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美国职业发展

美国实用英语生活疑难词汇大全 (7)

作者: JC, 更新日期: 2013-10-07
a flash in the pan: 在美国口语是昙花一现的意思。这个说法的历史来源最早是从火枪来的。当时的火枪有一个小火药池。开枪的时候没有射出去,火花在火药池上闪烁了一下,这个叫做a flash in the pan. 这个说法17世纪就有了. 用英文通俗解释一下就是, something that happens only once or for a short time and will not be repeated.

flying by the seat of his pants: 就是凭感觉试试的意思. 这个说法源自1930年代美国航空史上,Douglas Corrigan驾驶飞机从美国飞到爱尔兰的经历. 当时他有提议想做横跨大西洋的飞行,但被上司否定了。于是他假借说要从纽约飞到加州,但实际上却是从美国飞到了爱尔兰。他的借口是飞机的罗盘失灵,所以导致他错误的向东飞到了爱尔兰。就此,他得到了"flying by the seat of his pants"的称号. 也就是见机行事,而不是事先都想好了的说法。

pick up line: 用于搭讪的一些俏皮话. 就是guys用来pickup girls的一些话. 英文的意思就是a conversation starter where the speaker tries to interest someone for romance or dating. pickup line的例子: "If I could rearange the alphabet, I would put U and I together".

pickup artist,就是指的那种精于搭讪,吸引女孩子的人。

Have a chip on one's shoulder: 这个词组直译是肩膀上有一片木屑的意思. 这成语来自十九世纪初的美国。当时一般家庭都要伐木为薪,后院自然不乏木屑。年轻人要打架,往往捡一片木屑放在自己肩上,叫对方有胆就把那片木屑拂去。所以,have a chip on one's shoulder就是准备随时吵嘴打架的样子. 或者说,是愤愤不平的意思.

give somebody the boot: 解聘的意思, to stop employing someone. 比如说, Mason continued in his farewell letter to highlight some of the reasons the board gave him the boot.

walk the plank: 在工作职场中就是让某人走人,解雇某人的意思。这个说法直译是走跳板的意思。来源于十七世纪前后海盗处死俘虏的一种方法: 缚手蒙眼,使其在舷外跳板上行走而落水淹死. 例句: the board forced the CEO to walk the plank.

pushover: 这个美国俚语很形象,就是一旦被push, 就over to the other end了。中文的意思就是墙头草,易被劝服的人. 比如说, he is a tough negotiator and definitely not a pushover.

bootlegged version: 盗版的意思. 反义词是legit. Bootleg这个词来源于19世纪末的时候,走私烈酒的人将酒瓶藏在靴子的鞋帮里.

living vicariously through someone else: 通过他人生活经验而间接体验感受的意思. Vicarious是从拉丁语vicarius来的,这个字的词头是vica, 和vice一样, 是副手,替代者, 意思就是substituted. 比如,某人想上大学但当时没有机会上大学,后来儿子上大学了。于是, he finds comfort in living vicariously through his son, who attends college.

does not pan out: 没成功的意思. 这个词来源于美国加州淘金热时代,当时人们用平底锅(pan)来淘金,去掉渣子和小石子,找到金块. 如果找到了金块,就叫 panned out.

put 2 and 2 together: 就是琢磨出来答案的意思. 英文就是figured it out. 这个说法来源于put two and two together and make four,也就是说像figure out二加二等于四一样,能够figure out出来问题的答案. 例句: I didn't tell her George had left, but she noticed his car was gone and put two and two together.

Comments (1)

1. JC 2013-10-07 21:47
pay it forward: 和pay it back相反. paying it forward就是受了某人恩惠后, 不直接汇报施恩的人,而是向他人也伸出友善的手. 这样相当于爱心预支,将爱传出去. 例句: Johnny helped the homeless man around the corner from his apartment with a fresh meal and a few dollars. Without any strings attached to this gesture of kindness, Johnny simply asked the man to pay it forward.
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