知识加油站－词汇天地

lspjy

120pie







eat humble pie

If someone eats humble pie, they admit that they have been wrong and apologize, especially in situations where this is humiliating or embarrassing for them.

The Queen's Press offered his resignation over his personal attack on the duchess. was forced to eat humble pie yesterday and publicly apologise to the duchess.

After their victory at Tottenham, Molby insisted, `The critics were too quick to give their verdict on us. We hope they'll be eating humble pie before the end of the season.'

Humble pie is sometimes used in other structures with a similar meaning.

Nigel Mansell's critics may be helping themselves to a slice of humble pie this morning the wake of the hard-won third place in yesterday's.

pie in the sky

If you describe an idea, plan, or promise as pie in the sky, you mean that it is very unlikely to happen.

Jimmy Knapp, the leader of the biggest railwaymen's union, promptly claimed that privatisation was now even more pie in the sky.

Ideally what I would like to see would be free childcare, but I think that's a bit pie in the sky at the moment.

You can also use pie-in-the-sky before a noun.

Changes are a real possibility. This is not pie-in-the-sky stuff.

Is it all just a pie-in-the-sky idea? It is certainly a major job, and not cheap.

lspjy

121fur







the fur is flying     
If you say that the fur is flying over something, you mean that people are arguing very fiercely and angrily about it.



He was one of the churchwardens at St Edward the Confessor's. Where, as I suspect you have already heard, there's been a lot of fur flying these last few months.

A blazing row between Euro factions at last week's meeting of the 1922 Committee set the fur flying again on the Tory backbenches.

lspjy

122worms







a can of worms
a bag of worms
If you describe a situation as a can of worms, you mean that it is much more complicated, unpleasant, or difficult than it seems at first. If you say that someone is opening a can of worms, you mean that they are doing something which would be better left alone. `Bag' is occasionally used instead of `can'.



Now we have uncovered a can of worms in which there has not only been shameful abuse of power, but a failure of moral authority of the worst kind.

Attention has been switched to teaching English to Britain's diverse communities. But here a whole new can of worms is opened.

really is a can of Mr Goss . Compensation is going to be a big practical problem.

Mary Ann rejected the idea with a frown. That would jeopardize even more than the current bag of worms. It was better to stick with the whole truth.

lspjy

123begging







go begging
If something goes begging, it is wasted or not used, even though people do not need to make much effort to use it.

Nearly half a million holidays for the busiest six weeks of the year are still going begging.

Paintings by pop artist Andy Warhol went begging for the second night in a row last night at Christie's auction house.

lspjy

124rights







bang to rights1     
dead to rights
If you have got someone bang to rights, you have got enough evidence against them to accuse them of a crime and to prove that they are guilty. You can also have someone dead to rights. These expressions are used mainly in novels.



You've got your man -- got him bang to rights -- evidence, witnesses, the lot.

Now, Captain Millard, how do you intend to proceed in the Rafaelli case? I mean, you have him pretty well dead to rights.

bang to rights2     
dead to rights
If someone gets you bang to rights, they show a good understanding of you and describe you accurately. You can also have someone dead to rights.



I read Matthew Sura's piece last month and I thought he got you bang to rights.

He is described as a debater, who made opponents feel personally responsible for the heat-death of the `My wife thinks that gets me bang to rights.'

lspjy

125paper







can't fight your way out of a paper bag     
If you say that someone can't fight their way out of a paper bag, you are saying in a contemptuous way that they are very bad at fighting.



We've already shown you that are no use to you as allies. They couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag.

You can replace `fight' with other verbs that state what someone is incapable of doing.

Certainly, too, the democratic parties that support Mr Yeltsin could not organise their way out of a paper bag.

not worth the paper it's written on
If you say that a promise, agreement, or guarantee is not worth the paper it's written on, you mean that although it appears to be official or definite, it is in fact worthless. `Printed' can be used instead of `written'.



If consumers are unaware of their right to compensation when a service breaks down, guaranteed service standards will not be worth the paper they are written on.

The certificate is not worth the paper it is printed on.

on paper
If you say that something looks or sounds good on paper, you mean that it seems to be a good idea, plan, or argument when you read or hear about it, but may not be good in reality.



This system looks good on paper but it is expensive and, in my view, still of very limited value.

These reforms are more impressive on paper than in reality.

a paper tiger
If you say that a person, country, or organization is a paper tiger, you mean that although they seem to be powerful, they do not really have any power.



The Khmer does not succeed in derailing the polls, has already managed to make the U.N. in Cambodia look like an expensive paper tiger, without the teeth to carry out what it was sent to do.

Russia's Asian forces are a paper tiger these days. Starved of fuel and spare parts, low on morale, they are barely in shape even for manoeuvres, let alone war.

a paper trail
Written evidence of someone's activities can be referred to as a paper trail. This expression is used mainly in American English.



The criminal proceedings were raised after investigations found a paper trail of checks that were written on dummy bank accounts.

lspjy

126tail







chase your own tail  
If you say that someone is chasing their own tail, you are being critical of them for spending a lot of time and energy doing something, but achieving nothing.

Any striving for military superiority means chasing one's own tail.

Look at me, born right down the road, and after all these years of chasing my tail doing nothing, here I still am.

on your tail
If someone is on your tail, they are following you closely or are chasing you and trying to catch you.

Juarez entered the finishing lap with Zadrobilek right on his tail. Only three kilometres remained.

He heard the wail of sirens, loud and close by. They must be on his tail at last.

We couldn't get out from under the taxes. The IRS was on our tail and we had to do something.

the tail wags the dog  
If you say that the tail is wagging the dog, you are criticizing the fact that a small or unimportant part of something is becoming too important and is controlling the whole thing.

To avoid the impression of the tail wagging the dog, the Chancellor cannot be seen bending to the wishes of a minority party.

How much should the presentation of policy shape the policy itself? Or, as I heard too many disgruntled senior civil servants complain, how much should the tail wag the dog?

turn tail
If you turn tail, you turn and run away from someone or something because you are frightened of them.

Rebels were forced back from position after position until they turned tail and fled.

My hair freezes on my neck to see her on the other side of the I get a prickle down my back I go and weak all over. Stumbling, I almost turn tail. `You have to face her,' I tell myself, trying to calm my heart.

with your tail between your legs
If someone goes off with their tail between their legs, they go off feeling very ashamed, embarrassed, and humiliated, because of a defeat or foolish mistake that they have made.

Embarrassingly, the community, led by their diplomats actually evacuated Kong in when there were fears about a possible communist attack. They came back a year or so later with their tails between their legs, having lost much face.

His team retreated last night with tails tucked firmly between their legs.

with your tail up     
If you say that someone is doing something with their tail up, you mean that they seem to be very happy or confident about their chances of success.

We'll go to with our tails up.

People sometimes vary this expression, for example by saying that someone has their tail up or that something puts their tail up.

There was no doubt that Mary Rand's performance on the first day put everybody's tails up.