书城外语英语实用口语
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第6章 诗歌、俚语(2)

in a pig's eye 胡说,废话

keep one's eyes peeled 留心,警惕

see eye?to?eye 看法一致

2.Ear耳朵

be all ears 聚精会神地听,洗耳恭听

bend someone ear 与某人喋喋不休

blow it out one's ear 胡说八道

chew someone's ear off 对某人喋喋不休

have an ear for music 有音乐方面的天赋

fall on deaf ears 和没有心思的人说话;没被理睬

good ear 辨别声音

keep one's ear to the ground 注意听

perk up one's ear 引起注意,竖起耳朵

play by ear 听过歌曲后,不看乐谱而凭记忆演奏

put a bug in someone's ear 事先给某人暗示;警告某人

talk someone's ear off 因喋喋不休而惹怒某人

3.Nose鼻子

as plain as the nose on one's face 一目了然,显而易见

keep one's nose to the grindstone 埋头苦干,勤奋工作

It's on skin off my nose 与我毫无关系

take a nose dive 突然衰弱,突然变弱

have a nose for finding something 善于发现某事物

nose out 以微弱的优势打败对手,险胜

get one's nose in the air 媚上傲下的,自负的

pay through the nose 花很多钱

poke one's nose in someone's business 干预某人的事物,管闲事

right under one's nose 显而易见的,一目了然

turn one's nose up at someone or something 拒绝某人或某事

4.Mouth嘴

bad?mouth someone 说某人坏说,散布流言蜚语

big?mouth 多嘴的人,喋喋不休的人

down in the mouth 神情沮丧,垂头丧气

live hand?to?mouth 勉强糊口,勉强维持生活

mouth off 傲慢无礼,顶嘴

run off at the mouth 滔滔不绝地谈论,没完没了

shoot off one's mouth 随便乱说,信口开河

5.Hand手

at hand 紧迫地,即将到来

give someone a hand 帮助某人

hand it to someone 佩服某人

hands down 无疑,当然

know something like the back of one's 对某事物了如指掌

an old hand at something 做某事的老手,熟手

on hand 在手头,现有

out of hand 失去控制,无法控制

the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing 互不通气

try one's hand at something 试试身手

6.Foot脚

get back on one's feet 从失败中重新站起来

get cold feet 在最后时刻失去勇气,临阵畏缩

foot the bill 付账,买单

get a foot in the door 迈向目标的第一步

get one's feet wet 逐渐熟悉情况

hotfoot it 急匆匆地

one foot in the grave 一只脚已经踏入坟墓,行将就木

put one's foot down 禁止,阻止

pussy?foot around 谨言慎行,拐弯抹角

quick on one's own two feet 很快想出办法

be swept off one's feet 被诱惑,被迷住

stand on one's own two feet 独立自主

throw oneself at someone's 完全屈服于某人,完全拜倒在某人脚下

get under one's feet 阻碍某人,妨碍某人

get off on the wrong foot (朋友之间)刚开始时关系不好

三、俚语故事Slang Story

1.A Piece of Cake 小菜一碟

I knew little about English when I first came to America, so everyday I went to a language school to learn English. One day during the break I asked one of my classmates a question which I didn't understand. Then I thanked her for it , and she said,“You are welcome! It's a piece of cake!”I thought to myself,America is really a society for money in which everything is done for pay, so I asked her,“I hadn't taken any pieces of cake with me today ,what about a piece of biscuit?”

She showed a puzzled expression first, then she smiled ,knowing that she hadn't got her words across, she said,“A piece of cake”means“No prob?lem”, and it's just a trifle thing. On hearing that, I came to learn that“a piece of cake”not only means a piece of cake, but also means things that is very easy.

我刚到美国时,不太懂英语。于是我每天都到一所语言学校去学英语。一天在课间的时候,有个问题我不太懂,于是就问我的一个同学。她告诉了我答案,我向她道谢,她回答道:“没关系!It's a piece of cake!”我心里在想,美国真的是一个金钱社会,做什么事情都要报酬。于是我说:“我今天没有带蛋糕,来片饼干行吗?”

听到我的回答,她看起来很迷惑,然后她笑了,明白我没有听懂她的话。她说:“a piece of cake”的意思是“没关系”,这只是一件小事情。听到她的话,我明白了“a piece of cake”不仅指的是一小块蛋糕,还指一件很容易做的事情。

2.BBQ 烧烤

It happened when I just came to America. One day I went to dine in a fast?food restaurant and I saw there was a kind of BBQ chicken sandwich in the menu on the wall. I thought I had never tried that kind of sandwich when I was in my home country. Therefore, I told the attendant that I wanted a BBQ chicken sandwich. Unexpectedly,she could not understand what I meant.

Then I repeated what I said, but she was still at a loss. Finally I pointed to the menu on the wall and said,“Isn't that BBQ chicken sandwich?”After she saw the menu, she laughed and told me that“BBQ”should be pro?nounced as“Bar?Be?Cue”. On hearing that, I suddenly realized what it was. It turns out that“BBQ”is the abbreviation of“barbecue”, which means food, especially pieces of meat, roasted over an open fire.

故事发生在我刚到美国的时候,一天,我去一家快餐店用餐,看到墙上有一种BBQ鸡肉三明治。我心想这种口味在国内从未吃过,就对店员说我要一个BBQ鸡肉三明治,没想到她竟然听不懂。

我又重复了一遍,可她还是不懂。我就指着墙上的菜单说:“那不是BBQ鸡肉三明治吗?”她看了之后就大笑起来,并告诉我“BBQ”的发音应该是“Bar?Be?Cue”,这下我突然明白了。原来BBQ是“barbecue”的缩写,指食物,尤其是指烧烤的意思。

3.Big Mouth 喋喋不休的人,随便乱说的人

I am a nurse. I was lucky to work at an old people's home when I first came to America. As my English was poor, my aim at that time was to do more but speak less. One day I gave an old lady, Linda, her medicine. Linda was over 90 years old suffering from aged dementia. I tried several times, but Linda refused to open her mouth. Feeling anxious, I said without think?ing.

“Linda, open your big mouth.”Unexpectedly, Mrs. Linda got angry and shouted,“You have a big mouth. Leave me alone!”I was dumb trucked and did not know where my mistake laid.

Later on a few pointers from others made it clear to me that“big mouth”in American slang refers to a person who talks too much and spreads secrets around. No wonder Mrs. Linda got angry when she heard what I said. Actual?ly, I should have said:“Open our mouth wide”.