现代英语口语表示法500例（1）

· One’s brain child某人的主意，某人想出来的
等同于one’s original idea
one’ brain children（复数）

The new ways of teaching which have been proved very effective are brain children of all teaching staff of our department.

· Have a chip on one’s shoulder叫阵，叫板

He is not popular among his peers¹. He always seems to have a chip on his shoulder.

此外该语还有“不满”，“对抗”的意思

Mary has got a chip on her shoulder about not having obtained the scholarship.

· Clam² up守口如瓶，拒不开口，沉默不语

I don’t understand why my students are quite talkative during the break but all clam up in class.

· Take someone to the cleaners使人囊中如洗，一贫如洗

Don’t ask me to play in a crap game. I don’t want to be the cleaners.

· A cliff-hanger扣人心玄的事情

Peter was nearly involved in a car accident. He called it a narrow escape. But it was really a cliff-hanger.

· Fight the clock争分夺秒，与时间赛跑
等同于work against the clock

If you don’t fight the clock to enrich³ yourself, you will surely be lagged behind soon.

· A clotheshorse讲究穿戴的人

Princess Diana was a real clotheshorse. It’s hard to imagine how much she had spent on clothes.

· Get hot under the collar发怒，怒气冲天
Make someone hot under the collar

He got hot under the collar when he found his bicycle was missing.

· Come through with flying colors干得出色，大获成功

In the 13th Asian Games, Chinese athletic⁴ team came through with flying colors

· Show (reveal) one’s true colors原形毕露

He always appears polite and gentle. But his quarrelling with others in dirty words show his true colors.

· Come up with找出，想出，弄出，提出
等同于to produce, to find out, to think out

After three days’of deep thinking, the manager came up with an idea of promoting the products.

· Jump to conclusions仓促的下结论

Being a teacher, he shouldn’t jump to conclusions that a student is not worth teaching simply because he fails one exam.

· To one’s heart’s content心满意足

Today is weekend. The lights won’t go off after 11 o’clock. We can chat to our heart’s content.

此外该语还有“随心所欲”的意思
Mary loves keeping diary. She can express her emotion to her heart’s content.

· Lose one’s cool沉不住气
反义词keep one’s cool

In the boxing match. Tyson lost his cool and bit Hollyfield’s ear.

· Play it cool不露声色，沉着冷静

Sampras, the No. 1 tennis player in the world, always plays it cool when he wins in the match.

· e rotten to the core坏透了、烂透了

Keep away from that boy. He is rotten to the core.

· cut corners偷工减料、走捷径、图省事、节约

Student is a serious thing. You can"t expect to cut corners.

cut corners并不是都是贬义的，还表示节约，节省
With only $100 left, he had to cut corners to make his journey back home.

· have a crush on someone迷恋某人

Some teenager girls got a crush on the film star

· be a far cry from...与……相差甚远（一般用来表示水平或程度等的差距）

Though Dick has tried hard, it is still a far cry from what his father expects of him.

· chew the cud好好琢磨琢磨

I don"t want to jump to conclusions, I have to chew the cud on it for a few days.

· be cut out for...天生适合于……（用于否定句中）

Thank you for your kindness, but I can"t accept it. You know, I"m not cut for a manager.

· be completely in the dark一无所知，仍蒙在鼓里
keep someone in the dark; be left (kept) in the dark

He is a dictator⁵. Though I"m the production manager, I"m completely in the dark as what to do next.

· a blind date初次约会

James was too excited to have dinner. He was having a blind date with Sue⁶ in the evening.

· have seen better days今非昔比

Look at our dean⁷, He has seen better days.

· be out of one"s depth力所不及

Liu was extremely happy to have been admitted to Oxford⁸, but soon he found he was out of his depth in his major.

· give someone a dose of his own medicine以其人之道还制其人之身

On April Fool"s Day, my classmates made me an April Fool. Next year, I"ll give him a dose of his own medicine.

· a drop in the bucket沧海一粟

He has suffered a lot in his life. Losing his job this time was only a drop in the bucket.