美国习语天天记 American English Idioms American, 美国, Idioms, English

Sylvia_scj

     Smell a Rat

feel that something is wrong
       感到不对劲儿

A: How come the front door is open? Didn't you close it before we went shopping?
B: I'm sure I did. I can't understand it.
A: Frankly, I smell a rat.
B: Me, too. I'm convinced that something is definitely wrong here.
A: We'd better call the police.

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Knock Someone's Socks Off

enthuse and excite
狂热而激动

A: Hi, John. What's new?
B: Oh, nothing too much with me, but you ought to see Alfredo's new car. It'll knock your socks off!
A: So, he finally got that Italian sports car he's been dreaming about.
B: He sure did! When you see all the custom features that it has, you'll get so enthused and excited you won't know what to do!
A: Boy, I can hardly wait to go for a ride in it!

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Give Someone the Slip

make a getaway
逃跑

The police were chasing the thief through the streets of the city, but he managed to give them the slip. No wonder. There were so many people around that the thief managed to escape by getting lost in the crowds.

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Dressed to Kill

wear one's finest clothing
穿着某人最好的衣服

The reception for the new Swedish ambassador at the Jennison's was quite lavish. Naturally, everybody was dressed to kill. Since it was a formal occasion, everyone was dressed in their finest, most elegant clothes.

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Keep Under One's Hat

keep something a secret
保密

Although the contestants were most anxious to know who won the prizes in the panio competition, the judges kept the results under their hats. They kept the results a secret so that the formal announcements could be made in public at the awards ceremony.

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Go Fly a Kite

Go away!
走开!

For the past three hours Jerry had been trying to convince Linda to go to the art exhibition with him. She had been refusing all along and finally in desperation she told him, "Go fly a kite!" Jerry didn't like to be told to go away in such a forceful manner. Nevertheless, he finally stopped trying to get Linda to attend the exhibition.

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Turn Someone Off

disgust someone
使某人感到厌烦

How was your date with Marty last night?
Well, it started off OK, but he really turned me off when we went for a snack after the movies.
Did he say or do something to annoy you?
Frankly, he disgusted me when he tried to talk with his mouth full.
I don't blame you. That would have really bothered me too.

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Jump the Gun

to be hasty
性急的;匆匆的

Denise was planning on telling her grandparents that the doctor said she was going to have twins, but when her dad found out he jumped the gun and told them before Denise could say a word. He was so excited that he became hasty and revealed the news before Denise had a chance to tell them.

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Cough Up

give unwillingly
不情愿地给予

Say, Greg. Did you finally get that computer that you wanted so much?
Not yet. I needed to raise a couple of hundred dollars more.
Is it going to take you a while to raise the money?
It would have taken me forever, but dad said he'd cough up the money I need since I'm going to be using the computer for my school work.
Maybe it was difficult for your dad to give you the money - but then, he knows that it's for a good cause.

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Hit the Hay

go to bed
去睡觉

A: Listen, Kim. We're going to be really busy with moving tomorrow, and we've got to get an early start.
B: I guess you're right. We'll need all the rest we can get.
A: What do you say we hit the hay now?
B: Agreed. Let's go to bed and get a good night's sleep. It's going to be a long day.

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Bend Over Backwards

try very hard
竭尽全力

When Joan first started teaching she didn't like the job very much. She thought it's too hard to be a good teacher. It turned out that she could be a great teacher and loved by all her pupils because she bent over backwards to do the teaching job.

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Bite the Dust

go down in defeat
一败涂地; 以失败告终

Andy did exceptionally well in all of the track events, but he bit the dust in the high jump competition. Much to the disappointment of his fans, he went down in defeat, losing to a competitor from the visiting team.

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Shoot the Breeze

chat informally
    闲聊

A: What are you going to be doing this afternoon?
B: Oh, I don't have anything in particular in mind.
A: Why don't you come over to my place? We can listen to some records and shoot the breeze.
B: That sounds OK to me. I'd like to relax listening to music and visit and chat informally until my folks get back from shopping.

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On Ice

搁置，暂缓

A: We've been working on this sales report for some time now. Don't you think we should take a break for some dinner?
B: Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry. Let's put the report on ice awhile and grab a bite to eat.
A: That's fine. I'd be happy to stop working on it and set it aside until we get some food.
B: Great! Let's lock up and go.

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Feed Someone a Line

deceive someone
欺骗某人

Mr. Jones had been telling Louise how efficient she was and how much he admired her work at the office. He had promised her a promotion in the near future, but she soon discovered that he was feeding her a line when he passed her by and gave the promotion to someone less capable. Louise was acutely disappointed to find out that Mr. Jones was not telling her the truth, and that he was deceiving her.

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Spill the Beans

reveal a secret
泄密,说漏嘴

A: Did you know that Harry was going to take Kathy on a Caribbean cruise?
B: Yes, I did. He was planning on surprising her with the tickets for their anniversary, but someone spilled the beans.
A: What a shame! That was supposed to have been a surprise.
B: Yes, it's too bad that someone told her about the trip beforehand and ruined Harry's surprise.
A: That's OK. Her enthusiasm was not dampened in the least!

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Sell Someone Short

underestimate someone
低估某人；轻视某人

Just because Tom does not say very much is no reason to sell him short. Actually, he's a profound thinker and a most talented writer. People tend to underestimate him and not give him the credit he deserves because they think he's shy.

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Leave Someone High and Dry

abandon someone
抛弃某人；丢下某人不管

A: Say, Jill. I thought that John was going to help you out.
B: So did I. But he left me high and dry.
A: Where did he go?
B: Well, he got a call from some of his gals at work to go bowling, and he left me alone to do all this work without any help at all!

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Sell Someone Down the River

betray someone
背叛某人

A: I heard that poor Jud landed up in jail.
B: Yeah. His so-called girlfriend sold him down the river and claimed the reward on him.
A: I can't understand that. I thought she was devoted to him.
B: She couldn't have been very devoted to him if she betrayed him and informed the police about his hiding place.
A: That just goes to show you what people will do for money.

Sylvia_scj

发现现在的速度很正常啦。呵呵。
不辛苦，，，，