知识加油站－词汇天地

lspjy

098wake







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.

lspjy

099drunk







drunk as a skunk   
If you say that someone is as drunk as a skunk, you are emphasizing that they are very drunk. Nouns such as `lord' or `coot' are sometimes used instead of `skunk'.

I'm sorry, honey. I put you through all this. It was my fault. I was drunk as a skunk.

She was drunk as a lord for seventeen days. She could do nothing.

I heard he was drunk as a coot last night and got into a big fight at Toby's.

lspjy

100breast







make a clean breast of something     
If you tell someone to make a clean breast of something, you are advising them to tell the whole truth about it, so that they can begin to deal properly with a problem or make a fresh start.

`I am sure that will be the best for you.' how can I go home?' `You'll have to make a clean breast of it, dear.'

If you make a clean breast of your problems, creditors, whether secured or unsecured, are much more likely to deal fairly and leniently with you.

lspjy

101break







101 break
give me a break1
You can say `give me a break' after someone has said or done something, to show that you think that they are being very annoying or ridiculous.

The news item ended with comments from `South Australian feminists' who were `satisfied' by the finding. Give me a break! Why do they have to quote feminists on a decision that concerns the rights of all women? Why can't they quote mothers, teachers, or dancers?

give me a break2
You can say `give me a break' to tell someone to stop criticizing or annoying you and leave you alone.

Anxious families on the crime-ridden Mayhill estate in Swansea, yesterday begged youngsters, `Give us a break', after dozens of cars were wrecked by the gangs.

give someone an even break
get an even break
give a sucker an even break
If you are never given an even break or you never get an even break, you do not get the same chances or opportunities to do something as other people. This expression is used mainly in American English.

is loath to give the opposition an even break.

He kept talking about how she never got an even break from the

If someone says `never give a sucker an even break', they are saying light-heartedly or ironically that you should not allow less fortunate people to have the same chances and opportunities as yourself.

His philosophy may be summed up as `Never give a sucker an even break'.

had no idea of fair play or giving suckers an even break.

lspjy

102stone







leave no stone unturned
If you leave no stone unturned in your efforts to find something or achieve something, you consider or try every possible way of doing it.

In the difficult weeks ahead, we'll leave no stone unturned in our search for a peaceful solution of the crisis.

We will leave no stone unturned to keep our position as the world's number one club.

They were contacted personally by telephone at their home by New Zealand police , who promised no stone would be left unturned in the hunt for the killer.

not set in stone
If you say that something such as an agreement, policy, or rule is not set in stone, you are pointing out that it is not permanent and that it can be changed. Other verbs such as `carved' or `cast' can be used instead of `set'.

Promises made two or three years before an election are not set in stone and can be changed.

He is merely throwing the idea forward for discussion, it is not cast in stone.

Parents should not view a single IQ score as an indicator of their child's intelligence, carved in stone.

a rolling stone gathers no moss   
a rolling stone
gather moss
People say `a rolling stone gathers no moss' when they want to point out that if a person keeps moving from one place to another, they will not get many friends or possessions. Some people use this proverb to say that it is a bad thing to keep moving like this, and it is better to be settled. Other people use this proverb to suggest that it is a good thing to keep moving and changing, and not be tied down.

If he was going to say that a rolling stone gathers no moss, that never having a family would be one of the penalties I would have to pay if I spent my life an itinerant the , I was going to prove him wrong on that, too.

You can refer to a person who does not settle down as a rolling stone.

But throughout it all, Greta has found the desire and courage to keep in contact with her absentee father, who is a rolling stone to this day.

If you say that someone is gathering moss, you mean that they have stayed in the same place for a long time.

The old families die out or move on, or stay and gather moss.

a stone's throw
If you describe one place as a stone's throw from another, you mean that the first place is very close to the second.

Burke found employment and rented a flat a stone's throw from their former, rather grand house.

The Diplomatic Service Wives Association is housed in a large room in the Foreign Office in London, a stone's throw away from Westminster.

Just a stone's throw away is the home he shares with his wife and daughter.

The cellars are within a stone's throw of the church where Dom P=e1rignon, the legendary creator of champagne, was buried.

lspjy

103apples







apples and oranges
If you say that two things are apples and oranges or that comparing them is like comparing apples with oranges, you are pointing out that these things are completely different in every respect. These expressions are used mainly in American English.

I think you're talking apples and oranges, and I don't think you can really look at it as an equity issue.

To compare one with the other is to make the mistake we were all warned about in third grade, not to compare apples with oranges.

lspjy

104phrase







to coin a phrase
You say `to coin a phrase' when you are making a pun or using a clich=e1 or colloquial expression, in order to show that you realize people might think that it is a silly or boring thing to say, but you think it is relevant in spite of this.



Being gay is what I am, not the easiest of roads to follow, but it wasn't a choice. To coin a phrase, `I am what I am'.

To coin a phrase, I am gobsmacked at John Major's warning that we must not expect too much from the Earth Summit and that Britain is too broke to help.