常用美國習語集錦
Sitting duck 容易被忽悠的人
"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 millionaire overnight, Joe will hand over his Money. And, of course, he'll never see it again."
"我的朋友喬伊對任何說是能讓他很快發財的騙局都相信.只要那些滔滔不絕的推銷員向他保證他們能夠一夜間使他成爲百萬富翁,不管是誰,他都會把錢交給他們.當然,這些錢他是再也見不到了."
It takes two to tango 一個巴掌拍不響
A conflict is not the fault of just one person or the other; they are often both to blame, because it takes two to tango.
矛盾不能只歸咎於一方,你們兩個人都有錯,因爲一個巴掌拍不響嘛.
Toe the line: 聽從命令
The chairman warned the senator to toe the party line while running for the governor.
議長告誡議員們在競選州長時要嚴守該黨的路線.
Dog and pony show 盛大表演
My company asked me to do a dog-and-pony show about the new product in the exhibition next month.
公司讓我下個月在博覽會上做一個新產品的展示.
a busman's holiday 節假日照常上班
My father spent a busman's holiday working in his office.
爸爸的假日"有名無實",整個假期他都呆在辦公室.
To twist someone's arm 指給某人施加壓力,強迫
I didn't want see that movie about Mozart, but my roommate twisted my arm. I'm glad he did - it was a great show."
我本來不想去看那個有關莫扎特的電影的.可是,我同房間的同學硬逼着要我去.不過,看了電影后我倒很高興,因爲那個電影太好了.
give sb. the hook 炒某人魷魚
Our new secretary didn't last long. She always came to work late and left early, and she didn't learn to use the word processor. So after six weeks the boss had to give her the hook.
我們的祕書沒有幹多久.她總是遲到早退,而且還不學着用電腦.所以,她幹了六個星期後,老闆不得不解僱了她.
belly laugh 捧腹大笑
"Say, did you hear Johnny Carson last night? It's hard to be funny five nights a week, but last night was one of his best shows in a long time. He got some great belly laughs trading jokes with his guest star, Bob Hope."
喂,你昨晚看了Johnny Carson的節目沒有?要做到一星期五天都很滑稽是不容易的.但是,昨晚的節目是他很久以來最好的一次.他和他請來的著名演員Bob Hope一起講笑話,好幾次引得大家捧腹大笑.
basket case 毫無能力和希望的情景
I'm really worried--our company is losing so much money these days that if things don't get better in the next two months we'll be a basket case and have to go out of business.
我真是非常擔心,我們公司這些日子虧損了那麼多錢,要是在今後兩個月裏情況沒有好轉的話,我們就徹底沒有希望,只好倒閉了.
