知识加油站－词汇天地

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203floodgates







open the floodgates
the floodgates open
If an event, action, or decision opens the floodgates to something, it makes it possible or likely that a particular thing will be done by many people, perhaps in a way that seems undesirable. You can also say that the floodgates open.

Giving in to the strikers' demands, government ministers said, would open the floodgates to demands by workers in other large state-owned industries like textiles and mining.

The floodgates were opened yesterday for cheaper new cars for thousands of motorists. Laws preventing drivers from buying vehicles from abroad at knockdown prices without severe tax penalties were swept aside.

Chinese factories, office blocks and power stations are rising as fast as UK firms are going bust and when the trade floodgates open, the Chinese will be hot-foot to their airports.

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204Rome







fiddle while Rome burns
If you accuse someone of fiddling while Rome burns, you mean that they are doing nothing or are spending their time on unimportant things when they have very serious issues or problems to deal with.

He said that the Australian community did not realise the gravity of the situation. We think it does: it is the Federal Government that has been fiddling while Rome burns.

The Financial Times is also critical. It says the twelve leaders decided to fiddle in Rome, leaving the problem of farm reform to burn.

This expression is very variable. For example, people sometimes replace `Rome' with a different place name or other noun so that this expression is more relevant to the subject they are talking about.

People talk about choice, people talk about educational reform but while the politicians fiddle, Los Angeles and Chicago are burning and these kids' educational opportunities are going down in flames as well.

Far from fiddling while depositors got burnt, Bank of England spent years containing BCCI's losses.

Rome was not built in a day   
People say `Rome was not built in a day' to point out that it takes a long time to do a job or task properly, and you should not rush it or expect to do it quickly.

Only two shoppers I interviewed were charitable about the new government. `Rome wasn't built in a day,' one man said `Let's give more time.'

I know Rome wasn't built in a day but I don't want to wait 200 years.

when in Rome   
when in Rome, do as the Romans do
You say `when in Rome' to mean that people should follow the customs of the people they are visiting or living with.

`Aren't you meant to be at the Prado, ?' `I was, but there's a limit to art appreciation, however great the pictures may be. And there are better things to do of an afternoon. When in Rome. Isn't this how Spanish men spend the time from two till four?'

This expression comes from the proverb when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

When in Rome (or Palo Alto) do as the Romans do. Close up shop for a month or so for vacation. That's why restaurant has been quiet and empty for the last two weeks.

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205streak







talk a blue streak   
If you say that someone talks a blue streak, you mean that they are talking a lot and very fast. Verbs such as `scream' and `spout' can be used instead of `talk'. This expression is used in American English.

I was mostly although they say I talked a blue streak from the time I opened my mouth.

I remember Malcolm screaming a blue streak that I was fired.

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206chiefs







too many chiefs and not enough Indians   
too many chiefs
People say `too many chiefs and not enough Indians' when they want to criticize an organization for having too many people in charge and not enough people to actually do the work. Many people consider this expression offensive.

Americans should also come to recognize that many of their and private, military and have too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

Another disadvantage was the overstaffing of headquarters and support personnel. It is the typical but highly relevant complaint of too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.

People sometimes just say `too many chiefs'.

If chose to counter-attack against the criticism, he might point to the with which the bank's founders saddled It includes 21 executive each with their own, albeit No surprise, then, that some insiders say there are too many chiefs.

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207paid







put paid to something
If an unexpected event puts paid to someone's hopes, chances, or plans, it completely ends or destroys them. This expression is used mainly in British English.

Great Britain gave a limp performance here last night that put paid to their chances of reaching the Olympic finals.

The past week has probably put paid to hopes that share prices in New York and London would rise strongly for the rest of the year.

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208agenda







a hidden agenda
If you say that someone has a hidden agenda, you suspect that they are secretly trying to achieve a particular thing while they appear to be doing something else.

The unions fear tactics are part of a hidden agenda to reduce pay and conditions throughout the company.

The hidden agenda of the Government's prison privatisation policy seems to have been exposed.

It was typical of his forthright determination that while others debated wide issues and hidden agendas he saw a wrong and sought to right it.

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209free







free as the air
free as a bird
If you say that someone is free as the air or free as a bird, you mean that they are completely free and have no worries or troubles. `Free as the air' is used only in British English.

They think of us as favoured beings, going where we like, working when we feel like it, free as the air.

I have been island-hopping in the Pacific for the past two and a half years, free as a bird.