知识加油站－词汇天地

lspjy

134bolt







a bolt from the blue
a bolt out of the blue
If you say that an event or piece of news was like a bolt from the blue or a bolt out of the blue, you mean that it surprised you because it was completely unexpected. You use this expression mainly when talking about unpleasant things.

A Foreign Office spokesman had described the coup as `a bolt from the blue'.

Mrs who refuses to give her first says the arrest had come `like a bolt out of the blue'.

shoot your bolt     
If you say that someone has shot their bolt, you mean that they have done everything they can to achieve something but have failed, and now can do nothing else to achieve their aims. This expression is used in British English.

The have really shot their bolt; they'll never ever get any more votes than this.

Adeline shot her last bolt now. She opened her eyes very wide, and for an instant it was as if Amy was looking into her own imploring face. `Please, Amy, don't go.'

lspjy

135crazy







crazy as a bedbug
If you say that someone is as crazy as a bedbug, you are emphasizing that their behaviour is illogical. This expression is used mainly in American English.

By now she'd concluded that Skolnick was crazy as a bedbug.

lspjy

136spring







no spring chicken
If you say that someone is no spring chicken, you mean that they are no longer young. You often use this expression when you think someone's behaviour is inappropriate or surprising for their age.

At 51, she's certainly no spring chicken.

At 85, he is no spring chicken, but Enrico Cuccia is busier than ever.

The idea of playing it up as a great romance was a I imagine both must have known the day would come when this would be the Neither of them is a spring chicken.

If you describe someone as a spring chicken, you mean that they are very young or seem younger than they really are.

Mick said the others are all spring chickens.

lspjy

137close







too close to call
If a contest is too close to call, it is impossible to say who will win, because the opponents seem equally good or equally popular.

The presidential race is too close to call.

Policy analysts say the Senate vote, now expected to take place tomorrow night, is too close to call.

Exit polls in Britain say that today's parliamentary election was too close to call, but it appears that no party will win a majority in the House of Commons.

lspjy

138tightrope







walk a tightrope
If you say that someone is walking a tightrope, you mean that they are in a difficult or delicate situation and need to be very careful what they do or say, because they need to take account of the interests of opposing groups.

is walking a tightrope between the young activists and the more traditional elements within the democracy movement.

The government is walking a tightrope in trying to keep in balance all the various economic factors.

You can refer to someone's attempt to satisfy the interests of opposing groups as a tightrope walk.

The strategy is something of a tightrope walk.

lspjy

139aces







hold all the aces   
If you say that someone holds all the aces, you mean that they are in a very strong position because they have more advantages and more power than anyone else.

When I was an adolescent, a thirty-one-year-old I thought girls held all the aces. When you call for a date, you are sitting there wide open. She can slam the door in your face.

hold all the aces and are not going to make changes voluntarily because it wouldn't be in their own interests.

lspjy

140trail







blaze a trail
If you say that someone is blazing a trail, you mean that they are the first person to do or discover something new and important, and this will make it easier for other people to do the same thing.

With his first High Cotton, Darryl has blazed a new trail in American literature.

party is blazing the trail for the advancement of women in politics.

You can use trail-blazing to describe someone who does something new and important or you can refer to them as a trail-blazer. You can also describe what they do as trail-blazing or refer to it as a trail-blazer.

The other high street banks denied having plans to reintroduce charges for customers in credit but, behind the scenes, each would be only too happy to follow in the shadow of a trail-blazing competitor.

For many of those trail-blazers from the West, Hong Kong is the most practicable headquarters.

This trail-blazing conducted by Mass went into immense detail on the habits of pub-goers.

The For Women was launched in April and branded as a trail-blazer for sexual equality.