知识加油站－词汇天地

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091purposes







at cross purposes
If two people are at cross purposes, there is a misunderstanding between them because they think they are talking about or trying to do the same thing as each other, but they are actually talking about or trying to do different things.

They had been talking at cross purposes earlier, Enron realized. The Hungarian hadn't been offering Israel a slice of the deal at all.

Now that Council members are working together instead of at cross purposes, the chances for a third major project, Gateway 101, look considerably brighter.

The contract had been signed on his behalf by a new, inexperienced agent who was somehow working at cross-purposes with Faulkner's usual representative.

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092cold







catch someone cold   
In sport, if you are caught cold, you are not prepared for an attack by your opponent, and you suffer because of it. This expression is used mainly in British journalism.

Northern, seeking their eighth successive League win, were caught cold by Castleford.

Dewsbury maintained their two-point lead at the top of the Third Division with a 29-14 win after Cumbrian had caught them cold to lead 8-4 at the interval.

cold as ice
If you say that someone or something is as cold as ice, you are emphasizing that they are very cold.

A hand that felt as cold as ice touched her forehead.

The next morning, Snoot sat cold as ice through breakfast, unyielding to Claire's hand on his shoulder as she passed his chair.

People also use the much more frequent adjective ice-cold to mean the same thing.

He took a mouthful of the ice cold beer.

He felt a lash of fear, running ice-cold down his spine.

come in from the cold
bring someone in from the cold
If someone or something comes in from the cold, they become popular, accepted, or active again after a period of unpopularity or lack of involvement. You can also say that they are brought in from the cold.

have been looking to come in from the cold for five years. Their in one hand and ballot box in the other strategy has stagnated.

Over the past two years, Swedish investors have come in from the cold.

Grenada's former Health Minister who was fired from office two months ago has been brought in from the cold by the Prime Minister.

leave someone cold
If something leaves you cold, it does not excite or interest you at all.

Given the world situation, chit-chat about shopping and hairdos leaves you cold.

I am not proud that modern `classical' music leaves me cold: just honest.

out in the cold
If a person or organization is left out in the cold, they are ignored by other people and are not asked to take part in activities with them.

The Association of South-East Asian has expressed concern that developing countries might be left out in the cold in current world trade talks.

is why Burma still finds itself partly out in the cold.

has complained in public that husband doesn't pay her enough attention. `He's leaving me out in the cold,' 29-year-old Ghost told guests.

when one person sneezes, another catches cold   
If you say that when one country or person sneezes, another catches cold, you mean that the things that happen to one country or person have a great effect or influence on other countries or people. This expression is used mainly in British English.

When America sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. Applying this adage to financial markets, some onlookers fear that this week's necessary increase in American interest rates may hinder equally necessary interest-rate cuts in Europe and Japan.

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093diamond







a rough diamond1
a diamond in the rough
If you refer to someone, especially a man, as a rough diamond, you like and admire them because of the good qualities they have, even though they are not very sophisticated or well-mannered. This form of the expression is used mainly in British English; in American English, the usual form is a diamond in the rough.

Marden was the rough diamond of the three, feared for his sardonic ruthlessness respected for his First World War Military Cross.

`The character I'd like to have met,' Stanley Marric said, `was Arthur Crook. I could really identify with a rough-diamond kind of lawyer like him.'

I liked Neil Murphy, good AA-type treatment who is somewhat of a diamond in the rough.

a rough diamond2   
a diamond in the rough
If you refer to someone or something as a rough diamond, you mean that they have a lot of talent or potential which needs hard work before it can be revealed. This form of the expression is used mainly in British English; in American English, the usual form is a diamond in the rough.

British first novels are more likely to be rough diamonds, with flashes of inspiration in an imperfect whole.

When I heard this lady sing, thought, I said `Oh, my goodness.' So I ran to the theater, I said, `Chick, I found myself a diamond in the rough.'

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094tracks







cover your tracks
If someone covers their tracks, they hide or destroy evidence of their identity or actions, because they want to keep them secret.

He was a very clever man, a very careful man who never took a chance, a man who totally covered his tracks.

The killer Norfolk schoolgirl Johanna Young may have returned to the scene of the crime to cover his tracks.

from the wrong side of the tracks
If you say that someone comes from the wrong side of the tracks, you mean that they come from a poor, unfashionable, and lower-class area of town.

I know kids back home who come from the wrong side of the tracks. go to school, haven't eaten and their clothes are all torn.

Black music, in the Western world, has always been considered to have emanated from the wrong side of the tracks.

make tracks
If you make tracks, you leave the place where you are, usually in a hurry.

Webb looked at the bar clock. `Ten past nine. We might as well be making tracks.'

Hawkins knew it was time to make tracks out of the country.

About 8pm, we decided it was time to start making tracks, but we all found it difficult to get going.

stop someone in their tracks1
stop someone dead in their tracks
If something stops you in your tracks or stops you dead in your tracks, it makes you suddenly stop moving or doing something because you are very surprised, impressed, or frightened.

Seen across wide fields of corn magnificent cannot fail to stop you in your tracks.

They stopped in their tracks and stared at him in amazement.

They turned round. And then they stopped dead in their tracks, their hearts beating fast. Somebody was behind them.

stop something in its tracks2
stop something dead in its tracks
If someone or something stops a process or activity in its tracks or stops it dead in its tracks, they make it immediately stop continuing or developing.

If Chancellor pulls the plug on the ￡22 billion programme, the resulting job losses could stop Britain's economic revival dead in its tracks.

Francis felt he would like to stop this conversation in its tracks. He wished neither to confirm nor deny Cosmo's suspicions.

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095apple







the apple of your eye
If you say that someone is the apple of your eye, you mean that you are very fond of them.

I was the apple of my father's eye.

Penny's only son was the apple of her eye.

a bad apple
a rotten apple
a bad apple spoils the barrel
If you refer to someone as a bad apple or as a rotten apple, you mean that they are very dishonest, immoral, or unpleasant, and that they have a bad influence on the people around them.

It's an opportunity for them to make clear that they are not going to tolerate a bad apple in the United States Senate.

In any profession, there's always the rotten apple, isn't there.

People talk about a bad apple spoiling the barrel or a rotten apple spoiling the barrel when they are talking particularly about the bad influence which the person has. This expression is very variable.

Let's be positive, not Doehring said: One bad apple doesn't spoil the barrel.

He says there are some rotten apples in our security barrel.

lspjy

096part







look the part1
If someone looks the part, they dress or behave in the way that is characteristic of a particular kind of person.

You look the part of an English gentleman, so he is half ready to believe you as soon as you meet.

He won't say which army but friends suspect it may have been the Foreign Legion. He certainly looks the part: his hair is crew cut and he has a raw gash above his left eye.

look the part2
If you want to say that someone or something seems impressive, you can say that they look the part. This expression is used mainly in British English.

Strachan believes that Cantona has always had the hallmark that distinguishes world-class players from the rest. `When I played for Scotland in France, Eric scored against us, and even then I thought he looked the part,' he says.

The Alpha 5 CD certainly looks the part with a stylish slimline design, moulded front panel and finely-textured paint finish.

part and parcel
If one thing is part and parcel of another, it is involved or included in it and cannot be separated from it.

It was a house healthy -- and noisy -- with political argument and dissent; strong views and humour were part and parcel of home life.

There comes a time during every player's season when his form dips and the goals don't go in. It's part and parcel of being a professional.

He said it's all part and parcel, just a day's work really, you know, it's nothing serious.

take someone's part
If you take someone's part, you support them or defend them, especially in a dispute with other people. This is an old-fashioned expression, which is used in British English.

It seemed to me that she should have taken my part, should somehow have defended me from my father.

China, which in the past had taken North Korea's part, abstained.

take something in good part
If someone takes something such as criticism in good part, they are not offended or upset by it. This expression is used in British English.

I tried to eliminate from the critical comments the casual, the superficial and the trivial, but I nevertheless agonized over having to pass on to Pasternak even the sort of objections with which I could not myself agree. But he took it all, however unusual, in good part.

lspjy

097here







neither here nor there
If you say that something is neither here nor there, you mean that it is completely unimportant or irrelevant, and does not affect the situation in any way. This expression is used mainly in spoken English.

That the Vikings may have got to America earlier is simply neither here nor there. The critical factor in the development of the modern world was the arrival of Europeans in the Americas exactly at a time when they were best prepared to make the most of it.

You know, five hundred pounds is neither here nor there most of them.