英語中的俚語、口語或“順口溜”很多，它們的意義，往往與字面意義不同，有時(shí)
也不合文法的結(jié)構(gòu)，所以正確了解和靈活使用，是學(xué)習(xí)英語者的難題之一。下面即是常
見的一些，供讀者參考。
1. to be (或 become) fed up with (someone 或 something)： 意思是對(duì)某人或
某事感到討厭或厭倦（to get tired of; to be disgusted or to get sick of);
例如： I am fed up with his constant complaints.（他常常的抱怨令我厭煩。
）
We all became fed up with his long speech.（他的長(zhǎng)篇演說我們都覺得討厭。
）
The husband has been fed up with his wife‘s nagging.（老公對(duì)老婆的嘮叨感
到厭煩。）
如果只用「to be fed up」也可以：
I will not wait for her; I am fed up. (我不想再等她了；我厭了。)
(動(dòng)詞時(shí)態(tài)是：feed, fed, fed) 可見這句俚語似乎有「被動(dòng)味道」，如果用 fee
d，意思又不同了。
例如： The mother will feed the baby with milk.（母親喂嬰兒牛奶。) (fee
d 是及物動(dòng)詞)
The cattle feed on grass (牛以草為生。)（feed 是不及物動(dòng)詞）
但是 The cattle were fed with the grass by the farmer.（農(nóng)夫用草喂牛。）
(cattle 是復(fù)合名詞，意為復(fù)數(shù));
可以說： I am fed up with him. (我討厭他)
(但不能說：I feed up with him.）
2. to be in a rut：是指對(duì)每天同樣的工作或是墨守成規(guī)一成不變的習(xí)慣，感到
單調(diào)乏味
(to be tired of routine job; nothing new or excited) (rut 這個(gè)字本意是慣
例或老套）。
例如： He has not been promoted for 20 years; he must be in a rut.（他廿
年未獲升級(jí)，一定感到單調(diào)枯燥。)
After thirty years of the same job, he feels he is in a rut.（干了卅年同
樣的工作，他覺得枯燥乏味。） 所以要放棄單調(diào)枯燥的生活方式，就是 to get out o
f the rut.
例如： If you hate your old job, you need to get out of the rut.（假如你
不喜歡你的老工作，你就要走出乏味的日子。）
3. to cut the cord: 意思是父母要讓兒女離家過著獨(dú)立自主的生活
(let your children leave home and become independent) (只用於父母與兒女
間的關(guān)系);
例如： When your children are old enough to take care of themselves, yo
u have to cut the cord.（當(dāng)你的孩子長(zhǎng)大可以照顧他們自己時(shí)，你就應(yīng)該讓他們自力
更生。）(即切斷依賴父母的臍帶。)
It is very difficult for many Chinese parents to cut the cord with thei
r children.（許多中國父母很難讓兒女完全獨(dú)立自主。） (注：這里的 cord，是指 u
mbilical cord 即臍帶。）
4. to start from square one: 意思是上次沒有成功，必須回到起點(diǎn)從頭做起
(something did not succeed in the first place, have to start over again
） (這與 to be back to square one 意義相同);
例如： He has to start from square one because his computer destroyed (
crashed) his homework. (由於電腦搞壞了他的作業(yè)，他必須從頭做起。)
The search committee for the new college president will have to start f
rom square one.（選拔新校長(zhǎng)委員會(huì)上次沒有成功，現(xiàn)在又要從頭做起。)
We are back to square one. (我們又從頭做起。)
5. to paint (someone) a picture：意思是解釋某種情況，使人更加明白。
(to explain the situation; to make things more clear);
例如： In order for you to understand better, I will paint you a pictur
e. (為了使你更能明白，我愿加以解釋。)
He will try to paint us a picture when he gives a speech.（他演講時(shí)，盡
量想法使我們明白。)
When I write an article for a newspaper, I will paint my readers a clea
r picture.（當(dāng)我為報(bào)紙寫文章時(shí)，我盡量讓我的讀者充分了解。)
但是 to paint a picture，意思又有不同了。
例如： The artist will paint a picture of me.（畫家為我畫像。)
The artist painted a picture for his interior decoration.（畫家為了他的
室內(nèi)布置而畫了一幅畫。）
6. to take a (或 its) toll：意思是造成損失或有不良的影響
(to have bad effect);
例如： His hard work will eventually take its toll on his health. (他的
辛勞工作，最後對(duì)他身體會(huì)造成傷害。)
Inflation has taken its toll everywhere.（通貨膨脹對(duì)各地都有不良影響。）
The storm took a heavy toll. (暴風(fēng)造成重大損失。)
The severe earthquake may have taken its toll on the economy of Taiwan.
(或 Taiwan‘s economy) (強(qiáng)烈地震對(duì)臺(tái)灣的經(jīng)濟(jì)造成損失。)
The boss eliminated several senior positions to save money；it took a p
ersonal toll on him.（老板為了省錢刪除了幾個(gè)資深職位，對(duì)他個(gè)人倒有不良影響。
）
(注：to take its toll 較為常用)
7. to have the floor：指在開會(huì)時(shí)取得發(fā)言權(quán)，有人發(fā)言時(shí)，其他與會(huì)者應(yīng)該注
意聽。
(Everybody at the meeting should keep quiet and listen carefully when s
omeone speaks to the audience.)（floor 本意是全體議員或全體與會(huì)者。)
例如： Will you mind letting Miss Wang have the floor？ (王小姐發(fā)言時(shí)，
請(qǐng)大家安靜注意聽好嗎？)
Everybody should be able to have the floor during the meeting. (開會(huì)時(shí)，
每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該有發(fā)言權(quán)。)
Let Mr. Chen have the floor for ten minutes. (讓陳先生發(fā)言十分鐘，大家注
意聽。)
He was given the floor by the chairperson. (主席讓他發(fā)言。)
8. to hold water：意思是站得住腳，禁得起考驗(yàn)或有足夠的證據(jù)可證明一件事的
可靠性
（to have evidence to prove something) (反之，「hold no water」就是沒有
足夠的證據(jù)，站不住腳。)
例如： I think his statement does not hold water.
（我想他的聲明是站不住腳的）
也就是： There is no enough evidence to prove what he has said.
(可見「hold no water」=「does not hold water」) His theory holds water.
（他的理論是有足夠證明的）
Her constant excuses for being tardy holds no water.（或 does not hold
water)
(她時(shí)常的遲到藉口，沒有足夠的理由。)
The U. S. bombing excuse did not hold water with China.
（美國轟炸理由不足取信中國）也就是：
China feels that the reason given by the U.S. for bombing the Chinese e
mbassy does not hold water. 所以： The argument does not hold wate r= The ar
gument holds no water. (這爭(zhēng)吵是沒有足夠的理由)
9. to tighten (one‘s) belt：意思是束緊褲帶，省吃儉用或縮緊預(yù)算（to cut
the budget）
例如： The government has to tighten its belt due to a large deficit. (
由於龐大的赤字，政府必須縮緊預(yù)算。)
He tried to tighten his belt after he lost his job. (他失業(yè)後，想辦法省
吃儉用。)
但也可指真正的束緊腰帶： Mrs. Chen has tightened her belt because she l
ost twenty pounds. (陳太太縮緊了腰帶因?yàn)樗萘素グ?
10. to put (one‘s) best foot forward: 意思是全力以赴，給人以盡可能好的印
象，包括禮貌、舉止、說話、外表等等
(to get first good impression including manners, speech, appearance, et
c.)。
例如： When you go for a job interview, put your best foot forward.
（當(dāng)你求職面試時(shí)，首先要盡量給人良好的印象。)
We all have to put our best foot on this project.
（我們對(duì)這個(gè)計(jì)畫要做得好才能給別人一個(gè)好印象。)
(注：通常不用復(fù)數(shù) feet，因?yàn)橥瑫r(shí)伸出兩只腳，一定會(huì)跌倒，即使主詞是多數(shù)，
也是如此。)
11. to miss a trick: 意思是不了解全部實(shí)況或不能細(xì)心察看
(not to figure out a situation； don‘t know everything that is going on
；not very perceptive of every situation.)
(反之，does not miss a trick 就是對(duì)全部情況非常了解。)
例如： He states emphatically that he never seems to miss a trick with
his staff.
（他強(qiáng)調(diào)他對(duì)下屬是明察秋毫，無所不知。)
We can not pull the wool over his eyes because he does not miss a trick
.
（我們瞞不過他，因?yàn)樗麑?duì)所有的事，都很清楚。)
Parents should not miss a trick regarding what their children are doing
.
(父母對(duì)兒女所做所為，應(yīng)該細(xì)心察看，不可忽略。) He was fired because he
missed all the tricks.（由於他對(duì)事不能細(xì)心觀察而被解雇。) (有人認(rèn)為：如果說一
個(gè)人十分「精明」，事事「明察秋毫」，似乎有點(diǎn)「spy」的味道，所以不是恭維話，讀
者以為然否？)
12. to nickel and dime (someone)：意思是一點(diǎn)一滴的小事或微不足道的服務(wù)，
都要收費(fèi)
（to charge someone for every little thing or service）(既不是詐騙也非違
法。)
例如： Sometimes the lawyer will nickel and dime you for every service
he (she) provides.
（有時(shí)律師為了微不足道的服務(wù)也要向你收費(fèi)。)
Many people were nickeled and dimed by their lawyers. The phone company
is continually trying to nickel and dime us.
(電話公司為了瑣屑細(xì)節(jié)的服務(wù)，不停地向我們要每一個(gè)銅板。)
(注：本來 nickel 是五分錢，dime 是一毛錢，現(xiàn)在當(dāng)做動(dòng)詞用，過去式和過去分
詞是：nickeled, nickeled; dimed, dimed）
13. to throw (one‘s) weight behind（someone or something)：意思是支持某
人或某事
（to support someone or something）例如： The governor of Maryland thre
w his weight behind Mr. Gore for the presidential election.（馬里蘭州長(zhǎng)支持高
爾先生競(jìng)選總統(tǒng)）
He has thrown his weight behind the foreign policy toward China.
（他支持對(duì)中國的外交政策。） 但是，to throw (one‘s) weight around 又有仗
勢(shì)欺人，耀武揚(yáng)威或炫耀自己的重要性，想要去影響別人和情況之意。
例如： He always tries to throw his weight around.（他老覺得自己了不起，
想要影響別人。)
Mr. Lin is trying to throw his weight around in his office.（林想影響辦
公室里所有的人。)
He throws his weight around her.（他想控制她）
14. to put teeth in (或 into) (something)：意思是說話時(shí)，帶著慎重其事的
語氣，使能有效的實(shí)施（fo be very firm in speaking）
例如： If you tell your children to do something, be sure to put some t
eeth in your decision.
（假如你要孩子做事，必須表明你認(rèn)真肯定的決定。)
When you become a manager, you need to put teeth in（into） the decisio
n-making process.
（當(dāng)你是總經(jīng)理時(shí)，你對(duì)決定事物，必須以肯定語氣表達(dá)，才能有效實(shí)施。)
Put some teeth in your position when you speak to the teen-agers.
（對(duì)青少年說話時(shí)，必須表明你認(rèn)真的立場(chǎng)。) I have to put teeth in my con
viction that capital punishment is wrong.（我堅(jiān)信我的立場(chǎng)，死刑是錯(cuò)誤的)
(注：put teeth in 的後面多半跟 decision, position, stand, conviction 等
單字，尤其 decision 最常用。)
15. to have a heart-to-heart talk：意思是誠懇的談?wù)?br> （fo discuss something sincerely）
例如： Let‘s talk heart-to-heart about heart problem.（讓我們誠懇地討論
有關(guān)心臟問題）
Let‘s have a heart-to-heart talk about this topic.
（讓我們誠懇地討論這個(gè)議題）
I have had a heart-to-heart talk（或 conversation）with my department c
hairperson.
(我與系主任有個(gè)真誠坦率的交談）(形容詞用)
We had a nice heart-to-heart.（我們有個(gè)傾心的交談) (當(dāng)名詞用)
(所以heart-to-heart 可當(dāng)名詞或形容詞）
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learning to do.
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learning to live together.
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