知识加油站－词汇天地

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217ballistic







go ballistic
If someone goes ballistic, they get extremely angry and start behaving in a very forceful or irrational way as a result. Go nuclear means the same.

They claim the singer went ballistic after one member of his band allegedly failed to show for a sound check on the recent American tour.

Can you imagine what the atmosphere will be like at breakfast if these pictures are as bad as they sound? The Queen will, quite simply, go ballistic.

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218bomb







go like a bomb   
If you say that a vehicle or a horse goes like a bomb, you mean that it can move very fast. This expression is used in British English.

Once I had a Czechoslovakian motorbike. It was built like a tank, weighed a ton, went like a bomb and was pure joy to ride.

put a bomb under something   
If you say that you want to put a bomb under an organization or system, you mean that you feel impatient with it because it is old-fashioned or inefficient, and you want to completely change the way it operates. Other verbs can be used instead of `put'. This expression is used in British English.

One half of us admired and valued the BBC's high standards, the other half longed to put a bomb under it and propel it into innovation.

We are ready for radical change. I have said before, we need a bomb under the system.

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219bottom







be at the bottom of something

lie at the bottom of something

If you say that a particular thing is at the bottom of an undesirable attitude or situa­tion or lies at the bottom of it, you mean that it is the real cause of it.

Remember that pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.

This decision quite probably lies at the hot torn of the colony's current discontent.

the bottom falls out of something

the bottom drops out of something

If the bottom falls out of a market or in­dustry, people stop buying its products in as large quantities as before. You can also say the bottom drops out of a market or indus­try.

But just as quickly, the bottom fell out of the American home video game market.

By the late seventies that process was nearly finished and then the bottom dropped out of the steel industry and heavy industry in general.

bump along the bottom

If you say that a country's economy is bumping along the bottom, you mean that it has reached a low level of performance, and is not getting any better or any worse. This expression is used in British English.

New car sales are continuing to bump along the bottom of recession as the motor industry shows little sign that it is going to revive sub­stantially this year.

People are beginning to sense that we are bumping along at the bottom, but we are not going any further down.

get to the bottom of something

If you get to the bottom of a problem or mystery, you solve it by discovering the truth about it.

Moor/lead Kennedy says the investigation is necessary to get to the bottom of the case, which has spawned rumors and innuendo for a decade.

The attack was quite severe. We intend to get to the bottom of things and, if needs be, ensure that action is brought against l for it.

The secrets of a truly happy couple are ultimately a private mystery, but we’ve tried to get to the bottom of it.

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220boy







a whipping boy

If you refer to someone or something as a whipping boy, you mean that people blame them when things go wrong, even though they may not be responsible for what has hap­pened.

The prime minister may have become a convenient whipping boy for the failures of the old regime.

This is the story of how America's favorite whipping boy became her favorite son.

Businessmen fear that they and the hard-won free-market reforms will be the whipping boys for the economic ills that confront the new ad­ministration.

your blue-eyed boy

your fair-haired boy

If you say that a man is someone's blue-eyed boy or fair-haired boy, you mean that the person has a very high opinion of the man and gives him special treatment. You usually use these expressions to indicate that you think the person is wrong to have this opinion or to treat the man so favourably. 'Blue-eyed boy' is used mainly in British Eng­lish and 'fair-haired boy' is used mainly in American English.

He'd lost interest in Willy by that time - I was the blue-eyed boy.

For ten years you've been everybody's blue-eyed boy. You're one of the best-known magis­trates in the country.

Okay, okay. I won't do anything to hurt your fair-haired boy. And business is business. We'll work together as we always have.

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221brains







pick someone's brains

pick someone's brain

If you pick someone's brains or pick their brain, you ask them for advice or informa­tion, because they know more about a subject than you do.

I'd like to pick your brains about something. Nothing urgent.

She, in turn, picked my brains about London

as she'd never been outside of the US and was thinking about a trip to England.

rack your brains rack your brain

If you rack your brains or rack your brain, you think very hard about something or try very hard to remember it.

Reformers are racking their brains for a way to stow down these processes.

She racked her brains but could not remem­ber enough to satisfy the clerk.

They asked me for fresh ideas, but I had none. I racked my brain, but couldn't come up with anything.

◇ You can refer to this activity as brain-racking.

All your brain-racking is making absolutely no contribution to the world.

◇ The old-fashioned spelling 'wrack' is occasionally used instead of 'rack' in this expression.

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222Johnny







Johnny-come-lately

You use Johnny-come-lately to refer to someone who becomes involved in an activity or organization after it has already started, when you think that they are less reliable or experienced than the people who have been involved since the beginning.

The basic trouble was that, in the eyes of the left, Benn was always something of a Johnny-come-lately.

He is regarded by many other managers as a Johnny-come-lately. But if they believe he is inexperienced, he knows much more than the vast majority of them about foreign coaching methods.

We advise members who want to rent cars to ensure that they are dealing with a reliable and long-established company--not the Johnny-come-lately firm that's just set up round the corner.

This ex-Republican David-come-lately is still mistrusted by the left-leaning young veterans of the campaign.

NOTE

This name used to be given to new or inexperienced sailors in the American navy.

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223live







live and breathe something

If you say that someone lives and breathes a particular subject or activity, you are em­phasizing that they are extremely enthusiastic about it.

'She might change her mind about what she wants to do.' 'I doubt it. She's fifteen now, and she's lived and breathed theatre since she was six.'

Williams lived and breathed motor racing.

◇ You can include other verbs in this expres­sion.

When you play for Manchester United, you have to live, eat, and breathe football 24 hours a day.

As finals approached, I lived, breathed, and dreamed art and literature.