知识加油站－词汇天地

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078chain







pull someone's chain   
yank someone's chain
If you pull someone's chain or yank their chain, you tease them about something, for example by telling them something which is not true. These expressions are used mainly in American English.

sat next to Wade's car, and he decided to take it: what the hell, why not? Let the man show him just how far he could go. Pull his chain, rattle his cage, shake the man up a little.

I glared at her, and she smiled. When would I learn to smarten up and ignore her when she yanked my chain?

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079red-handed

catch someone red-handedIf someone is caught red-handed, they are caught while they are doing something illegal or wrong. In fact, the burglar wasn't inside the flat, but on the roof and was caught red-handed by the police. Three smugglers caught red-handed with several kilograms of uranium and other radioactive materials were detained last week in the southern Polish city of Rzeszow.

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080straight







the straight and narrow
If someone keeps you on the straight and narrow, they help you to live an honest, decent life and prevent you from doing immoral or illegal things.

He depended on me when he was working to keep him on the straight and narrow, to keep some sense of perspective about what life was all about.

Education a devout Catholic, is determined to introduce a new classroom culture of morality to set youngsters on the straight and narrow.

The goal is to prevent them from straying from the straight and narrow.

straight as a die1   
If you say that someone is straight as a die, you mean that they are completely honest. This expression is used in British English.

But I got the impression that deviousness is not one of characteristics. He is, as the know more about deviousness and deception than any other race in the would say, as straight as a die.

straight as a die2   
If you say that something is straight as a die, you are emphasizing that it is very straight. This expression is used in British English.

The streets are lined up, straight as a die, along the left bank of the Guadiana estuary.

He pauses to point out a trunk that rises straight as a die -- an ash tree.

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081deal







a done deal
If something such as a plan or project is a done deal, it has been completed or arranged and it cannot be changed. This expression is used mainly in American English.

We're rushing it as fast as we can, and it ought to be a done deal by the middle of next week.

The pact is far from being a done deal. It must be ratified by the legislative bodies of all three countries.

get a raw deal
You can say that someone gets a raw deal when you feel that they have been treated unfairly or badly. Verbs such as `have' and `give' are often used instead of `get'.

must ask why bank customers get such a raw deal. And then find ways to make sure they get treated fairly in future.

White people were gloomy about prospects for racial harmony, with 53 per cent seeing no end to racial tension from 44 per cent in and 30 per cent thinking Blacks got a raw deal in the job market.

I have seen numerous cases where the foreign-born minority were given a raw deal and were treated as second-class or third-class citizens.

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082wake







in something's wake
You say that an event leaves an unpleasant situation in its wake when that situation happens after that event or is caused by it.

A deadly cloud of gas swept along the valleys north of Lake Nyos in western Cameroon, leaving a trail of death and devastation in its wake.

Mr has disappeared, leaving in his wake debts of over ￡2 million.

in the wake of something
If an event, especially an unpleasant one, follows in the wake of a previous event, it happens after the earlier event, often as a result of it.

The trouble at Shotts prison follows in the wake of unrest at several prisons in England.

He remained in office until 1985 when he resigned in the wake of a row with the Socialist government.

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083small







make someone feel small
make someone look small
If you say that someone makes you feel small or makes you look small, you mean that they deliberately say or do something which makes you look or feel stupid, especially in front of other people.

He made me feel small, like an idiot.

When your children misbehave, tell them without making them feel small.

I could see he was going to do whatever he could to make me look small.

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084cats

it's raining cats and dogs    You say `it's raining cats and dogs' to emphasize that it is raining very heavily. This expression is considered old-fashioned in British English. `Could you see how he looked?' `Not really. It was raining cats and dogs by then.' `You mean she wasn't wearing a coat, even though it was raining cats and dogs?'