知识加油站－词汇天地

lspjy

050overdrive







go into overdrive
be in overdrive
If someone or something goes into overdrive, they begin to work very hard or to perform intensely or very well. You can also say that someone or something is in overdrive.

When the bodies were discovered, the media went into overdrive. Antena 3 devoted all but two minutes of its main news bulletin to the story.

My imagination went into overdrive. I tried to make new dishes, not from recipe books but from books about wild plants.

The campaign that began in the cold of New Hampshire is in overdrive now with Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross crisscrossing the nation in a final push for votes.

lspjy

051parrot







parrot fashion   
If a child learns something parrot fashion, they learn it by repeating it many times, but they do not really understand what it means. This expression is used in British English.

Under the old system pupils often had to stand to attention and repeat lessons parrot fashion.

There are no books, pens or chairs here, just a blackboard and a dirt floor where 150 dusty sit in rows, learning their words parrot-fashion.

lspjy

052part







look the part1
If someone looks the part, they dress or behave in the way that is characteristic of a particular kind of person.

You look the part of an English gentleman, so he is half ready to believe you as soon as you meet.

He won't say which army but friends suspect it may have been the Foreign Legion. He certainly looks the part: his hair is crew cut and he has a raw gash above his left eye.

look the part2   
If you want to say that someone or something seems impressive, you can say that they look the part. This expression is used mainly in British English.

Strachan believes that Cantona has always had the hallmark that distinguishes world-class players from the rest. `When I played for Scotland in France, Eric scored against us, and even then I thought he looked the part,' he says.

The Alpha 5 CD certainly looks the part with a stylish slimline design, moulded front panel and finely-textured paint finish.

part and parcel
If one thing is part and parcel of another, it is involved or included in it and cannot be separated from it.

It was a house healthy -- and noisy -- with political argument and dissent; strong views and humour were part and parcel of home life.

There comes a time during every player's season when his form dips and the goals don't go in. It's part and parcel of being a professional.

He said it's all part and parcel, just a day's work really, you know, it's nothing serious.

take someone's part   
If you take someone's part, you support them or defend them, especially in a dispute with other people. This is an old-fashioned expression, which is used in British English.

It seemed to me that she should have taken my part, should somehow have defended me from my father.

China, which in the past had taken North Korea's part, abstained.

take something in good part
If someone takes something such as criticism in good part, they are not offended or upset by it. This expression is used in British English.

I tried to eliminate from the critical comments the casual, the superficial and the trivial, but I nevertheless agonized over having to pass on to Pasternak even the sort of objections with which I could not myself agree. But he took it all, however unusual, in good part.

lspjy

053pat







a pat on the back   
pat someone on the back
If you give someone a pat on the back, you congratulate them or show your appreciation for something they have done. If you give yourself a pat on the back, you feel pleased about something you have done.

Any mail order shop that gives such rapid response to a customer's complaint deserves a pat on the back.

The industry can give itself a little pat on the back for the constructive moves it has made to help towards its own recovery.

You can also say that one person pats another on the back, or that someone pats themselves on the back.

The editor of the newspaper asked to see me, and I thought he would pat me on the give me a bunch of and say, `Well done!' Instead he fired me.

I decided if giving up smoking was going to be so hard, I'd need more pleasurable things in my life, so each day I kept patting myself on the back and treating myself.

stand pat
If someone stands pat, they do not change something or they refuse to change their mind about something. This expression is used mainly in American English.

The last time the cut short-term rates, long-term rates rose due to investor fears of inflation, all of which makes it hard for the to do anything but stand pat till the economy's direction becomes clearer.

Building society managers are willing to stand pat on mortgage rates for the moment.

There are certain issues on which Britain would stand pat and insist on unanimity.

lspjy

054pile







the bottom of the pile
the top of the pile
Someone who is at the bottom of the pile is low down in society or in an organization. Someone who is at the top of the pile is high up in society or in an organization. The expressions the bottom of the heap and the top of the heap mean the same.

Tragically, organized labour has paid for its disregard of workers at the bottom of the pile.

Their position, at the bottom of the social pile, has resulted in them suffering from indifference at best, exploitation and oppression at worst.

You may not like to admit that you are ambitious but you must know deep down that you want to be on the top of the pile.

lspjy

055pilot







on automatic pilot
on autopilot
If you are on automatic pilot or on autopilot, you are acting without thinking about what you are doing, usually because you have done it many times before or because you are very tired.

Razzall has worked at number 28 Lincoln's Inn Fields since he joined as an articled clerk in 1966. `I expect I'll turn up here on auto-pilot for the first few weeks before I find I'm in the wrong place,' he says.

seemed to be on automatic pilot and able to go on driving without a word of complaint or apparent fatigue.

When the kids came home I just switched on to autopilot, making the tea, listening to them fight.

lspjy

056poor







poor as a church mouse

If you say that you are as poor as a church mouse, you are emphasizing that you have very little money. This is an old-fashioned expression.

I was as poor as a church mouse, but I bought that wreck of a car.

I suspect we'll continue to be poor as church mice.