令人迷糊的常用英文字眼 美国政府, government, 专有名词, 常用英文, 儿童

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在美国有许多常用的字眼，往往使学习英语的中国人感到不解。在此，举一些例子供读者参考。



　　1. Head Start




　　如果这两个字开头的字母是大写，则连在一起是一个专有名词，指的是美国政府为贫穷或弱智的儿童设立的一种训练机构，帮助他们，希望他们在进小学之前能赶上教学进度。也就是：U.S. government tries to give extra - help for those underprivileged children before entering first grade. (underprivileged 比 poor 更委婉些)



　　例如： Many poor parents send their children to Head Start.



　　但是如果head start的字母是小写，那么就是普通名词了，是指比別人早着手，或领先、 有利，即：advance start or advantage



　　例如：In order to give his son a head start, the father decided to send him to a private kindergarten. (为了让他的儿子有好的开始，他决定把儿子送到私立幼儿园去。)



　　To know more colloquial expressions is a head start in learning English. (了解更多的俗语对学习英语有好处。)




　2. blue blood



　　是指有钱人或出身富家的人 (rich or wealthy people)



　　例如：He has blue blood.或He is blue blooded (person).



　　Mr. Lin comes from a blue blooded family. (林先生出身豪门。)



　　Some people do not want to admit that they have blue blood. (有些人不愿承认自己是富家出身。)



　　Many blue blooded children attend this private school. (许多有钱人家的孩子就读这所私立学校。)

kobe

3. bed of roses



　　意思是称心如意的境遇;美好、理想的"安乐窝"(everything seems to be wonderful)



　　例如：Life is not always a bed of roses. (生活未必都是称心如意的。)



　　Young people think that marriage will be a bed of roses. (年轻人都认为婚姻是美好的。)




4. from soup to nuts



　　意思是从头到尾，自始至终;或是一应俱全，完整详尽(多半是指物品方面)。



　　例如：This store sells everything from soup to nuts. (这家商店出售的货品一应俱全。)



　　My office is supplied from soup to nuts. (我办公室里的用品十分齐全。)



　　但是如果指知识丰富的话，则不用这个词，而是通常用 from A to Z来表达，。



　　例如：Mr. Greenspan knows economics from A to Z. (格林斯潘先生在经济方面的知识非常丰富。)




　5. real blast



　　blast 本来是指"一阵狂风"。但在口语中则是指欢乐，或玩得愉快，很尽兴 (have a good time; usually refers to a party or gathering.)



　　例如：Miss Su had a (real) blast at the party. (苏小姐在派对上玩得很痛快。)



　　I hope our get-together will be a (real) blast. (我希望我们相聚的时光是愉快的。)



　　注：blast 前面用 real 形容，是起到加强语气的作用。

kobe

6. off-limits



　　意思是禁止入內;限制进出或不准使用，也就是关闭 (closed or not available)例如：The library will be off-limits to the public until re-carpeting project is completed. (新地毯铺好之前，图书馆闭馆。)



　　The teachers have the use of a john that is off-limits to students.(学生不得使用教师厕所。) (john小写的时候才是指厕所。) 或 This bathroom is off-limits to students.

　　7. next of kin




　　是指家人或者近亲(closest relatives or anyone in the family)。



　　在美国，所谓"亲人"也是依每个人的不同情況而定的，可能是夫妇、父母、儿女，或是叔叔婶婶、表兄弟姐妹。



　　例如：If a person has a serious car accident, his or her next of kin will be notified. (如果遭遇严重车祸，当事人的亲属就会接到通知。)



　　At the funeral all next of kin were in attendance. (所有的亲属都参加了葬礼。)



　　The doctor should discuss the prognosis candidly with the next of kin. (医生应该把诊断结果坦白地告知病人家属。)



　　All his property will eventually go to his next of kin. (他的所有财产最终都给了他的亲人。)



　　如果"kin"单独使用，用作家属或亲属的总称，则通常后面不加 s。



　　例如：All my kin attended the family get-together. (我们全家集聚一堂。)

kobe

8. real bomb



　　在口语里是指在公众场所或舞台上表演失败或表现欠佳。通常与 real 用在一起。



　　例如：The show was a real bomb, so I cut out early. (这个剧很糟糕，所以我提前退场了。) (cut out = leave)



　　如果 bomb 作名词用，意思就是炸弹;作动词，则是轰炸，或失败、极坏的意思。(very bad) 例如： A U.S. fighter dropped a bomb over Iraq. (一架美国轰炸机往伊拉克扔了一颗炸弹) (作名词)= A U.S. fighter bombed Iraq. (作动词)



　　The play has bombed. (这场戏演砸了)



　　值得注意的是："real bomb"有時也指"真正的炸弹"。例如：



　　The police found a real bomb in the building. (警察在建筑物中发现了一颗真炸弹)

小陶子

At the wedding all next of kin were in attendance. newly couple got their blessing.