加拿大美康

英语中的俚语、口语或“顺口溜”很多，它们的意义，往往与字面意义不同，有时也不合文法的结构，所以正确了解和灵活使用，是学习英语者的难题之一。下面即是常见的一些，供读者参考。

1. to be (或 become) fed up with (someone 或 something)： 意思是对某人或某事感到讨厌或厌倦（to get tired of; to be disgusted or to get sick of);
例如： I am fed up with his constant complaints.（他常常的抱怨令我厌烦。）
We all became fed up with his long speech.（他的长篇演说我们都觉得讨厌。）
The husband has been fed up with his wife's nagging.（老公对老婆的唠叨感到厌烦。）
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；我厌了。)
(动词时态是：feed, fed, fed) 可见这句俚语似乎有「被动味道」，如果用 feed，意思又不同了。
例如： The mother will feed the baby with milk.（母亲喂婴儿牛奶。) (feed 是及物动词)
The cattle feed on grass (牛以草为生。)（feed 是不及物动词）
但是 The cattle were fed with the grass by the farmer.（农夫用草喂牛。）
(cattle 是复合名词，意为复数);
可以说： I am fed up with him. (我讨厌他)
(但不能说：I feed up with him.）

2. to be in a rut：是指对每天同样的工作或是墨守成规一成不变的习惯，感到单调乏味
(to be tired of routine job; nothing new or excited) (rut 这个字本意是惯例或老套）。
例如： He has not been promoted for 20 years; he must be in a rut.（他廿年未获升级，一定感到单调枯燥。)
After thirty years of the same job, he feels he is in a rut.（干了卅年同样的工作，他觉得枯燥乏味。） 所以要放弃单调枯燥的生活方式，就是 to get out of the rut.
例如： If you hate your old job, you need to get out of the rut.（假如你不喜欢你的老工作，你就要走出乏味的日子。）

3. to cut the cord: 意思是父母要让儿女离家过著独立自主的生活
(let your children leave home and become independent) (只用於父母与儿女间的关系);
例如： When your children are old enough to take care of themselves, you have to cut the cord.（当你的孩子长大可以照顾他们自己时，你就应该让他们自力更生。）(即切断依赖父母的脐带。)
It is very difficult for many Chinese parents to cut the cord with their children.（许多中国父母很难让儿女完全独立自主。） (注：这里的 cord，是指 umbilical cord 即脐带。）

4. to start from square one: 意思是上次没有成功，必须回到起点从头做起
(something did not succeed in the first place, have to start over again） (这与 to be back to square one 意义相同);
例如： He has to start from square one because his computer destroyed (crashed) his homework. (由於电脑搞坏了他的作业，他必须从头做起。)
The search committee for the new college president will have to start from square one.（选拔新校长委员会上次没有成功，现在又要从头做起。)
We are back to square one. (我们又从头做起。)

5. to paint (someone) a picture：意思是解释某种情况，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 picture. (为了使你更能明白，我愿加以解释。)
He will try to paint us a picture when he gives a speech.（他演讲时，尽量想法使我们明白。)
When I write an article for a newspaper, I will paint my readers a clear picture.（当我为报纸写文章时，我尽量让我的读者充分了解。)
但是 to paint a picture，意思又有不同了。
例如： The artist will paint a picture of me.（画家为我画像。)
The artist painted a picture for his interior decoration.（画家为了他的室内布置而画了一幅画。）

6. to take a (或 its) toll：意思是造成损失或有不良的影响
(to have bad effect);
例如： His hard work will eventually take its toll on his health. (他的辛劳工作，最後对他身体会造成伤害。)
Inflation has taken its toll everywhere.（通货膨胀对各地都有不良影响。）
The storm took a heavy toll. (暴风造成重大损失。)
The severe earthquake may have taken its toll on the economy of Taiwan. (或 Taiwan's economy) (强烈地震对台湾的经济造成损失。)
The boss eliminated several senior positions to save money；it took a personal toll on him.（老板为了省钱删除了几个资深职位，对他个人倒有不良影响。）
(注：to take its toll 较为常用)

7. to have the floor：指在开会时取得发言权，有人发言时，其他与会者应该注意听。
(Everybody at the meeting should keep quiet and listen carefully when someone speaks to the audience.)（floor 本意是全体议员或全体与会者。)
例如： Will you mind letting Miss Wang have the floor？ (王小姐发言时，请大家安静注意听好吗？)
Everybody should be able to have the floor during the meeting. (开会时，每个人都应该有发言权。)
Let Mr. Chen have the floor for ten minutes. (让陈先生发言十分钟，大家注意听。)
He was given the floor by the chairperson. (主席让他发言。)

8. to hold water：意思是站得住脚，禁得起考验或有足够的证据可证明一件事的可靠性
（to have evidence to prove something) (反之，「hold no water」就是没有足够的证据，站不住脚。)
例如： I think his statement does not hold water.
（我想他的声明是站不住脚的）
也就是： There is no enough evidence to prove what he has said.
(可见「hold no water」=「does not hold water」) His theory holds water.
（他的理论是有足够证明的）
Her constant excuses for being tardy holds no water.（或 does not hold water)
(她时常的迟到藉口，没有足够的理由。)
The U. S. bombing excuse did not hold water with China.
（美国轰炸理由不足取信中国）也就是：
China feels that the reason given by the U.S. for bombing the Chinese embassy does not hold water. 所以： The argument does not hold wate r= The argument holds no water. (这争吵是没有足够的理由)

9. to tighten (one's) belt：意思是束紧裤带，省吃俭用或缩紧预算（to cut the budget）
例如： The government has to tighten its belt due to a large deficit. (由於庞大的赤字，政府必须缩紧预算。)
He tried to tighten his belt after he lost his job. (他失业後，想办法省吃俭用。)
但也可指真正的束紧腰带： Mrs. Chen has tightened her belt because she lost twenty pounds. (陈太太缩紧了腰带因为她瘦了廿磅)

10. to put (one's) best foot forward: 意思是全力以赴，给人以尽可能好的印象，包括礼貌、举止、说话、外表等等
(to get first good impression including manners, speech, appearance, etc.)。
例如： When you go for a job interview, put your best foot forward.
（当你求职面试时，首先要尽量给人良好的印象。)
We all have to put our best foot on this project.
（我们对这个计画要做得好才能给别人一个好印象。)
(注：通常不用复数 feet，因为同时伸出两只脚，一定会跌倒，即使主词是多数，也是如此。)

11. to miss a trick: 意思是不了解全部实况或不能细心察看
(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 就是对全部情况非常了解。)
例如： He states emphatically that he never seems to miss a trick with his staff.
（他强调他对下属是明察秋毫，无所不知。)
We can not pull the wool over his eyes because he does not miss a trick.
（我们瞒不过他，因为他对所有的事，都很清楚。)
Parents should not miss a trick regarding what their children are doing.
(父母对儿女所做所为，应该细心察看，不可忽略。) He was fired because he missed all the tricks.（由於他对事不能细心观察而被解雇。) (有人认为：如果说一个人十分「精明」，事事「明察秋毫」，似乎有点「spy」的味道，所以不是恭维话，读者以为然否？)

12. to nickel and dime (someone)：意思是一点一滴的小事或微不足道的服务，都要收费
（to charge someone for every little thing or service）(既不是诈骗也非违法。)
例如： Sometimes the lawyer will nickel and dime you for every service he (she) provides.
（有时律师为了微不足道的服务也要向你收费。)
Many people were nickeled and dimed by their lawyers. The phone company is continually trying to nickel and dime us.
(电话公司为了琐屑细节的服务，不停地向我们要每一个铜板。)
(注：本来 nickel 是五分钱，dime 是一毛钱，现在当做动词用，过去式和过去分词是：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 threw his weight behind Mr. Gore for the presidential election.（马里兰州长支持高尔先生竞选总统）
He has thrown his weight behind the foreign policy toward China.
（他支持对中国的外交政策。） 但是，to throw (one's) weight around 又有仗势欺人，耀武扬威或炫耀自己的重要性，想要去影响别人和情况之意。
例如： He always tries to throw his weight around.（他老觉得自己了不起，想要影响别人。)
Mr. Lin is trying to throw his weight around in his office.（林想影响办公室里所有的人。)
He throws his weight around her.（他想控制她）

14. to put teeth in (或 into) (something)：意思是说话时，带著慎重其事的语气，使能有效的实施（fo be very firm in speaking）
例如： If you tell your children to do something, be sure to put some teeth in your decision.
（假如你要孩子做事，必须表明你认真肯定的决定。)
When you become a manager, you need to put teeth in（into） the decision-making process.
（当你是总经理时，你对决定事物，必须以肯定语气表达，才能有效实施。)
Put some teeth in your position when you speak to the teen-agers.
（对青少年说话时，必须表明你认真的立场。) I have to put teeth in my conviction that capital punishment is wrong.（我坚信我的立场，死刑是错误的)
(注：put teeth in 的後面多半跟 decision, position, stand, conviction 等单字，尤其 decision 最常用。)

15. to have a heart-to-heart talk：意思是诚恳的谈论
（fo discuss something sincerely）
例如： Let's talk heart-to-heart about heart problem.（让我们诚恳地讨论有关心脏问题）
Let's have a heart-to-heart talk about this topic.
（让我们诚恳地讨论这个议题）
I have had a heart-to-heart talk（或 conversation）with my department chairperson.
(我与系主任有个真诚坦率的交谈）(形容词用)
We had a nice heart-to-heart.（我们有个倾心的交谈) (当名词用)
(所以heart-to-heart 可当名词或形容词）