找回密码
 注册
搜索
热搜: 超星 读书 找书
查看: 2578|回复: 1

[[资源推荐]] Interesting Words/Phrases 妙词佳句收集

[复制链接]
发表于 2008-1-9 19:19:03 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
Interesting Words/Phrases 妙词佳句收集  

By Uncle Yeti  


Collection of Interesting Words and Phrases PART I
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=6641
  
Collection of Interesting Words and Phrases PART II
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=6949
  
Collection of Interesting Words and Phrases PART III
http://www.rainlane.com//dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=9224

Index:

Page 1: 1-40
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs. ... p;skin=0&page=1


1. Hairly eyeball 2. From Bootylicious to Ducklicious 3. Out of sight, out of mind. 4. knock/blow sb's socks off 5. Helpless prey of a tireless hunter 6. Please do us the honour 7. weebie jeebies. heebie-jeebies 8. ocean, river, earth, sky 9. Time to pay the piper 10. Fly by the seat of your pants 11. Preacher without a flock 12. Slow Boat to China 13. bounce something off you 14. cog in the/a wheellw 15. Wet behind the ears; changing of the Guards 16. Rock with success and roll with adversity 17. visceral 18. Real Partyer 19. Stick around 20. Slow boat to China, update 21. knock oneself out 22. Better the devil you know than the one you don't 23. not in Kansas anymore 24. Vote with your feet 25. A penny for one's thought 26. Eyes are the window of the soul 27. Throw in the towel 28. Wunderkind, Uberfrau, alpha females 29. Bells and whistles 30. snow angels 31. Showdown 32. Prisoner of conscience 33. fly by night 34. cross the floor 35. cock the snook at a... 36. \"toy boy\" and \"call the shots 37. saving grace 38. I am available. 39. The writing on the wall 40. The writing is on the wall

Page 2: 41-90
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs. ... p;skin=0&page=1

41. Busted by buster 42. wedlock and deadlock and other interesting phrases 43. Talk it out 44. Talk to 45. my evil twin did it 46. not room to swing a cat (very narrow space) 47. Nickels and dims 48. Punch and Judy 49. hell-for-leather. 50. Dog's breakfast. 51. A little bird told me 52. First Jekyll, then Hyde. 53. All Hat and no cattle. 54. Time to pay the piper. 55. Girl Friday 56. Jailbait, Home Wrecker, cock teaser and Vixen 57. frog in slowly boiling water 58. walk the talk 59. Not worth... 60. Testing the waters 61. More nervous than a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs 62. Play second fiddle (Informal)act a smaller part; follow another's lead; be less noticed. 63. A banana without its peel is still a banana 64. the Glass Ceiling 65. You could have knocked me down with a feather (used to express great surprise) 66. Four flusher 67. From Soup to Nuts 68. cruising for a bruising 69. Low hanging fruit 70. touch pitch and not be defiled 71. Rob Peter to pay Paul 72. to be funneled through one ear and out the other 73. Akimbo 74. Four flusher 75. In camera. Sub rosa 76. Making whoopie/Whoopee 77. The Glass Ceiling 78. [原创]+(quotation) Led down the primrose path 79. [原创]+song quotation: I never promised you a rose garden 80. Lobster Shift/Lobster trick 81. Who watch the watchers 82. It is folly to shiver over last year's snow 83. Whippersnapper 84. Groping in the dark/ double entendre/hanky panky 85. Take the lead out 86. A humdinger 87. Shotgun Marriage 88. nudge nudge wink wink 89. God speed/godspeed 90. A hole in the head

Page 3: 91-140
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs. ... p;skin=0&page=1


91. III-43 Not bad enough to stay 92. III-44 tweedledum and tweedledee 93. Cast/casting your fly against the wind 94. The bottom-pinching type 95. Air quotes/Air guitar 96. Another kettle of fish 97. Waiting for the other shoe to drop/fall 98. Coming in on a wing and a prayer 99. Pack rat 100. Rainmaker 101. Holy Moly and other \"holy\" exclamations 102. Cry Stinking fish 103. Hijinx 104. sick it to someone 105. eat crow; flexitarian 106. Girl Friday 107. As the crows flies 108. Door Stopper; Taking up space 109. An Albatross around someone's neck 110. More bang for the buck 111. Hole in the wall snowboard shop 112. Brownie Point(s) 113. Wild Goose Chase 114. Three rings, Side show 115. Let's cut to the chase 116. A finger in every pie 117. The genie is out of the bottle 118. XYZ 119. Ours is not to reason why.... 120. Boulevard of Broken Dreams 121. It takes two to tango 122. \"I second that.\" 123. Nouveau Riche 124.Creme de la Creme 125.No way, Jose. 126.Goose is Cooked; Cold Turkey 127.([原创]87/88)Hindsight is always 20/20; Monday Morning Quarterback 128.When the music stops(stopped) 129.(left) Holding the bag 130.[原创](91)A Eureka Moment 131.The 64,000$ question 132.Deep Six/Six feet under 133.Chutzpah 134.Hiroshima 135.Carte Blanche 136.The Swiss Army Knife of... 137.([原创]98)Chinese water torture 138.A steel fist in a velvet glove 139.1 Screen Sucking 139.2 Frazzing 139.3 Pizzled 139.4 Doomdart 140. ([原创]104)Neither Fish Nor Fowl  

Page 4: 141-175
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs. ... 37&star=4#21590

141.([原创]#105) Sic Transit Gloria Mundi 142. Slowly boiling frog revisited 143. ([原创]#106) To the beat of a different drum 144. ([原创]#107) \"On the same page\" 145. ([原创]#108) Stick/sticking to his/your guns. 146. ([原创]#109) Drop dead gorgeous. 147. (#110) Get-go 148. (#111) Dead Cat Bounce and other investment catch phrases 149. ([原创]#112) Path of Least Resistance 150. (#113) Gathering/Battle/Clash of (the) Titans. 151. (114) Send in the Clowns 152. (115/116) I have not begun to fight/damn the torpedoes 153. Rent/food/song 154. ([原创]#118) Siren/Femme Fatale  155. (#119) Nine ways from Sunday 156. (#120) On the fritz. 157. (#121) Crossing the Rubicon 158. (#122) Veni, Vidi, Vici 159. (#123) In the pink 身体很好; 健康 160. (#124) All is fair in love and in war. 161. (#125) If you can't stand the heat... 162. ([原创]#126) Sine qua non 163.(#127) Behaving like lemmings./Herd Instinct. 164. (#130) More words for describing woman. 165. (131) Road To Damascus 166. ([转帖]132) Plutoed 167. (#133) Kabuki Dance 168. (#134) Wagnerian Exit; Like a gun in a Chekhov play.  Update: Eureka Moment; Holy Grail.  169. (#135) Kingmaker/rainmaker /power broker /go-to guy  170. (#136) The dog that didn't bark  171. (#137) First Lady; Prima Donna 172. (#138) Red-eye express 173. ([原创]#139) broken record  174. (#140) McMansion


Everyone:
1. Hairly eyeball.蔑视,白眼
Source:
8 Questions That Freak Men Out产生幻觉,极度兴奋,使狂迷
by Patty Lamberti
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/ ... jsp&floc=LV_1-T   



\"Do you want to meet my parents?\" Of course he doesn't want to meet them - they'll give him the hairy eyeball because he's sleeping with their daughter. It might be better to say, \"My parents are meeting us for dinner Friday.\"



From the Slang dictionary at :
http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/p/dictionary/slang-h.html
hairy eyeball
noun a disdainful or disapproving look. Also, greasy eyeball.




Exercise:
类似的说法还有:
白眼看人 to look upon people with disdain / to look upon sb with contempt / to show sb the whites of one's eyes / to treat people superciliously



白眼相看 to sespise / to look down on[upon] / to turn up the whites of one's eyes



白眼相加 Each gives the other a cold shoulder. / Each looks down his nose at the other.      




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeti:      
2. From Bootylicious to Ducklicious.Bootlylicious
albatross521 brought up this word at 譯者論壇
\"前不久看到一篇文章中出现 bootylicious 一词。http://english.blog-city.com/read/147192.htm Escargot wrote:
Modern English, especially in oral english, sometimes combines different words to make up a new word. for example, \"fantabulous极出色的\" = fantastic + fabulous惊人的.
It's the same with \"bootylicious\". It's \"booty\" + \"delicious\", meaning \"a butt目标,对象 that tastes good\", which obviouly implies \"a sexy butt\".
--
And Yeti wrote:
From my own write up书面记录 on my trip to China: (footnote 1) \"Dinner was at the Quanjude duck restaurant. A Net-pal had previously informed me that Quanjude was good, but not the best. Nonetheless, the dinner was superb. After dinner we were given comment sheets to fill and someone at our table suggested using the word \"ducklicious.\" That generated a hearty laugh all around and we all put that onto our forms.

Footnote 1: http://www3.sympatico.ca/d.stephen/chtrip4.htm paragraph near the bottom of the page.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Out of sight, out of mind.眼不见,心不想(烦)


It is useless to collect words , phrases and lists. Once filed away it will be a case of \"out of sight, out of mind.\" It is wonderful for people to collect huge lists of phrases and even more wonderful for them to share them with you. However, if you never use them, they will just sit there and gather dust.
It is important to \"get your hands dirty\" (idiom meaning \"hands on approach\" to something). When you come across a new words, new phrases or something well written or witty, try to use it/them immediately. Make two or three sentences with them. Make an imaginary conversation with it. Repeat them a few times and then come back and look at what you have done a couple of days later.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunnyblue:        



4. knock/blow sb's socks off:to impress or surprise sb very much使某人印象深刻或令某人感到惊奇




Yeti got a point there. So I would put the phrase I just learn here and make a sentence with it myself.



The phrase: knock one's socks off From the novel I am reading now: \"The poisonwood毒漆树 bible\"
\"If God had amused himself inventing the lilies of the field, he surely knocked his own socks off with the African parasites.\"



My pratice: She finally knocked his socks off, but strangely it didn't bring her any comfort she had expected. 最终她使他感到惊奇,但这没有为她带来她所期望的任何安慰。




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeti:        
5. Helpless prey of a tireless hunter.(穷追猛打中的猎物)


I came across this in the inside bookjacket(书的)护封 of the book \"The Pillars of Creation\"
by Terry Goodkind (note 1)
\"the helpless prey of a tireless hunter.\"
Let me invite you all to make sentences out of that.

Note 1: You can read a lot of books by not reading the books themselves.
Whenever you are in a bookstore, your school library or a public library, open the bookjacket of a hardcover精装本 book and you will find a \"book review\" in the inside jacket. These reviews are usually very well written. In fact, some of them read better than the books themselves. Instead of spending 6 to 10 hours reading a book, all you need is to spend 2 or 3 minutes --if you are a slow reader, 5 to 10 minutes-- reading the synopsis提要 and comment about the book. That way, you can hang around逗留 a bookstore for an hour and read 6 or 7 books -- and save youself some money by not having to buy them. (Yes, I am a cheapskate吝啬鬼.)



I often find these synopsis+review extremely well written and I can \"steal\" writing ideas from them.
If it is important to read a lot and often, so if you do not have time to read full length books, reading the review in the inside jacket is, as Martha Stewart would have said , \"a good thing.\"



From the Slang dictionary at :
http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/p/dictionary/slang-h.html
hairy eyeball
noun a disdainful or disapproving look. Also, greasy eyeball.




Exercise:
类似的说法还有:
白眼看人 to look upon people with disdain / to look upon sb with contempt / to show sb the whites of one's eyes / to treat people superciliously



白眼相看 to sespise / to look down on[upon] / to turn up the whites of one's eyes



白眼相加 Each gives the other a cold shoulder. / Each looks down his nose at the other.  





6. Please do us the honour. 请为我们增光添彩

Good phrase can be found everywhere; you just have to keep your eyes and ears open.
This is on the envelope of one of many junk mail I receive (real mail, the paper kind) . This one is an solicitation恳求 to subscribe for the magazine \"The Economist.\"
ON the evelope, it says \"lease do us the honor of trying our publication RISK-FREE.\"
Well folks, you can do us the honor of helping this forum to flourish by
sending in articles, quotations, nice poems (your own or something you come across),quizzes and comics (language related, preferrable, but not exclusively) and so on.

As I said before, if you are here just for a visit, then read and enjoy. If you are here for \"practicing your English\", then make sentences with everything you come across: phrase from this section, from jokes and comics, from lyrics of songs we have posted, and so on.
Remember: Learning without practice is a flash in the pan昙花一现, or what the Chinese call\"breeze blown by the ear耳边风;左耳进右耳出\", soon forgotten.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunnyblue:

7. weebie jeebies. heebie-jeebies. 紧张;使紧张,害怕
re: weebie jeebies
This is the first time I heard about that. I found a \"heebie jeebies\"
on an on-line dictionary, I wonder if the two are related .

heebie-jeebies informal :
(1)strong feelings of fear or anxiety
(2)to make someone feel anxious or frightened


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeti:

More:
Source:
Weebie http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Weebie\"weeeee-beeeee\"
  The Weebie; a green, orbular creature with one eye and horns: similar to Mike Wizowski from Monsters Inc.

Looks like you are right when you said \"Seems like it refers to the feeling of being scared \" probably similar to the American version
of \"creepy-crawly(ies)爬行的昆虫.\"
--
(From on-line dictionaries.)
creepy-crawly:
a small insect that gives you a feeling of fear and disgust
--
creepy-crawlies: A sensation of fear, repugnance厌恶, or nervous agitation.
--
(I am going to put the search engine I used to find these in the \"Useful Links and Resources thread.)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. ocean, river, earth, sky 海洋、河流、大地、天空

Oceans are large objects, rivers are rapidly flowing and sky is high and unreachable, while earth and the ground are something solid, and so these are often used as metaphors and similes (whatever!)
Here are some phrases I came across recently on newapers, magazines or heard on TV.
From newspaper \" There are vast oceans of mediocre普通的 music pouring out of pubs and restaurants, and blighting凋萎的 films and documentaries,but genuinely bad music is a much rarer beast; it's more distinctive and many times more memorable.\"

As heard on TV a few days ag\"rivers of money flowing into campaign funds for ...\"
--
Sky/stratosphere最上层:
From a music review on the web:
\"I Loved A Cowboy, however, is the standout cut on the recording. It is as close to a perfect song as you can get- a lovely, poetic lyric, vocals that soar into the stratosphere, and a heroic, romantic figure at the heart of the tale.\"

We often hear people say \"Reach for the sky举起手来\" and \"the sky is the limit\" and we all know expressions such as \"keep your feet on the ground\", \"down to earth\", \"close to earth\" and so on.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunnyblue:




weebie jeebies
Thank you Yeti. Seems like weebie jeebies is identical to heebie jeebies.
I tried a sentence out of it:
I always get weebie jeebies talking of snakes.

Another expression I came across in \"oisonwood Bible\"
\"A pot calls a kettle black.\"
Guess no explanation is needed for this one.
My try:
He said Mike is not organized, while he himself can hardly find his glasses in 30 seconds from his paper-piled desk. A pot calls a kettle black.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeti:

That is very similar to the Chinese idiom of 五十步笑百步。
It also happened to be my late sister's favourite 口头禅.(pet phrase, cliche)

Another favourite of my late sister's was \" Between the devil and the deep blue sea.\"
She picked it up while she was studying in England (back in the 50's) Out here, however, people say \" Between a rock and a hard place.\" (Chinese call that 进退两难)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeti:

That is very similar to the Chinese idiom of 五十步笑百步。
It also happened to be my late sister's favourite 口头禅.(pet phrase, cliche)

Another favourite of my late sister's was \" Between the devil and the deep blue sea.\"
She picked it up while she was studying in England (back in the 50's) Out here, however, people say \" Between a rock and a hard place.\" (Chinese call that 进退两难)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Time to pay the piper 到对线的时候了
\"The Piper\" refers to the Piper of Hamelin: the fable about a town infested by rats and resorted to hiring a piper who lured all the rats away by playing his pipe.
If I remember it correctly, the towns people reneged on食言 paying him and he played his pipe one more time to lure away the children.

The expression \"Time to pay the piper\" is used for meaning \"time to pay up付清 for something that is needed/promised/urgently required\" etc..

To see a list of articles where this phrase is used, click here:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=%22time+to+pay+the+piper 22&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF 8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&meta=


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
autumnus:




10. Fly by the seat of your pants.

(1)fly an airplane by feel and instinct rather than with the help of the instruments.凭直觉不借仪器协助而飞行。Many pilots in World War I had to fly by the seat of their pants. 第一次世界大战中许多飞行员都是凭直觉不靠仪器飞行。

(2)do something by intuition instead of by plan.凭直觉不按计划做事。He relied heavily on his intuition in the conduct of foreign policy; he liked to fly by the seat of his pants.他制定外交政策大部分是靠直觉;他做事喜欢任性。
This was how I learnd this phrase

I went to my class yesterday without my summary reports.
It was a due day and I was about to lose 10 points.
The instructor gave me a stern look and said:
“You cannot just come here and fly by the seat of your pants.”
Oh, no. She wanted none of my excuses.

Next time I better be prepared.

This phrase means: Decide a course of action as you go along, using your own initiative and perceptions rather than a pre-determined plan or theory. 用自身的主动和感知而不是按事先确定的计划或理论来决定你的行动。---随机应变。

Origin: Early aviation parlance用语. Aircraft initially had few navigation aids and flying was accomplished by means of the pilot's judgement.

Reference site: http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/meanings/139400.html


11. Preacher without a flock.无听众的传教士

I came across this on a newspaper, oh, several months ago and I realized that this can be modified to suit many occasions.

The congregation of a church is usually referred to as the 'flock\" of the preacher.
Same goes for the following of a missionary etc.
The word \"preacher\" however, does not have to mean a secular非宗教的(i.e. religious) person \"preaching\" from a podium讲台. It can be anyone who has something he/she wants to \"preach\" to people.
A preacher without a flock is one such person who has something (usually a message about morality训诫) he/she wants to disseminate传播 but has no \"flock\" around to listen to him.
  At the time I came across this phrase, my mind started to make up sentences:
\"a teacher without a class\", \"a doctor without patiences\", etc... and, something else that is remotely related to this resurface from the recesses幽深处 of my memory.

\"Martyr烈士 without martyrdom牺牲\"
This is a phrase coined by S.I. Hiyakawa, one time president of the San Francisco State College. This is a famous \"comment\" he made during a student occupation of the school back in the 1960s.  



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amazing. Could not find that \"martyr without martyrdom\" on the web. How soon we forget!
While checking around, I was amazed that fellow was actually a Canadian, and a McGill graduate.
Oh, I am not a fan of him. But for some reason or rather, when I heard him said that \"Martyr without marytrdom\" on the 6pm TV, the phrase stuck in my head.
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/ ... ns.com/one/1959.htm



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


12. Slow Boat to China.耗时之事;随心所欲的旅行


Someone at the Han Ying Forum (http://www.bilinguist.com/data/hy03/messages/105852.html asked for the measning of this expression so I thought it would be interesting
to introduce it here as well.

China, the exotic land of mysteries, lies far far away in the mist in the East. In the days before jet liners, it would take weeks to get there by boat, much longer if it is a \"slow boat.\" The expression \"a slow boat to China\" came to mean something that would take a long time to do. It also has a second meaning, and that is: \"a relaxed, carefree and leisurely journey without being hurried.\"

Did the expression became popular because of the song made famous by Bing Crosby and Rose Mary Clooney? I don't know. I heard the song before, long time ago.
Example of how to use this expression

From:
http://www.arcent.army.mil/frg/default.asp
Deadlines set for holiday mailings邮寄/件

If you want make sure your holiday packages arrive to service members overseas on time, mail them by Nov.13.

Otherwise, your package could very well be on the proverbial \"slow boat to China,\" said Mark DeDomenic, chief of postal operations for the Military Postal Service Agency.
---
Now for the song.
On A Slow Boat to China
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
1948

I'd love to get you
On a slow boat to China,
All to myself alone.
Get you to keep you in my arms evermore,
Leave all your lovers (lovelies)
Weeping on the faraway shore.

Out on the briny
With the moon big and shiny,
Melting your heart of stone.
I'd love to get you
On a slow boat to China,
All to myself alone.

click icon for music if it does not play automatically

[SOUND]http://www.openface.ca/~dstephen/rainlane/slowboat.mid[/sound]

To listen to a clip of the song ( Real Player needed), go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/kaykyser/music/


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. bounce something off you 看看我的主意是否站得住脚
\"Bounce something off you\", as in \"come to my office, I want to bounce something off you.\"
To \"bounce something off you\" means \"I like to see if an/a idea/theory I have would hold water. I am going to try it on you. Tell me what you think of it.\"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

山定子:
There're lots of articles and essays to read here. From the first page to the last, I act just like a treasure hunter who seeks every here and there. Oh, needn't be hurry or I'll miss things I've never tasted. It's on a slow boat to China. Enjoy myself by nibbling away Uncle Yeti's savings.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What's the matter with the capital letters? All of them turn to lower case ones automatically.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeti:


capital to small letter.
It's a real mystery. It happens to all of us. Sometimes the capitals stay as capitals, sometimes they don't. No one seems to have the answer to that. I guess we just have to grin and bear it 逆来顺受 .



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Spread the word. 传话

If you like what you see, spread the word among your friends who are serious about communicating and practicing in English. We sure can use the extra traffic, not to mention extra posts.

BTW: English is such a \"funny language.\" Why would \"not to mention\" means \"to also mention\"-- only the British can have a language with \"reverse logic\" built into it.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


山定子:

\"A pot calls a kettle black\" reminds me of the local slang said by my hometown people(usually by some old housewives)---in Chinese version, \"老母猪嫌老鸹黑\"。



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Yeti:
14. cog in the/a wheellw 轮子上的齿轮;某环节中的角色



A cog in a/the wheel is actually a tooth in a gear.(See picture.)



This idiom is used quite extensively in English and has different meaning depending on how it is used.

Examples:
I am but/just a cog in a/the wheel./I am just another cog in a/the wheel. 我只是一个不重要的成员=小角色
However, as soon as you change the sentence slightly, it takes on a completely opposite meaning.

In this company, I am an important cog in the wheel. (在这公司里﹐我是一个重要的成員) He was only a cog before, now he is the wheel. 他以前是小鬼﹐现在是头头了。

For more examples on how to use \"cog in a/the wheel\", go to google
and enter the search phrase \"cog in a wheel.\"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Wet behind the ears 乳臭未干(之辈); changing of the Guards 新老交替



Preface:
Last Saturday I went to the retirement party of a former colleague. Sitting in the table next to ours were several very young looking new faculty members with their spouses who were hired in the last two years to replace the six who were retiring. When I looked at these 26plus year old \"babies\", fresh out of graduate school, still \"wet behind the ears\", and then at all the grey hairs at our and another table, I could not help but thought of the old expression \"changing of the guards.\"
--------------------------------

(1) Wet behind the ears: The equivalent Chinese expression would be 乳臭未干(之辈) (gender neutral. applicable to both sexes.)
(2) Changing of the guards= one generation of workers/people in charge/thinkers/artists/representatives of society retiring or bowing out退休, replaced by a newer and/or younger generation.
--
Another example:
http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/ny-wocana153543450nov15,0,1530444.story?coll=ny-news-archive


Changing of the Guards
Party leader to succeed Canada's retiring prime minister

Bob Dylan wrote a rather cryptic song entitled \"Changing of the Guards.\"
If you are interested to read it, here is a link:
Lyrics
http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/B ... Guards%20lyrics.htm

Attempts to interpret the lyrics
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2667/changing.html


16. Rock with success and roll with adversity.适应成功与失败;适应大悲大喜
If you try looking this up at Google, you will meet only with partial success.
Whereas there references to \"rock with success\" (1), there are none
for \"roll with adversity.\" My guess is this is a phrase coined by the author of the novel I read this from.

(1) E.g.:
[QUOTE]http://www.coopamerica.org/cabn/conference/schedule.htmlLet's match needs with offers and make all of our businesses rock with success!

So what could \"roll with adversity\" means?
First, I think the author uses the phrase \"rock and roll\" to make this expression up.
\"Rock with success\" means \"roaring with success.\"
Roll, as in \"rock and roll\" usually means to \"gyrate旋转.\" However, I think in this case it means to \"roll along with...\"

Judging from the context in which this phrase appeared, it appears that \"roll with adversity\" means to roll along with adversity, possibly in the sense of \"riding out安全渡过\" the adversity, to adapt to, to bear out....

In other words, a person who can \"rock with success and roll with adversity\" is one that can adapt to both situations.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17. visceral 内脏的;内心深处的;本能的


I came across this word as part of an expression, twice within a month. The first time was on TV, I jotted down the phrase quickly on a piece of paper, and as usual, lost it soon afterwards. Today, I read it on a newspaper used in a different context.
In a movie review about the \"Last Samurai武士\", the movie reviewer wrote: Go for the pageant, the visceral thrill of violence, the organic grace of samurai daily life and the usual experience of encountering people with personal integrity.

Well, what exactly is \"visceral.\" To be un-pedantic非书生气的, it is simply \"guts.\"
Visceral, by defintion , is : \"relating to, situated in, or affecting the viscera.\"
Viscera:1. The soft internal organs of the body, especially those contained within the abdominal and thoracic胸腔的 cavities.
2. The intestines.
from The American Heritage
回复

使用道具 举报

 楼主| 发表于 2008-1-9 19:21:22 | 显示全部楼层
(Jump to Part II:
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=6949 )


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting Words/Phrases.妙词佳句收集 Part2. Final entryunch and Judy


Thanks to Chikuse for suggesting the change in the Chinese part of the heading. (Jan 17th 2004)

I thought I will open up a new thread since the other one is getting a bit long.
I put a "lock" on Part I : no new materials can be added to that thread.

Please note : Part I of this series is located at:
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=6641---
Jan 17, 2004: I have started a similar thread at cn-trans:

http://www.cn-trans.com/bbs/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=5923


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22. Better the devil you know than the one you don't 宁愿忍受糟糕的现状也不愿进行无把握的改变
This means you are willing to settle with the "bad/dangerous/impossible/unhealthy/..." condition you are in rather than to take a chance冒险 and change to something unknown that might be just as bad (or even worse.)

Example:  Despite the constant humiliation John is getting from his boss, he decides to stick with his job instead of going to work for someone else.
He considers it  better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don't.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. not in Kansas anymore 身处陌生的环境中.


"(I am)/(You/We are)/(He/She/It is) not in Kansas anymore" means you are now in a strange and unfamiliar place.

The phrase has its origin in the book ( and movie) "Wizard of Oz" (I think the Chinese title of the book is 《绿野仙踪》) . Dorothy and her dog were whizzed away by a tornado from the farm country of Kansas to the magical land of Oz. When she emerged from the house with her dog Toto she was greeted by these little fellows called Munchkins--not, not the ones you buy from a doughnut store-- and found that they are "not in Kansas any more."
This cliche/idiom has since worked it's way into the mainstream of American English.
I happened to be channell flipping tonight and I hit a station with the program Star-gate-1 on. The scene unfolding at that moment is that this "task force特别工作组" found themselves in a strange and unfamiliar aliean world. The captain of the team said "Well, we are not in Kansas anymore."

excerpt from The Wizard of Oz:

The Cyclone

Dorothy lived with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a small farm in Kansas.

Their tiny house stood alone on a large, flat prairie. Dorothy had only one friend, her dog Toto. He was a small black dog who loved to jump and play.

One day while Dorothy and Toto were playing, they heard the awful sound of a storm. The wind roared and the dust blew smoky dircles inthe air. Dorothy was frightened.

Uncle Henry stopped working and shouted, "There's a cyclone coming, run for the cellar!" A cyclone is a terrible storm. Even little Toto wanted to run away. He jumped from Dorothy's arms, ran into the house, and hid under the bed. Dorothy followed him into the house. Then a strange thing happened. The house turned around and around. Then it rose through the air! Toto ran out from under the bed and barked loudly.

It was very dark and the house swayed back and forth. Dorothy held Toto in her arms and listened to the wind. She was frightened. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were safe in the cellar. She was all alone. Hours passed. The house tossed and turned in the storm. Finally Dorothy closed her eyes and fell asleep.

After a long time, Dorothy woke up. Everything was very quiet. ......
-------------------------------------------------------------------



---------------
Applications:
See :
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~jt/hike_pix.html
(click to enlarge)
The caption of this picture says " Something tells me I'm not in Kansas any more... "
-----
Other examples:
http://www.trollart.com/notknss.html
http://www.geocities.com/Baja/De ... ansas/HongKong.html


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further notes:
The fact that Dorothy was carried away from a tranquil farm country to a magical land of adventure gives rise to the connotation含义 of "IN Kansas" being "a safe and familiar place." So, we are "not in Kansas any more" is use to mean (i) in an unfamiliar place and (ii) in a hostile and/or unfriendly place --such as the one illustrated in
the video game display on top.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further notes:
The fact that Dorothy was carried away from a tranquil farm country to a magical land of adventure gives rise to the connotation含义 of "IN Kansas" being "a safe and familiar place." So, we are "not in Kansas any more" is use to mean (i) in an unfamiliar place and (ii) in a hostile and/or unfriendly place --such as the one illustrated in
the video game display on top.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Durain:


24. Vote with your feet 离开你不喜欢的地方或环境;由离开来显示你的不赞成 ---Leave a place or situation you don't like; show your disapproval by leaving.

"I have heard all I want to hear, I am voting with my feet."

"Some East Berliners continue to vote with their feet by climbing over,digging under, or slipping through the Wall.

For large stockholders, the path of least resistance, when confronted by managers that they do not like, is to vote with their feet.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunnyblue:


25. A penny for one's thought请告诉我你在想什么: Please tell me what you are thinking about; what's your day-dream?
A penny for one's thought is an encouragement for someone the share the thoughts with you.

(Seeing that John is deeply lost in his thought. Day-dreaming maybe.)
Mike: A penny for your thought?



Yeti:
26. Eyes are the window of the soul眼睛是心灵之窗
There is a 16th century (*) proverbs that goes like this : "Eyes are the window of the soul." As such, writers often use different descriptions of "eyes" to give indication of the mental state of a person.

In two separate reviews on Jan Wong's book "Red China Blues", I found two descriptions of her with the "eye" metaphor.
(i) In 1972, Wong arrived in China from Canada with misty-eyed idealism...
(ii)Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent血统, went to China as a starry-eyed幻想的, 过分乐观的 Maoist in 1972 at the height of the Cultural Revolution.

There are many other "eye(s)"-descriptions used to indicate different emotional states: haunted eyes困惑的眼神, lifeless eyes无精打彩的眼神, sinister eyes阴险的目光, hungry eyes饥饿的眼神, desperate eyes绝望的眼神, hollowed eyes茫然的眼神....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
autumnus:
27. Throw in the towel 认输

In between boxing rounds, boxers use wet towel to wipe their sweat off. When one boxer is getting badly beaten, his manager would throw a towel into the boxing ring to end the fight.

Let me try to use this idiom:

Many a time when he reads about such reactions from patriotic hothead, he just throws up his hands and throws in the towel.

Assuming your conversational partner knows boxing! Haha…



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeti:
28. Wunderkind, Uberfrau, alpha females 女强人

Many English words are of German origin.One such word is Wunderkind .
Wunder=wonder kind=child.
Wunderkind=a child prodigy, or in Chinese, 神童。
Usage:
From a news headline:


Chinese wunderkind Lang Lang gives classical piano crossover appeal

Source:
http://www.canada.com/search/sto ... 9-aa40-e12c1c2991cd(The link to the picture no long exists. Here is a new picture.)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
übefrau and alpha female 女强人


The German word übefrau means superwoman, or wonder woman. Although it is not in most dictionaries yet --I may be wrong at that since I do not have any good dictionary on hand; I rely on web-based dictionaries most of the time--this word has popped up意外地出现 everywhere in the news media.
A few months ago I came across this words in a local newspaper in a article about CEOs. The word übefrau came up when Martha Stewart's name was mentioned. Since then, I have come across several articles on the web in which Ms.Stewart was described as an "übefrau."
Example:


Martha Stewart: Domestic Doyenne女性老前辈 or Goddess of Greed?
Striving to争取 be Martha is self-defeating弄巧成拙的. Being a working woman seems hard enough, but compounded with同...妥协 a self-imposed自我加强的 desire to a SUPER-superwoman, an Uberfrau is seemingly overwhelming.
Source:
http://www.beloit.edu/~amerdem/students/rottenstein.html
Another example:

"Uberfrau Martha eating a large dose of humble pie忍辱含垢
SAY it isn't true, Martha! Martha Stewart, 61, the New York-born celebrated homemaker主妇, has had a class action suit群体诉讼 taken against herself and her company representing anyone who bought stock in Martha Stewart Omnimedia between January 8 and July 24."

Source:

http://www.unison.ie/irish_indep ... 5&issue_id=7938

(Editing notes: OK, I give up. I have tried to use the quote function repeatedly but it never worked. I guess you can only use it once.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The question of how to translate 女强人 has often come up. I have often advoated using the term "Alpha Female." I have recently read an article about the term "alpha female" as being more sexist性别优越感者 than it was meant to be.

Source:
http://www.realfooty.theage.com. ... .html?from=storyrhs(This is quite interesting and you can use it as one of your daily dose of reading material.)

"Does the alpha female exist?

September 28, 2003
Alpha males are strong, good looking high achievers. So is there a female counterpart and who is she? Clare Longrigg investigates.

Political obituaries讣告 often contain many references to the alpha male, a description which, applied to humans, apparently denotes physical prowess威力, high achievement成就显赫, bullying优秀的 and sexual attraction. It is not an entirely flattering term, calling to mind想起 the aggressive chest-beating of a silverback gorilla银背大猩猩, but perfectly describes someone who bends others to his will.

But what of the alpha female? Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, wrote in a recent column that the alpha female would never get lost in traffic, and would look good in a miniskirt. Is she, like Shirley Conran's Superwoman, all things to all people? Is she someone we like, or admire?
Does she even exist?"
-----
  I now find this word Uberfrau may be appropiate as the translation for 女强人 within certain context and under certain conditions.

All of these brings up a point. Why are successful males not called a 男强人, but just a 强人. Obviously there is a gender bias involved. Not having to specified
the male gender implies that the term 强人 is gender biased-- predisposed for use for male and not gender neutral.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunnyblue:
29. Bells and whistles不重要的东西
The special, non-essential不重要的 features部件 of a product which make the product more attractive-looking


I heard it in an advertisement on radio.

My try to use it: I just want a reliable car to drive arround. It doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeti:
30. snow angels雪地天使


If you live in a cold snowy climatic region, you may see, occasionally, something like this on the snow:



They are called "Snow Angles."

No, these are not real angles, nor cryptic messages left by aliens
on how to make a warp drive. These are imprints印痕 made by people, mostly children. All you have to do is to lay flat on the ground and wiggle your hands and feet. (See next message.)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
continued...
Here is how it is done:




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary of interesting phrase used in our quizzes.

The Fat Lady Sings(快)到结束的时候了
Example: It's time to go, the fat lady has sung. "The Fat Lady Sings" means "it is the end (or near the end) " , for details, read the
posts:
Fat Lady
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=27&ID=6467Fat Lady II
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=27&ID=6698And this :
http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/p ... oons/macnelly04.htm
---
Cry Uncle认输
Cry uncle means "I give up, I surrender, you got me licked..."
Example: The American administration has finally cried uncle over the Iraq situation.
Details see:
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=27&ID=6792--
Devil is in the details 实质性的东西正是问题所在
"The fine points are where the catch is." Example: When we were presented with the general outline of what we had
to achieve, we thought the task would be simple enough. Little did we know that the devil is in the details.
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=27&ID=6937---
Road less travelled http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=27&ID=6527Part of Robert Frost's Poem.
Example:
I took the road less travelled, and guess what ? I got mugged. (Just kidding.)
---
cream rise to the top 最好的总是出现在上面
This means "the best always rise to the top."
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=27&ID=7072--
Hook, Line and Sinker听信一切所闻
= Being "taken for a ride."= Believe everything that you were told.
The people of landlocked Liechtenstein accepted their government's rationale for
building an atomic submarine hook, line and sinker.
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=27&ID=7085--
Better the devil you know than the one you don't.面对两种自已都不喜欢的选择,宁择较熟悉的那种
When you are presented with two equally unattractive choices, you should stick with the one which you are familiar with-- at least you are used to that and are better equiped to deal with it.

Example:
John was really unhappy with the sh*t he was getting from management. He received a job offer from another company, but he heard that the managers of this other company is just as bad. He decided to stay in his old job. After all, it is better to deal with the devil you know than the one you don't.
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs. ... ;ID=6949&skin=1



go-lucky:
31. Showdown 摊牌
a decisive action that brings matters to a climax

EXAMPLE:
When Phillips was not given the raise in salary that he had expected, he decided to have a showdown with the boss.
If you were Philips, would you do as phillips did ?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
albatross:


32. Prisoner of conscience 政治犯

In chinese we say:"olitical prisoner."

Before I tumbled on this word on the net, I always used "dissident持不同政见者".

Maybe the difference between these two is that a POC is behind the bars在监狱中.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

33. fly by night 无信誉、不可靠的公司

what animals fly by night.

Bat, owl, kiwi几维鸟,...

No, it's not that.

It means a company that has no reputation, irresponsible,...



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


34. cross the floor.(辩论中)转而支持对方

Bumped into this phrase in a piece of news.

At least one MP reported ready to cross floor

11.12.2003
3.00pm
At least one of Labour's 10 Maori MPs is threatening to cross the floor over the foreshore and seabed issue, it was reported today.

The Government will next week deliver its policy on how to recognise Maori customary rights without threatening public ownership of the foreshore and seabed.

The Dominion Post this morning said Lab....

For complete report, see...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storyd ... ubsection=generalIt means: (辩论中)转而支持对方


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35. cock the snook at表达对...的轻蔑

express contempt at...

I happened upon this phrase on the following web-page:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 3/12/10/ixhome.html

It's about a dog hero awarded a prize by the British princess.

Canine war hero cocks a snook at tradition
By Neil Tweedie
(Filed: 10/12/2003)

Britain's latest war hero showed all the proud bearing of his breed yesterday - chin up for the photographers milling endlessly around him.

Even heroes are mortal, however, and, after hours of patient posing for the cameras, Buster could not help giving way to the call of nature.
  
Buster with Sgt Danny Morgan
But in public? And all over the flowerbeds of the Imperial War Museum? Winners of awards for gallantry勇敢 are not meant to do such things.

Buster was forgiven, of course. The nation's bravest springer spaniel斯伯林格斯班尼犬 could do no wrong on the day he was awarded the Dicken Medal, the highest award for animals aiding British and Commonwealth forces in war.

The six-year-old-dog was ...





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
中文的翻译见:http://news.sina.com.cn/s/2003-12-10/17241308438s.shtml


36. "toy boy玩偶" and "call the shots发号施令"


Toy boy? A boy used as a toy? A boy molested调戏 by a paedophile恋童癖者?
I am not sure if it has such inking to that.
What I know from a news report is it means a man married to a woman who is his senior.

"Call the shots" means to dominate, to give order,...etc.
I wonder if shot means a drink. So call the shots means to order for a drink.
If I am wrong, please feel free to point it out to me.
You can find these two phrase in the following passage:
More women marrying toy boys By Sarah Womack, Social Affairs Correspondent(Filed: 12/12/2003)

More women are marrying younger men than ever before, a study showed yesterday.The figure has almost doubled to 26 per cent in 25 years among men marrying for the first time. Among women marrying for the first time, the proportion has risen from 13 per cent to 20 per cent. More than half of the marriages involve age differences of more than five years, the study by the Office for National Statistics showed. Examples include the actress Gwyneth Paltrow, 31, who married Chris
Martin, 26, last week. The actress Emma Thompson, 44, is married to Greg Wise, 37, and Madonna's husband, Guy Ritchie, 35, is 10 years her junior. One of the reasons for the trend is that older women who want children are attracted to younger, healthy males, statisticians say. Women in their thirties and forties are also more emotionally independent, economically secure and enjoy their sexuality more. Men in their twenties and early thirties find these qualities very attractive.

The social implications暗示 of the change are significant. Until now, the assumption that wives are a few years younger than their husbands has dictated how governments reach economic decisions. The five-year gap between the retirement age of men and women is one result.

But in 2020, when the state pension age is equalised at 65, many women will reach retirement before their husbands. The report also shows a shift away from marrying before the age of 30.

In 1963, 77 per cent of men and 84 per cent of women were married by their 30th birthday. Now only 43 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women are married by that age. A spokesman for the Office of National Statistics said: "It may be that age is less important to people. The man does not have to be older to give the woman status or financial security. Marriage is more of an equal partnership."

Steve Slon, the editor of The Magazine of the American Association of Retired Persons, said: "Today women have the jobs, the money and they call the shots."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
37. saving grace 可以弥补缺点的优点,可取之处


Reading a report on Haiti's riot海地暴乱, I happened upon偶然发现 this phrase:
      
Pulling drivers out of their vehicles to rough them up殴打 and steal their cars, their only saving grace was their poor marksmanship枪法. One hoodlum强盗 who took aim with his revolver at the car in which I was travelling, missed from 10 yards.

saving grace means one good aspect among all the bad ones. Maybe it's a grace (merit) that saving sb. or sth. from being called the "incurable" ones.

Other phrase in the above sentence are:
rough up sb. or rough sb. up = to beat sb.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeti:

38. I am available.我可以(随时)供应

I am available. But I guess only if the woman is 70 or 80 years old would I be qualified
as her toy boy.

I think the reverse is a "trophy奖品,战利品 wife." Successful men are abandoning their
wives and taking on "pretty young things" as "wives", or should I say ,"playmates."

---
I have not been contributing anything major to here for a while. I have been spending a lot of time visiting other English Corner BBSes, trying to drum up招徕 some support for
our own BBS by telling people what we do and inviting them to come visit us.
I must have visited 12 to 15 of these places in the last two days.
Along the way, I answered a few queries, correct a few translations and essays
and that took away most of my time.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
albatross:
39. The writing on the wall 日子不多了,没几天活头了.

I once read in the bible the sentence "see the writing on the wall".
It means one's number is counted.
He is going to die, to have trouble. His fate is doomed.
Today I saw a report on "The Strait Times".
The title is "The writing on the wall".
I guess it must be used in its metaphoric meaning.
But when I click on the "full story", I saw it is plainly simple.
The graffiti在墙壁等上的涂抹乱写.
Haha...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40. The writing is on the wall


BAGHDAD - To see who is winning Iraqis' hearts and minds, just look at the graffiti on their walls.

'Saddam the bastard, where is he?' snarls a stripe of ochre yellow黄褐色 on a wall in downtown Baghdad.

Advertisement

&#39atience, patience, Baghdad, Saddam is coming,' promises another.

Under President Saddam Hussein, Iraqis who wrote political slogans on the walls were executed. Today, the city's walls are an open book.

'No Hakim, no Chalabi, I only want beer and lablabi,' declares one, comparing two Iraqi political leaders - Governing Council chief Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim and Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi - to a favoured Iraqi snack.

English graffiti tends towards the anti-American, like the ubiquitous到处存在的 'Down Bosch打倒布什'. But in Arabic script, Saddam is clearly losing the war of words.

'Saddam will return soon,' declares one wall.

'Through my a -- ,' retorts another.

Even the police join in. 'Saddam had his Eid in the outhouse,' rejoices one writer - possibly a policeman, since he also wrote 'Long live the brave Iraqi police' underneath, on the wall of the police station.

Mr Amir Nayef Toma, 52, a retired radar man in the Iraq army, said: 'This is a very dangerous matter, this matter of the writing.

'Because through it, you can understand the entire feelings of a people - their suffering, their feelings and even their hopes.'
回复

使用道具 举报

您需要登录后才可以回帖 登录 | 注册

本版积分规则

Archiver|手机版|小黑屋|网上读书园地

GMT+8, 2024-11-15 04:44 , Processed in 0.226468 second(s), 18 queries .

Powered by Discuz! X3.5

© 2001-2024 Discuz! Team.

快速回复 返回顶部 返回列表