美国习语:强迫做事，要价太高

为了帮助大家更好的学习英语。今天小编给大家带来美国习语，希望能够帮助到大家，下面小编就和大家分享，来欣赏一下吧。

美国习语:强迫做事，要价太高

I didn't want to see that movie about Mozart, but my roommate twisted my arm. I'm glad he did -- it was a great show. My son has been twisting my arm to let him take my car out on a date ever since he got his driver's license. This weekend, I finally let him take it. And now it's in the body shop for a thousand dollars of repairs: he had an accident on the way to pick up his girlfriend. Don't go to that fancy new restaurant. The food isn't very good and they charge you an arm and a leg for it. Say, if you need a dentist, you might want to try my brother. He's fresh out of dental school and trying to set up a practice. He does good work, but he won't charge you an arm and a leg for it like most other dentists.

今天我们要讲的两个习惯用语是由 arm，也就是手臂和leg，也就是腿这两个字组成的。我们要介绍的第一个词汇是：To twist someone's arm。Twist是拧，用力扭转的意思。一个人要是给别人把手臂拧到身后去那是很难受的。To twist someone's arm这个习惯用语的意思也正是如此，它是指给某人施加压力，迫使他做你要他做的事。下面这个例子是一个学生说的话： 例句-1: "I didn't want to see that movie about Mozart, but my roomate twisted my arm. I'm glad he did -- it was a great show." 他说："我本来不想去看那个有关莫扎特的电影的。可是，我同房间的同学硬逼着要我去。不过，看了电影后我倒很高兴，因为那个电影太好了。" 这个学生还算运气，尽管他本来不愿意，可是结果还不错。但是，被迫做的事往往会产生不愉快的结局。请听下面这位爸爸说的话： 例句-2:"My son has been twisting my arm to let him take my car out on a date ever since he got his driver's license. This weekend, I finally let him take it. And now it's in the body shop for a thousand dallars of repairs: he had an accident on the way to pick up his girlfriend." 他说："自从我儿子拿到驾驶执照以来，他一直闹着要开我的车去赴约会。这个周末，我终于答应了。可是，他在去接女朋友的路上出了车祸，现在我的车正在车库里修，要花一千美元呢。" 下面我们要讲的一个俗语里既有 arm 也有 leg：To charge someone an arm and a leg。Charge就是要多少价钱的意思。任何东西要你付出一只手臂，还加上一条腿恐怕要价也太高了一点，很不值得。很明显，to charge someone an arm and a leg的意思就是要价太高。下面这句话就是一个例子： 例句-3: "Don't go to that fancy new restaurant. The food isn't very good and they charge you an arm and a leg for it!" 这个人说："别上那个新开的高级饭馆去。他们的菜并不好，而价钱倒贵得要命。" 在美国，一般人都很怕去看牙大夫。这不仅是为了怕痛，而是他们要价都很高，动一点小手术就是好几百美元，有的甚至要几千美元。下面这句话就反应了这个情况： 例句-4: "Say, if you need a dentist, you might want to try my brother. He's fresh out of dental school and trying to set up a practice. But he does good work, and he won't charge you an arm and a leg for it like most other dentists." 这个人说："喂，要是你想找牙大夫，你可以上我弟弟那里去试一下。他刚毕业，正在设法开业。可是，他技术很好，也不会像其他许多牙大夫那样收费很高。" 现在我们来复习一下今天讲的两个习惯用语。 第一个是 to twist someone's arm，那是强迫某人做你要他做的事。 第二个是 to charge someone an arm and a leg，这是指要价太高。

美国习语:高度警觉，很忙

Every two weeks while the Congress is in session, I try to get back home to California to talk to the people. This doesn't give me much time to relax with my family, but I have to keep an ear to the ground and hear what voters are thinking about. I try to keep an ear to the ground and what I hear these days is that most people think we spend too much money on building roads and not enough on our schools. Half the people in my office are home sick, so I'm up to my ears. Gee, honey, you know I'd like to help you paint the kitchen tonight, but I'm up to my ears in paper work I had to bring home from the office. The mayor says that he didn't know people on his staff were taking bribes. But my guess is he's up to his ears in it.

大约一百五十年前，美国一些开荒的人逐步地到西部的荒野去开拓。这些拓荒者从当地印第安人那里学到了一个诀窍，那就是躺下身来把耳朵贴在地上，就可以听到几英里以外野兽奔跑的蹄声。这对于那些拓荒者来说是非常重要的，因为他们听到的蹄声也许是印第安人骑着马来攻打他们的马群奔跑声，也可能是几千头受惊的野牛正向他们奔驰而来。如果不及时躲避，他们会被这些野兽践踏成泥的。现在，印第安人和野牛群的威胁已经没有了。可是，把耳朵贴在地上这个诀窍已经成为一个俗语，在英文里也就是 to keep an ear to the ground。 To keep an ear to the ground，它的意思就是保持高度警觉，及早发现那些即将会发生的事情的预兆。比如说，一个精明的政客对选民的想法总是很警觉的，有时候，一些选民还没有想到的事，他们倒已经想到了。下面一位国会议员说的话正好说明了这一点： 例句-1:"Every two weeks while the Congress is in session, I try to get back home to California to talk to people. This doesn't give me much time to relax with my family, but I have to keep an ear to the ground and hear what voters are thinking about." 这位议员说："当国会举行会议的时候我每两个星期设法抽空回加州一次去和当地的人进行交谈。我没有多少时间可以和家人在一起，但是我得及时了解选民的想法。" 下面我们再听听另外一个议员说的话： 例句-2:"I try to keep an ear to the ground and what I hear these days is that most people think we spend too much money on building roads and not enough on our schools." 这个议员说："我总是设法注意人们的想法。最近我听说，大多数人认为我们在筑路方面花钱太多，而用在学校方面的钱却不足。" 下面我们要讲的一个习惯用语也是和耳朵，也就是ear有关的。它是 up to one's ears。 Up to one's ears有好几个意思。首先，它可以解释成"很忙"的意思。比如说： 例句-3: "Half the people in my office are home sick, so I'm up to my ears!" 这个人说："我办公室里有一半的人有病请假，所以我简直忙得不得了。" 下面这个例子是一个丈夫为了逃避到厨房去帮他太太的忙正在找借口： 例句-4:"Gee, honey, you know I'd like to help you paint the kitchen tonight, but I'm up to my ears in paper work I had to bring home from the office. " 这个丈夫说："亲爱的，你知道我很愿意今晚帮你把厨房上油漆。可是我从办公室带回来好些要做的事。" Up to one's ears这个习惯用语在下面这句句子里的意思就不同了： 例句-5:"The mayor says he didn't know people on his staff were taking bribes. But my guess is he's up to his ears in it." 这句话的意思是："市长说他不知道他手下的工作人员接受贿赂。可是，我猜想他完全是介入这些事的。" 今天我们讲了两个习惯用语，第一个是 to keep an ear to the ground，意思是保持高度警觉。另一个是 up to one's ears，这是指很忙，或者是完全介入某件事的意思。

美国习语:美国派，烫山芋

So many Asian restaurants have opened up in Washington that a writer on a daily paper here jokes that dim sum, Japanese sushi and Vietnamese spring rolls have become as American as apple pie. Football and baseball are as American as apple pie.These two games were invented by Americans and they're played and watched everywhere in this country. Many people sit glued to their TV sets whenever there are major competitions. The question of whether to raise taxes to cut the budget deficit is a real hot potato for a lot of politicians. If I were you, I'd drop that client like a hot potato; he's always suing somebody for something, but he usually loses and doesn't pay his lawyer's bills.

as American as apple pie hot potato 美国人很喜欢吃 apple pie。 Apple pie是一种用烤箱制作的甜点心，它的外面是一层面粉，里面是用苹果做的馅儿。中文有时把 apple pie翻成"苹果排"。美国人喜爱吃 apple pie 是他们刚从欧洲移居到美洲来以后就开始了。每个家庭主妇都经常做苹果排。为了说明 apple pie 是美国生活的一个特点，人们常说: "As American as apple pie." 这句话的意思是：就像苹果排一样具有美国特色。下面就是一个例子： "So many Asian restaurants have opened up in Washington that a writer on a daily paper here jokes that dim sum, Japanese sushi and Vietnamese spring rolls have become as American as applie pie." 这句话的意思是："华盛顿开了那末多亚洲饭馆，一家报纸的记者开玩笑地说，广东点心、日本生鱼片加饭团和越南春卷都已经变成像苹果排一样的美国食品了。" 美国人和其他各民族一样具有很多特色。除了爱吃applie pie以外，美国人有一个很突出的特点就是，他们非常喜爱运动，特别是球赛。许多大学都愿意录取好的运动员，给他们奖学金，但是他们得在念书的同时花好多时间练球，参加比赛，为学校争光。美国人喜爱球赛是有历史根源的，因为有些球类运动都是起源于美国。下面这个例子就说明了这一点： "Football and baseball are as American as apple pie.These two games were invented by Americans and played and watched everywhere in this country. Many people sit glue to their TV sets whenever there are major competitions." 他说："橄榄球和棒球是美国式的运动，因为它们是美国人发明的，全国各地都有人打这种球或看这类球赛。每当有重大比赛时，许多人就坐在电视机前不肯动了。" 美国人也很喜欢吃土豆，特别是刚从烤箱里拿出来的一个个热气腾腾的土豆。下面我们要介绍的一个俗语是: hot potato。大家都知道 hot 的意思是热或烫。 Potato就是土豆。热的土豆固然好吃，但是它会烫你的手，你会想法马上甩掉的。 Hot potato作为俗语，它的意思就是一个争论很激烈的问题，没有一个人愿意为它承担责任。例如： "The question of whether to raise taxes to cut the budget deficit is a real hot potato for a lot of politicians." 这个人说："是否用增加税收的方法来减少预算赤字的问题对于许多政客来说是一个棘手的问题。" 下面这个例子是一位律师在给另一位律师提供建议： "If I were you, I'd drop that client like a hot potato; he's always suing somebody for something, but he usually loses and he doesn't pay his lawyer's bills." 这个律师说："要是我是你的话，我就把你那个顾客马上甩掉。他老是为了什么事去告别人，可是他总是输给别人，他还往往不付律师费。" 今天我们讲了两个和美国人的特色有关的俗语。第一个是 as American as apple pie，这个俗语的意思是：和苹果排一样具有美国特色。我们讲的第二个俗语是 hot potato，hot potato是指难解决的问题。

美国习语: 胡说，回扣

Honey, the old man told me what a great job I'm doing and how I am so valuable to the company. But he said the company isn't making enough money right now to give anybody a raise, he thinks he may be able to do something about it a year from now. But I'm afraid all he gave me was a lot of baloney. Baloney ! That's all it is when my opponent keeps saying that my voting record always favors big business over the average citizen. Let me say it again: that's nothing but baloney ! John Doe, the former head of the City Public Works Department, went on trial today in the district court. He is charged with taking a 50,000-dollar kickback from the Blank Construction Company after giving them a 3 million dollars contract to repair the city streets. We thought our congressman was a sure bet to be re-elected. But he's in real trouble -- his opponent charges him with getting kickbacks for voting a certain way and seems to have some evidence to prove it.

baloney kickback 各位肯定碰到过那种会胡说八道的人，他们不是说谎，就是在形容某些事物的时候夸大其词。美国人在日常谈话中有好几种说法是指那些胡言乱语的。今天我们先给大家介绍一个经常能听到的说法：baloney。Baloney这个字是来自意大利地名Bologna，那里出一种很便宜的香肠，里面放的是一些质量不太好的肉末。Bologna是怎么变成baloney的，这就不太清楚了。可是，人们逐渐用baloney这个字来形容某些人说的话一钱不值。比如说，有一个叫琼斯的人向老板提出要求加工资。老板说了些好听的话就把他打发走了。回到家里，当琼斯太太问起这件事时，琼斯说： "Honey, the old man told me what a great job I'm doing and how I am so valuable to the company. But he said the company isn't making enough money right now to give anybody a raise, he thinks he may be able to do something about it a year from now. But I'm afraid all he gave me was a lot of baloney." 琼斯对他太太说："亲爱的，那老头说我工作做得如何好，我对公司来说又是如何重要。但是，他说，当前公司没有足够的收入来给任何人加工资。他说明年他也许能想办法给我加工资。不过，他说的那些话恐怕多半都是空话。" 政客们在竞选的时候经常会遭到对方的攻击，他们也经常用baloney这个字来回击对方。例如，一个参加竞选的议员看到对方在电视和报上指责他和一些大企业的关系太密切。然后，他就在记者会上说： "Baloney ! That's all it is when my opponent keeps saying that my voting record always favors big business over the average citizen. Let me say it again: that's nothing but baloney !" 这个议员说："胡说!我的对立面说我在投票时老是从大企业的利益出发，而不考虑一般老百姓。让我再重复一遍：他们的这些话纯属一派胡言。" 可是，在现实生活中我们也确实看到有的政客老是维护有钱人的利益，有的还甚至接受贿赂。美国人把那些政府官员接受的贿赂称为：kickback。政府官员接受贿赂是违反美国联邦、州和其他地方法律的，可能会受到严厉的惩罚。请听一位之声记者广播的一则新闻： "John Doe, the former head of the City Public Works Department, went on trial today in the district court. He is charged with taking a 50,000-dollar kickback from the Blank Construction Company after giving them a 3 million dollars contract to repair the city streets." 这句话的意思是："以前市政工程部的头头约翰多伊今天在地区法院受审。他的罪名是接受布兰克建筑公司给他的五万美元贿赂，以换取他给该公司一项价值三百万美元修理街道的合同。" 下面是一个选民在讲他们地区的一位议员： "We thought our congressman was a sure bet to be re-elected. But he's in real trouble--his opponent charges him with getting kickbacks for voting a certain way and seems to have some evidence to prove it." 他说："大家都以为我们的议员肯定会再次当选的，但是他现在可碰到麻烦事了，他的对手指责他在对某项提案进行投票方面接受贿赂，而且他们好像还有证据。" 今天我们讲了两个美国人常用的俗语，它们是：baloney和kickback。Baloney是指胡说八道，kickback是指官员接受贿赂。

美国习语:办事容易，容易办事

Getting grandmother to loan me the money was as easy as taking candy from a baby. Louey told us that robbing this bank would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. But somebody told the police and they were waiting for us. We had no choice but to throw down our guns and surrender. Honey, I finally asked Old Man Jones for my raise. And it was a piece of cake. At the briefing before we took off to bomb the Germans, our commander told us it would probably be a tough flight. But it turned out to be a piece of cake: no anti-aircraft fire and no enemy fighters.

一般人在做任何事情的时候总是想找捷径，越容易越好，这似乎是人的本性。因此，在英语里有不少成语和俗语是形容办事很容易的。其中之一就是：To take candy from a baby。Candy就是吃的糖，baby在中文里就是小孩。To take candy from a baby的意思就是：某件事情很容易办成，就像把孩子手里的糖拿来一样。请听下面这个例子： 例句-1: "Getting grandmother to loan me the money was as easy as taking candy from a baby." 这个人说："要我祖母借我那笔钱那简直是太容易了。" 我们再来举一个例子吧。这是一个被关在监狱里的犯人在和牢房里另一个犯人说话： 例句-2: "Louey told us that robbing this bank would be as easy as taking candy from a baby. But somebody told the police and they were waiting for us. We had no choice but to throw down our guns and surrender." 这个犯人说："洛伊对我们说，要抢那个银行简直太容易了。可是，不知谁去报告了警察。到我们去抢银行时，警察在那里等着我们。我们没办法，只好放下枪投降。" To take candy from a baby，欺负小孩，从小孩手里拿糖，在想象当中是很容易的。但是，实际情况恐怕并不见得如此。发明这个成语的人也许从来也没有设法把婴儿的小拳头扒开，然后把那小手里的糖拿来。任何做过父母的人都会告诉你孩子一般都会紧握着手里的糖不放，要是你硬是要拿，他就会大声哭叫。可是，尽管如此，to take candy from a baby已经成为美国人经常用来形容办事容易的词汇了。 另外一个形容事情很容易办的俗语也是和食品有联系的，这就是：A piece of cake。Piece 是指一片，或一块;cake就是蛋糕。A piece of cake的意思当然可以是指一块蛋糕。可是，作为俗语，它的意思就成了：这件事太容易了。例如，一个工作人员，犹豫了好久，最后终于鼓足了勇气去和老板提出增加工资的要求。他原来以为要和老板进行一番争论。可是，出乎他的意料，老板马上同意了，还说，他确实应该增加工资了。这样，他喜笑颜开地回到家里对太太说： 例句-3: "Honey, I finally asked Old Man Jones for my raise. And it was a piece of cake!" 他说："亲爱的，我终于对老琼斯提了要求增加工资的事。我没有费吹灰之力他一口答应了。" 首先使用 A piece of cake 这个俗语的是二次世界大战期间联军的飞行员。那时，他们往往是这样说的： 例句-4: "At the briefing before we took off to bomb the Germans, our commander told us it would probably be a tough flight. But it turned out to be a piece of cake: no anti-aircraft fire and no enemy fighters." 这句话的意思是："在我们起飞去轰炸德国人之前举行的情况介绍会上，我们的司令官告诉我们这次飞行任务可能很艰巨。但是，结果倒是非常容易，既没有高射炮射击，也没有敌机来干扰。" 上面我们讲了两个形容事情很容易办的俗语。一个是To take candy from a baby;第二个俗语是A piece of cake。

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