈服外界的压力。）
I have to admire the ladies who fifty years ago worked so hard to get women the right to vote. People laughed at them at first but they stuck to their guns and got the congress to pass the 19th Amendment back in 1920.
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. （在很轻松、很愉快的气氛下和朋友聊天）
At the staff meeting this morning the boss told us she wanted to see us at our desks busy working instead of spending so much time standing around shooting the breeze with each other.
31. green thumb | green light
I wish I had a green thumb like Mrs. Lee -- look at the beautiful roses in her yard.（某人在种花或种菜方面很有才能）
I guess I don't have much of a green thumb: every year I plant cabbage, beans and sweet corn in my backyard but all I ever get is a lot of weeds.
My boss liked my idea to open a branch office in Los Angeles and gave me the green light to go ahead.
The astronauts were in the space shuttle ready to go, but somebody saw one of their computers had a problem. It's fixed now, but Houston Control is checking it again before they give the green light to launch.
32. singing the blues | like a bolt out of the blue
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. （诉苦、抱怨）
Don't pay any attentioin to that guy! He's always singing the blues about how poor he is, but the truth is he has more bucks in the bank than the two of us put together.
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.（晴天霹雳、出乎意外、没料想到）
The announcement that the president of our university was quitting to go to another school hit like a bolt out of the blue. He's always said he liked it here so much he would stay until he retired.
33. as American as apple pie | hot potato
So many Asian restaurants have opened up in Washington that a writer on a daily paper here jokes that dim sum, Japanes sushi and Vietnamese spring rolls have become as American as apple pie.
Football and baseball are as American as apple pie as they were invented by Americans and played and watched everywhere in this country. Many people would glue to their TV sets whenever there are major competitions.
The question of whether to raise taxes to cut the budget deficit is a real hot potato for a lot of politicians.
If I were you, I'd drop that client like a hot potato; he's always suing somebody for something, but he usually loses and he doesn't pay his lawyer's bills.
34. to put all his eggs in one basket | to eat crow
If you want to play the stockmarket, it's smarter to divide your money and buy three or four different stocks instead of putting the whole amount into just one stock and putting all your eggs in one basket.
Going steady in high school with only one member of opposite sex is a mistake. Go out with several people -- don't put all your eggs in one basket.
That man running for mayor went around bragging he'd win the election by a big 50.000 majority. But he had to eat crow when the woman running against him won by more than 60,000 votes. （一个人把自己弄得很丢脸，因为他犯了一个很难堪的错误，而又不得不承认。）
Our neighbor had to eat crow yesterday. He's been telling us what a good tennis player he is. Well, he took my 12-year-old son out to play and the kid beat him three straight sets.
35. monkey business | to make a monkey out of somebody
The newspapers say there's a lot of monkey business going on at city hall, with officials getting money under the table from people who want the contract to build the new airport. （不道德或不合法的行为，往往是偷偷摸摸和具有欺骗性的行为，例如盗用公款等。）
I think there's some kind of monkey business going on in that house across the street. People going in and out all day long; maybe they're selling drugs or something.
My friend Pete made a monkey out of me the other day. He told me the party Saturday night was formal, so I wore a suit and tie. But everybody else there was wearing a tee-shirt and blue jeans. It sure made me feel like a fool.（把某人弄得好像一个傻瓜一样。）
Tome made a monkey out of himself by jumping up and down and yelling when his father wouldn't let him go to the movie.