The Garden of English Idioms

yuer

[B]Food idioms[/B]


[B]a bad egg [/B]
壞蛋 (a bad person, bum)。
That man is a bad egg so you should try and avoid him if you can.


[B]a hard/tough nut to crack [/B]
難對付或打交道的人；難處理的事情；棘手的問題。
He is a very serious person and is a very hard nut to crack.


[B]a hot potato [/B]
燙手的山芋；難對付的人；棘手的事。
The issue of building the nuclear power plant is a real hot potato for the local town council.


[B]a piece of cake [/B]
極容易完成的事情或工作。
It was a piece of cake. I had everything done before lunch this morning.


[B]as nutty as a fruitcake [/B]
腦袋有毛病；神經不正常；傻呼呼。
He is a very nice man but he acts strange sometimes and I often think that he is as nutty as a fruitcake.


[B]a/the big cheese [/B]
大人物：要人；領袖。
He is a big cheese in his company so you should be very nice to him.


[B]bread and butter [/B]生計；生活基本必需品。
The voters are worried about bread and butter issues like jobs and taxes.


[B]bring home the bacon [/B]
維持家計；獲致成功。
Recently he has been working very hard trying to bring home the bacon. He has no time to do anything else.


[B]butter both sides of one's bread [/B]
左右逢源；雙份收入；同時兩面獲利。
He's buttering both sides of his bread - he works for us during the day and has a job with another company during the eveing.


[B]carrot and stick [/B]
恩威並濟。
The government took a carrot and stick approach to the people who were illegally protesting against the construction of the dam.


[B]chew the fat [/B]
閒聊。
We stayed up very late last night chewing the fat about our university days.


[B](as) cool as a cucumber[/B]
泰然自若；(遇到麻煩或困難) 極為冷靜。
He is always as cool as a cucumber and never worries about anything.


[B](the) cream of the crop [/B]
團體中最優秀的份子；最佳部分；精選部分。
The company is well-known as a good place to work and is always able to hire the cream of the crop of university graduates.


[B]cry over spilt milk [/B]
為不可挽回的過失或損失悲傷、懊悔；做無益的悔恨。
Don't cry over spilt milk. The past is past and you can't do anything to change it.


[B]cut the mustard[/B]
獲致成功；做得比預期的好。
He wasn't able to cut the mustard so he had to leave the army after only one year.


[B]duck soup [/B]
輕鬆的工作。
It was duck soup. I was able to finish everything early last night.


[B]eat crow [/B]
收回說過的話；承認錯誤或失敗。
I was forced to eat crow and had to apologize for the mistake that I made about the restructuring of our company.


[B]eat dirt[/B]
認輸；忍氣吞聲。
We made him eat dirt after he accused us of lying about the salary cut.


[B]eat humble pie [/B]
低頭認錯，賠不是。
Our boss was forced to eat humble pie after everyone realized that he had made the wrong budget estimate for next year.


[B]eat one's words [/B]
承認說錯話；低聲下氣地收回前言。
I told my boss that I would be leaving but later I had to eat my words and tell him that I wanted to stay.


[B]full of beans [/B]
興致勃勃；精力充沛。
She is full of beans tonight and doesn't want to stop talking.


[B]go back to the salt mines [/B]
回去工作 -- 自我解嘲或幽默的說法，用來表示「回去做不愉快的工作」的意思。
Well, lunch is over so let's go back to the salt mines for the afternoon.


[B]gravy train [/B]
肥缺；輕易賺大錢的機會。
For many years his job was a real gravy train but now the company has become very strict and will not pay overtime.


[B]have (or get) egg/jam on (or all over) one's face [/B]
丟臉；尷尬。
He has egg on his face because everyone knows that he was sick at the party.


[B]have one's cake and eat it too [/B]
魚與熊掌兼得。
He refuses to give up anything and always wants to have his cake and eat it too.


[B]have/keep one's finger (or a finger) in the pie [/B]
參與某事。注意：如果將 ... in the pie 改成 ... in every pie，則意為「樣樣事都插一手；凡事參與」。此外，還有 ... in a pie， ... in several pies 和 ... in many pies 的寫法。
He always tries to keep his finger in the pie so that he can control everything.


[B]hit the sauce [/B]
喝酒 (通常是指經常喝酒)。 sauce 的俚語就是「酒」。
I think that she has begun to hit the sauce since her husband lost his job.


[B]in a nutshell [/B]
簡言之；一言以蔽之；簡明扼要地。
We went to the meeting and they told us in a nutshell what would be happening to everyone next year.


[B]in the soup [/B]
處於困境。
She is really in the soup now. She told her boss that she was sick but he saw her downtown shopping.


[B]make one's mouth water[/B]
使人垂涎三尺；使人垂涎欲滴；使人直流口水。
The restaurant is supposed to be wonderful and every time that I see the menu it makes my mouth water.


[B]one's cup of tea[/B]
某人感興趣的事物；適合某人胃口的東西。
Going to art galleries is not my cup of tea so I think that I will stay home this evening and not go with you.


[B]out of the frying pan (and) into the fire [/B]
跳出油鍋又落火坑；才脫小災又遭大難；越來越倒楣。out of ... 前面的動詞通常使用 jump。
She quit the job because of some small problems but she has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire because now her problems are much worse.


[B]out to lunch [/B]
瘋狂；發瘋。
She is totally out to lunch and you should never believe what she tells you.


[B]polish the apple (with) [/B]
阿諛奉承；逢迎諂媚；拍馬屁；獻殷勤。
Nobody likes her because she is always trying to polish the apple with her teacher.


[B]sell like hot cakes [/B]
(由於價格低廉或熱門等緣故) 被搶著要；銷售得很快。
The new CD has only been released for about a week but already it is selling like hot cakes.


[B]spill the beans [/B]
洩漏秘密。
Please don't spill the beans about my plans to quit working and go back to school next year.


[B]stew in one's own juice [/B]
自作自受；自食惡果。
He is the one who caused the problem for himself and is now being forced to stew in his own juice.


[B]take a sledgehammer to crack/break a walnut/nut; crack/break a walnut/nut with a sledgehammer [/B]
殺雞用牛刀。
Three men spent all day yesterday mending my telephone. One man could have done the job in half an hour. It was like taking a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.


[B]take something with a grain/pinch of salt [/B]
對...半信半疑；對...持保留態度。
You should take everything that he says with a grain of salt as everyone knows that he likes to exaggerate things when he is speaking.


[B]teach one's grandmother to suck eggs [/B]
班門弄斧。
He is always telling the director how to run the business; that's like teaching his grandmother to suck eggs.


[B]the apple of one's eye [/B]
心愛的人或物；掌上明珠；心肝寶貝。
The little girl is the apple of her grandfather's eye.


[B]upset the/someone's apple cart (or apple-cart) [/B]
(無意間) 破壞計畫或事件；把事情搞砸或搞得一團糟。
Everything was going well at the company until he came along and upset the apple cart.


[B]worth one's salt [/B]
值得雇用的；有能力的；能勝任的。
He has only been working here for a month but over and over he has proved that he is worth his salt.

yuer

[B]Animal Idioms[/B]



[B]a big fish in a small/little pond [/B]
小池塘裡的大魚；小地方的大人物；矮子裡的高個子。
He wasn't so important in the big city but in the small town he is a big fish in a small pond.


[B]a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush [/B]
一鳥在手勝過二鳥在林；未到手的東西再好也不如已到手的東西。
You should keep the prize and not try and win another one. Remember a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.


[B]a bird's-eye view (of) [/B]
鳥瞰；概觀。
Let's go up onto the roof and get a bird's-eye view of the surrounding area.


[B]a bug in one's ear [/B]
一項暗示；一項構想。
You put a bug in his ear about a holiday to France and he won't stop talking about it.


[B](like) a bull in a china shop [/B]
笨手笨腳到處闖禍者；動輒闖禍者；莽莽撞撞的人。
He is like a bull in a china shop so you should be careful if you invite him to your house for the weekend.


[B]a can of worms[/B]
複雜的問題；複雜的情況。
It opened up a large can of worms when the company decided to talk about the union contract.


[B]a dark horse [/B]
黑馬；可能爆出冷門者；知名度不高的候選人。
He was a dark horse in the race to be President until he gave some good speeches on TV.


[B]a dead duck[/B]
沒有希望的人。
He is a dead duck. When the police find him he will have to go to jail.


[B]a feather in one's cap [/B]
榮譽；成就；值得自豪的事。
Winning the speech contest was a feather in his cap and we are very proud of him.


[B]a flea in one's ear [/B]
刺耳的話；不受歡迎的構想或答覆。
I think that I put a flea in his ear when I told him about the computer problems.


[B]a/the fly in the ointment[/B]
令人掃興的事或人；美中不足之處。
His complaints about the food were a fly in the ointment and gave everyone a bad feeling about the gathering.


[B]alley cat [/B]
野貓
He began to feed the alley cat and now it comes to his house every day.


[B]as the crow flies [/B]
成直線地；直線距離地。
As the crow flies it is about six kilometers between here and the cinema. 或 It is about six kilometers between here and the cinema as the crow flies.


[B]a wolf in sheep's clothing[/B]
披著羊皮的狼；貌善心毒的人。
Be careful of that man. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing.


[B]bark up the wrong tree [/B]
錯怪了人；找錯了目標。
He is barking up the wrong tree. He accuses me of causing the computer problem but I was away at the time.


[B]be for the birds [/B]
荒唐可笑的；無趣無聊的；愚蠢的。
This movie is for the birds. Let's leave now and go and have something to eat.


[B]be no spring chicken [/B]
(特指女子) 不再年輕；不是年輕的女子。spring chicken：年輕的女子。
I don't know how old she is but she is definitely no spring chicken.


[B]bet on the wrong horse/back the wrong horse [/B]
判斷錯誤；押錯了寶；支持了失敗的對象。
He is betting on the wrong horse if he keeps supporting the other city in their bid for the games.


[B]birds of a feather flock together ( 常略作：birds of a feather) [/B]
物以類聚；一丘之貉。
Don't complain about your friends. Remember birds of a feather flock together. They are just like you.


[B]buy a pig in a poke [/B]
未好好看一看就買下來：瞎買東西。
You can buy the used radio if you want but it will be like buying a pig in a poke.


[B]cash cow [/B]
搖錢樹；賺錢良方。
The new business is a great cash cow. We are making a lot of money now.


[B]cast pearls before swine [/B]
對牛彈琴；對不會心存感激的人施惠。
Giving that jewellery to her will be casting pearls before swine. She will not appreciate it at all.


[B]cat gets one's tongue[/B]
害羞得說不出話來。
The cat must have got her tongue. She did not saying anything at all.


[B]change horses in midstream [/B]
中途變卦 (尤指臨時決定支持另一方)；陣前換將。
They have decided to change lawyers but I told them that they shouldn't change horses in midstream.


[B]clip one's wings [/B]
限制某人的權力或影響力；約束或抑制某人。
We had to try and clip his wings as he was becoming too aggressive in dealing with other people.


[B]cold fish [/B]
孤僻的人；不友善的人。
He is a real cold fish and has no friends at his company at all.


[B]cook one's goose [/B]
毀了... 的前程；把事情搞砸了。
They really cooked their goose when they fought against their employer and lost.


[B](Don't) count one's chickens before they're hatched [/B]
(別) 高興得太早了。
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched - remember you haven't passed your exams yet and may not get the job you expect.


[B]cry wolf [/B]
喊「狼來了」；發假警報。
He is crying wolf. There is no real danger or worry about the electrical system causing a fire.


[B]curiosity killed the cat [/B]
好奇賈禍；好管閒事往往惹來一身麻煩。
You shouldn't worry about what he is doing. Remember curiosity killed the cat.


[B]dog-eat-dog [/B]
殘酷無情的競爭；你死我活的搏鬥。
It is a dog-eat-dog world outside the father said to his young son.


[B]donkey's years[/B]
很長的時間。
I talked to my friend for a long time because I hadn't seen her in donkey's years.


[B]duck soup[/B]
輕而易舉的事情。
The exam was duck soup. I am sure that I did very well.


[B]dumb bunny[/B]
愚笨的人；容易受騙的人。
He really is a dumb bunny. I can't believe that he can do such stupid things.


[B]eager beaver [/B]
工作勤奮的人。
She is a real eager beaver and I am sure she will do very well in this company.


[B]eat crow [/B]
(被迫)認錯、認輸、收回自己說過的話；忍氣吞聲。
He was forced to eat crow when he found out that what he said was totally wrong.


[B]eat like a bird[/B]
吃得很少；食量很小。
He must be sick as he has been eating like a bird during the last few weeks.


[B]eat like a horse[/B]
吃得很多；食量很大。
Her brother who is 18 years old eats like a horse.


[B]every dog has his day [/B]
人人皆有得意之日；好人終有好報，惡人終有惡報。
Don't worry about him. Every dog has his day and he will eventually suffer for all the bad things that he is doing.


[B]feather one's nest [/B]
中飽私囊；營私自肥。
He had been feathering his own nest for years so he finally was replaced in the election.


[B]get someone's goat [/B]
使人惱火。
She is always complaining about the way I do things which gets my goat.


[B]get on one's high horse [/B]
盛氣凌人；怒氣沖沖。注意：若 on 改為 off，意為「變得謙恭；不再動怒」(見下面的例句)。
She is always getting on her high horse and telling people what to do.
I wish that she would get off her high horse and begin to think about how other people feel about things.


[B]go ape [/B]
怒不可遏；抓狂發飆。
He will go ape if he sees that you have not finished the work that was due today.


[B]go whole hog[/B]
全力以赴；幹到底；事情做得很徹底。
They went whole hog in their effort to make sure that the convention was a success.


[B]have bats in the belfry [/B]
瘋狂地；古怪地。
I think that he has bats in the belfry. His ideas are absolutely crazy.


[B]hit the bull's-eye [/B]
正中要害；直指重點。
I think that he really hit the bull's-eye when he talked about the problems with the regular staff.


[B]hold one's horses [/B]
別急，等一下。
Hold your horses for a moment while I make a phone call.


[B]in a pig's eye[/B]
不太可能；幾乎不。
In a pig's eye he will be able to save enough money to go to Hawaii for the winter.


[B]in the doghouse (with) [/B]
失寵於；受...冷待。
He is in the doghouse with his wife because he went out drinking three times last week.


[B]kill the goose that lays the golden eggs [/B]
殺雞取卵；斷絕財路。
They sold part of their business but it was the most profitable part. I think that they have killed the goose that lays the golden eggs.


[B]kill two birds with one stone [/B]
一石兩鳥；一箭雙雕；一舉兩得。
Let's have the meeting when we are in town so we can kill two birds with one stone.


[B]let sleeping dogs lie [/B]
睡狗勿惹；不要惹是生非；不要自找麻煩。
You should let sleeping dogs lie and not ask him any questions about the argument.


[B]let the cat out of the bag [/B]
(無意中) 洩漏秘密；說溜了嘴；露出馬腳。
She let the cat out of the bag when she began talking about the plans for the new department.


[B]like a bat out of hell [/B]
飛快地。
He left here like a bat out of hell. I don't know why he was in such a hurry.


[B](feel) like a fish out of water[/B]
像離水的魚；(因處在陌生環境而) 感到不自在或尷尬。
She felt like a fish out of water when she went to the party in her formal dress while everyone else was wearing jeans.


[B]like water off a duck's back [/B]
不起作用；毫無影響。
Criticism falls away from him like water off a duck's back and he never worries about anything.


[B]lock the barn door after the house is gone /lock the stable door after the horse has bolted [/B]
亡羊補牢。
Now he wants to try and fix his house but it is like locking the barn door after the horse is gone. There was already a flood and the damage is done.


[B]look a gift horse in the mouth [/B]
對禮物吹毛求疵。
He shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and should be happy that he got a present from her.


[B]look like the cat that swallowed the canary [/B]
一副非常成功的樣子；一副非常滿足的樣子。
You look like the cat that swallowed the canary. What happened?


[B]mad as a hornet [/B]
非常生氣。
He was as mad as a hornet when he came to work this morning.


[B]make a beeline for [/B]
直奔...而去。
Whenever he goes to a football game he always makes a beeline for the food stand.


[B]make a mountain out of a molehill [/B]
大驚小怪；小題大作。
You are making a mountain out of a molehill with your going on and on about his mistake.


[B]monkey/funny business [/B]
搞鬼；胡鬧；惡作劇。
He should stop that monkey business and try to do the job the correct way.


[B]neither fish nor fowl [/B]
非驢非馬；不倫不類。
I don't know what you should call it. It is neither fish nor fowl.


[B]one's bark is worse than one's bite [/B]
口惡心善；脾氣雖暴躁，內心無惡意。
You shouldn't worry about her. Her bark is worse than her bite and she is really a very nice person.


[B]one's chickens come home to roost [/B]
惡有惡報；得到了報應；自作自受。
He was very inconsiderate of other people when he was supervisor. Now his chickens have come home to roost and people are very unkind to him.


[B]play cat and mouse with someone [/B]
捉弄或矇騙某人。
He is playing a cat and mouse game with his company about his plans to quit or not.


[B]put/set the cart before the horse [/B]
本末倒置；倒果為因。
I think that buying a ticket before we make any plans is putting the cart before the horse.


[B]rain cats and dogs [/B]
傾盆大雨。
It has been raining cats and dogs all day.


[B]ride herd on [/B]
嚴密監視及控制某人。
He has been riding herd on his employees so that he can get the job done in time.


[B]sitting duck [/B]
亦被射中的目標；易受批評的對象。
The soldier should move from that window. He is like a sitting duck for the enemy.


[B]smell a rat [/B]
感到事情不妙；覺得可疑。
I smell a rat. There is something wrong with his relationship to the bankers.


[B]stir up a hornet's nest[/B]
捅了馬蜂窩；惹了一大堆麻煩；引發眾怒。
He really stirred up a hornet's nest when he went to the meeting and started talking about the garbage problem.


[B]straight/right from the horse's mouth[/B]
從有關人員或源頭直接得知。
I heard straight from the horse's mouth that she will be leaving the company next week.


[B](the) straw that broke the camel's back [/B]
導致失敗、毀滅等的最後一個因素；壓死駱駝的最後一根稻草。
Her accusing me of not working hard enough was the straw that broke the camel's back so I finally asked for a transfer to another section of the company.


[B]take the bull by the horns [/B]
大膽而果斷地採取行動。
My aunt decided to take the bull by the horns and begin preparations for the family reunion.


[B]the birds and (the) bees[/B]
性知識。
He learned about the birds and bees in his health education class at school.


[B]the early bird catches the worm [/B]
早起的鳥而有蟲吃。
Let's leave about six o'clock in the morning. Remember the early bird catches the worm.


[B]the pecking order [/B]
社會階級；權力階級。
I have not worked there very long so I don't really understand the pecking order yet.


[B]the/a rat race [/B]
(尤指在大城市或商界) 激烈的競爭。
He is tired of living in the rat race every day and plans to quit his job soon and do something else.


[B]the world is someone's oyster[/B]
世界屬於某人；意氣風發；某人生活上能獲得種種機遇。
When you graduate from university the world will be your oyster so don`t worry about the future.


[B]throw someone to the lions/wolves [/B]
把某人置於險境；嫁禍給某人。
He decided to throw his co-worker to the wolves when he asked him to go and see the other company.


[B]till/until the cows come home [/B]
沒完沒了地；無限期地。
We can talk until the cows come home this weekend at the lake.


[B]turn tail [/B]
轉身就逃 (就跑、就走以避開麻煩或危險)。
We decided to turn tail and leave the pub before there was a fight.


[B]ugly duckling [/B]
醜小鴨 (指小時並不引人注意，但長大後卻非常出色或出眾的人)。
She was really an ugly duckling when she was a child but now she is quite beautiful.


[B]wildcat strike[/B]
工人自發性地突然罷工。
There was a wildcat strike at the factory and over 100 people walked off the job.


[B]with one's tail between one's legs [/B]
夾著尾巴；垂頭喪氣。
He left the meeting with his tail between his legs after he was criticized by the president.

蜡笔

Thanks,go on ?!

mikle

Thanks,go on ?!
----------------------------------------------
hbv，喜欢我是吗？
那就跟着我吧，看我有一天不扁死你！

我不去想是否能够成功
既然选择了远方
便只顾风雨兼程