知识加油站－词汇天地

lspjy

190boot







get the boot
give someone the boot
If someone gets the boot or is given the boot, they lose their job. These are informal expressions.

The chief reason he got the boot was because the Chancellor didn't trust him any more.

who directed the rap parody was given the boot after just nine days of filming and replaced by Jonathan Kaplan.

You can also use these expressions to talk about someone whose partner has ended their relationship, often in a sudden or unkind way.

Sean has been given the boot by girlfriend Wright, mother of his two after admitting he'd been unfaithful to her.

put the boot into someone1
put the boot in
If someone puts the boot into a person or thing, especially a very weak person or thing, they criticize them very severely or are very unkind about them. You can also say that someone puts the boot in. The verb `stick' is sometimes used instead of `put'. This is an informal expression, which is used in British English.

Instead of sticking the boot into those in poverty, Prime should give everyone an equal share of the cake.

There's no one quite like an unpublished novelist for putting the boot into established reputations.

Maybe because of his diminutive stature, Mr Carman 5ft 3in tall) uses his outstanding ability with language to make up for it and put the boot in.

put the boot in2   
If someone puts the boot in, they attack another person by kicking or hitting them. This is an informal expression, which is used in British English.

Policemen who are tempted to put the boot in occasionally will have to tread more carefully in future.

lspjy

191navel







navel-gazing
navel-contemplation
gaze at your navel
contemplate your navel
If you accuse someone of navel-gazing or navel-contemplation, you are criticizing them for thinking only about themselves and their own problems or activities, rather than concerning themselves with the problems or activities of other people.

I'm very good at motivating people to do things, so I'm a doer rather than a thinker. I've never really done much navel-gazing!

Not even the cruellest critic of the British art world could accuse this autumn's of insularity. Navel contemplation has been banished, and horizons extended to some of the most remote regions of the world.

Navel-gazing can be used before a noun.

film a sort of navel-gazing look at Hollywood.

You can also say that someone gazes at their navel or contemplates their navel.

The Institute Contemporary Arts has always been famous for contemplating its own navel.

lspjy

192die







the die is cast
If you say that the die is cast, you mean that you have made an important decision about the future and that it is impossible to change it, even if things go wrong.

Therese is regarded by them as having been singled out by God. The die is cast for her: she goes off to a convent and stays there for 20 years.

The die was cast and James was now part of the Hollywood drug scene.

lspjy

193rock







between a rock and a hard place
If you are caught between a rock and a hard place, you are in a difficult situation where you have to choose between two equally unpleasant courses of action.

We were caught between a rock and a hard place. Either we spend two months planning the operation and people say we are too late, or we come in and make it work on the ground.

Goss is caught between a rock and a hard place. If he bows to pressure and makes concessions on proposed cuts, middle-ground voters could see him as the typical Labor Premier in the grip of union bosses. If he ignores the unions he runs the risk of further alienating his traditional party supporters.

hit rock bottom1
reach rock bottom
at rock bottom
If something hits rock bottom, it is at an extremely low level and cannot go any lower. You can also say that it reaches rock bottom or is at rock bottom.

The UK motor industry slumped to one of its blackest days yesterday as new car sales hit rock bottom.

This is a good time to buy . Prices have reached rock-bottom in most areas.

Morale is at rock-bottom and constant talk of job losses does nothing to make them feel any safer in their jobs.

When people buy or sell things at rock-bottom prices, they buy or sell them when prices are extremely low.

has been buying property at rock-bottom prices.

hit rock bottom2
reach rock bottom
at rock bottom
If someone hits rock bottom, they are in a hopeless or difficult situation, and so feel very depressed. You can also say that they reach rock bottom or they are at rock bottom.

When my girlfriend asked me to move out of our flat and end our relationship, I hit rock bottom.

I've reached rock bottom, time to call it quits.

was at rock bottom. Her long-term love affair star Calvin was breaking up and so was she.

lspjy

194throat







cut your own throat
If you say that someone is cutting their own throat, you mean that they are making a mistake by doing something which is going to result in disaster for them. The verb `slit' is sometimes used instead of `cut'.

I think the union is cutting its own throat because the fact of the matter is, if General Motors can't get its costs in line, then its market share will continue to fall, and there will be even more jobs lost.

Do they not at all about a hoot for the survival of the sport? They are slitting their own throats as they'll be the first to out the pinch when anglers start giving up.

grab someone by the throat1
take someone by the throat
have someone by the throat
If you grab someone or something by the throat or take them by the throat, you make a determined attempt to control, defeat, or deal with them.

The French team grabbed the All Blacks by the throat and didn't let up the pressure on their players.

Instead of being passive because life won't come to you, you must get out there and grab life by the throat.

Gloucestershire took the game by the throat from the start.

If you are succeeding in dealing with someone or something, you say that you have them by the throat.

has his enemy by the throat and he is not about to let go.

grab someone by the throat2   
If something grabs you by the throat, it is so powerful, interesting, or exciting that you are forced to pay attention to it.

A large animal died, leaving a smell that grabs you by the throat.

The film still grabs you by the throat.

jump down someone's throat
If you say something to someone and you complain that they then jump down your throat, you are complaining that they react in a very impatient, angry, and unpleasant way which you consider unjustified and unreasonable.

If I even asked her about her day, she'd jump down my throat, as if I were interrogating her.

your boss an more likely to jump down your throat than listen to your useful suggestions?

ram something down someone's throat
If you accuse someone of trying to ram something down your throat, you mean that they are trying to force you to accept, believe, or learn something against your will. Verbs such as `shove', `force', and `cram' are sometimes used instead of `ram'.

I can't understand why we're trying to ram Shakespeare down their throat when they the people I see haven't got a basic education as regards reading and writing.

`In America, you get religion shoved down your throat as soon as you're born,' says Paul, disgusted.

I cannot force my beliefs down the throats of the Air Staff. I have to respond to the views of the Air Staff.

lspjy

195date







past your sell-by date
pass your sell-by date
If you say that someone or something is past their sell-by date or has passed their sell-by date, you are saying that they are no longer useful, successful, or relevant. These expressions are used in British English. Other verbs can be used instead of `pass'.

One critic said that when a black artist's audience is mainly white, he's past his sell-by date.

The feeling is that the broad-shouldered `power dressing' of the Eighties has passed its sell-by date.

Critics of the monarchy say it has reached its sell-by date.

lspjy

196power







all power to your elbow

more power to your elbow

People say 'all power to your elbow' or 'more power to your elbow', to wish some­one luck and to encourage them to be successful. These expressions are used in spoken British English.

Bobby Gouid is a good man and he's now paving the way for a very good third division campaign. So all power to his elbow

It's nice talking to you, John. and more pow­er to your elbow with your programme. It's ab­solutely super.

the power behind the throne

If you refer to someone as the power be­hind the throne, you mean that although an other person appears to have all the power and control in an organization, it is in fact the first person who has all the power and control.

Will the armed forces, which have been the power behind the throne for nearly thirty years, he prepared to take a back seat to a new civilian regime?

She was the real power behind the throne, a strong and single-minded woman manipulating a weaker husband for her own ends.