常用美国习语集锦
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."
"我的朋友乔伊对任何说是能让他很快发财的骗局都相信.只要那些滔滔不绝的推销员向他保证他们能够一夜间使他成为百万富翁,不管是谁,他都会把钱交给他们.当然,这些钱他是再也见不到了."
It takes two to tango 一个巴掌拍不响
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.
矛盾不能只归咎于一方,你们两个人都有错,因为一个巴掌拍不响嘛.
Toe the line: 听从命令
The chairman warned the senator to toe the party line while running for the governor.
议长告诫议员们在竞选州长时要严守该党的路线.
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.
公司让我下个月在博览会上做一个新产品的展示.
a busman's holiday 节假日照常上班
My father spent a busman's holiday working in his office.
爸爸的假日"有名无实",整个假期他都呆在办公室.
To twist someone's arm 指给某人施加压力,强迫
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."
我本来不想去看那个有关莫扎特的电影的.可是,我同房间的同学硬逼着要我去.不过,看了电影后我倒很高兴,因为那个电影太好了.
give sb. the hook 炒某人鱿鱼
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.
我们的秘书没有干多久.她总是迟到早退,而且还不学着用电脑.所以,她干了六个星期后,老板不得不解雇了她.
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的节目没有?要做到一星期五天都很滑稽是不容易的.但是,昨晚的节目是他很久以来最好的一次.他和他请来的著名演员Bob Hope一起讲笑话,好几次引得大家捧腹大笑.
basket case 毫无能力和希望的情景
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.
我真是非常担心,我们公司这些日子亏损了那么多钱,要是在今后两个月里情况没有好转的话,我们就彻底没有希望,只好倒闭了.
