知识加油站－词汇天地

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071tricks







up to your tricks
up to your old tricks
If you say that someone is up to their tricks or up to their old tricks, you mean that they are behaving in a deceitful, dishonest, or foolish way which is typical of them.

Homeowners wondering if estate agents are no longer up to their tricks should think again.

Bosnian seemed to be up to their old tricks of promising one thing and doing the opposite.

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072two







put two and two together
If you put two and two together, you correctly guess the truth about something from the information that you have. You can replace `put' with `add'.

He never came out and said, `I am Jewish', but after a period of time, I put two and two together, and I assumed he was.

He knew perfectly well who mother had been. He had only to think back to the time he'd dropped in on Grace and seen that book on pregnancy to put two and two together.

If you say that someone puts two and two together and makes five, you mean that they reach the wrong conclusion about something.

Mr Lane's solicitor said after the case that police put two and two together and made five.

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073Peter







rob Peter to pay Paul
If someone is robbing Peter to pay Paul, they are using money meant for paying off one debt to pay off a different debt and so they are still in debt.

His mortgages ran into arrears and he borrowed from loan companies. He started robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I have not starved yet but I am very conscious of shelving debts, of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

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074depth







depth
out of your depth
If you are out of your depth, you feel anxious and inadequate because you have to deal with a situation or subject which you know very little about.

You may feel out of your depth on an honours degree course, in which case a change to a diploma course may be a good idea.

Faced with the latest in medical high-tech, the baffled prince admitted being out of his depth.

who struggled for 90 embarrassing minutes, hopelessly out of his depth, managed to come up with the most honest assessment -- `We just didn't play that well.'  

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075limits







off limits
If an area is off limits to someone, they are not allowed to go there. If a thing is off limits to someone, they are not allowed to use it or do it.

The area was kept off-limits to foreign journalists until early this year.

The ideal is to have one room that's off-limits for the kids.

Many of the biggest and most desirable trees in those forests would soon be off limits to the timber industry.  

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076view







a bird's-eye view
If you have a bird's-eye view of a situation, you are able to form a clear impression of what is happening. Compare a worm's eye view.

Before I left England, I was a parliamentary lobby correspondent, getting a bird's eye view of the way politicians encourage people to believe in dreams.

People often change `bird' to a word that is relevant to what they are talking about.

He seems to have a soldier's eye view.

a child's eye view of the war based on his own experiences.

His pilot's licence enabled us to have a bird's-eye view of the beautiful countryside.

I remember with affection the dmus and splendid Glasgow `blue trains' which gave the added bonus of a driver's eye view.

take a dim view of something
take a poor view of something
If you take a dim view of something, you disapprove of it. In British English, you can also say that you take a poor view of it.

Back in 1989 he took a dim view of lotteries, and wrote to a proposer: `I do support your proposal for a lottery and would wish not to be involved at this stage.'

The French take a dim view of anyone who only snacks at lunchtime and it is usually best to choose one of the fixe set menus, chalked on boards outside.

Fellow critics took a poor view of a critic who reviewed Paramount films and accepted a fee from the studio.

a worm's eye view   
If you say that someone has a worm's eye view of something, you mean that they are able to form an impression of what is happening in a situation, but that they have a low status, or are considered inferior in some way. Compare a bird's-eye view.

Let me offer, then, a worm's eye view of what Thatcherism was, and what its legacy may be.

were considered to leaders who, for the most part, `were complete fools, with a worm's eye view of the world and a poor understanding of their jobs'.

If only gardeners would care, occasionally, to get down and take a worm's eye view of their lawns, they would discover a mass of fascinating and horticulturally very useful information.

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077stump







on the stump
If politicians are on the stump, they are travelling to different places and speaking to voters as part of their election campaign. This expression is used mainly in American English, but is becoming more common in British English.

He began appearing frequently on the stump and in one celebrated incident mounted a soapbox and grabbed a megaphone to shout down hostile demonstrators.

Despite his falling popularity, the president braved it on the stump today on behalf of his fellow Republicans.