知识加油站－词汇天地

011corners







cut corners
If you cut corners, you save time, money, or effort by not following the correct procedure or rules for doing something.

Don't try to cut any corners as you'll only be making work for yourself later on.

We have to cut corners in order to keep the discussion reasonably clear.

He accused the Home Office of trying to save money by cutting corners on security.

You can refer to this activity as corner cutting.

It was the Chief Inspector for Police who said that the present working culture was `shot through with corner cutting and expediency'.

Corner-cutting contractors build tiny classrooms and narrow corridors.

the four corners of the world
the four corners of the earth
You can use the four corners of the world or the four corners of the earth to refer to all the different parts of the world, especially the parts that are the furthest away from you. Other nouns referring to areas of land can be used instead of `world' or `earth'.

A foreign correspondent makes his friends in all four corners of the world.

Italy has sent 5,000 soldiers to the four corners of the earth to play their part in peace-keeping and crisis-management operations.

Young people came from the four corners of the nation in search of new ideas.

012country







go to the country
If a head of government or a government goes to the country, they hold a general election. This expression is used in British English.

The Prime Dr is about to call snap elections even though he doesn't have to go to the country for another year.

013cows







until the cows come home 
If you say that you could do something until the cows come home, you mean that you could do it for a very long time.

You can initiate policies until the cows come home, but unless they're monitored at a senior level, you won't get results.

Your child will enjoy this lively tape till the cows come home!

014even







don't get mad, get even
If someone says `don't get mad, get even', they mean that if someone harms you, you should not waste your energy on being angry, but concentrate on harming them in return. Compare get even.

It's a case of don't get mad, get even. Mark Leavis wasn't too happy after Judge Carol Shapiro didn't give him what he wanted in his divorce. So a few hours after the ruling, the Seattle lawyer filed to run against the judge in her bid for a second term on the bench.

get even 
If you get even with someone who has hurt or insulted you, you get your revenge on them. Compare don't get mad, get even.

He is so incensed by what he considers shabby treatment that he's determined to get even.

He'd leapt at this chance to get even with the scum who had killed his sister.

He hasn't kept his side of their that and she means to get even with him.

015degree







give someone the third degree
If someone, especially a policeman or person in authority, gives you the third degree, they ask you a lot of questions in an aggressive manner in order to make you confess to something.

He gives me the third degree and wants me to account for where all the money is.

Surely, she thought, they were supposed to read you your rights before they gave you the third degree.

016dirt







dig up dirt
dig for dirt
dig the dirt
If you say that one person is digging up dirt on another, you mean that the first is trying to find out something that may cause harm to the second. You can also say that someone is digging for dirt, or, in British English, that they are digging the dirt.

They hired a detective firm to dig up dirt on rival.

Scoop-hungry reporters have done everything from going through trash cans digging for dirt on celebrities to paying prostitutes to lure Members of Parliament into compromising positions.

You can describe this activity as dirt-digging.

the a dirt-digging James is framed by a corrupt district attorney and sentenced for manslaughter.

dish the dirt
If you say that one person dishes the dirt on another, you disapprove of the way that the first person spreads stories about the second, especially when they say things that may embarrass or upset that person, or damage their reputation.

Many politicians who maintain that their private lives are their own, are not above dishing the dirt on a fellow politician, if it suits their own political or personal purposes.

In his autobiography Life Is Too was no worse than many of the screen icons of his age. Eight wives on and nudging 80, he has treasured memories of his relationships with the beautiful Ava Gardner and the tragic Judy Garland. the singer, dancer, comedian, and actor holds nothing back. He dishes the dirt on his buddies and smudges his own shoes with admissions of womanising, gambling, and drugs.

People sometimes describe this activity as dirt-dishing.

Some publishers believe that by speaking out as he did, has pushed up the potential value of any dirt-dishing memoirs he cares to write.

do someone dirt   
do the dirt on someone
If someone has done you dirt or has done the dirt on you, they have betrayed you or treated you very badly. This expression is used in American English; the British expression is do the dirty on someone.

They tell me you have done me dirt. Tell me it ain't true.

There is an unofficial biography out of Nancy Reagan which is doing the dirt on her all over the place.

017divide







divide and conquer

divide and rule
If someone in power follows a policy of divide and conquer or divide and rule, they stay in power by making sure that the people under their control quarrel among themselves and so cannot unite to achieve their aims and overthrow their leader. `Divide and rule' is used only in British English.

The same principle of divide and conquer that the Roman Empire used so effectively was applied once again by Yugoslavia's occupiers in 1941.

Trade unions are concerned that management may be tempted into a policy of divide and rule by cultural divisions.

Part of the ruling class's divide and rule policy is promoting barriers between sexes, races, sexualities, nations.

When someone is following one of these policies, you can say that they are dividing and conquering or dividing and ruling.

The Summit sends a very strong message to him that he's not going to divide and conquer.

018dog







die like a dog   
If someone dies like a dog, they die in a painful and undignified way, usually after they have been shot or injured in a violent fight. This is an old-fashioned expression.

film begins with our chic hero stealing cars and ends with him dying like a dog in the street.

a dog and pony show
If you refer to an event as a dog and pony show, you mean that it is very showy because it has been organized in order to impress someone. This expression is used mainly in American English.

I'm bombarding him and the others with charts, graphs, facts, and figures. responds by dozing off during most of our dog and pony show.

The first step in Florida, as in most states, is the governor's office applying for a share of federal grant money. If, months later, the money is granted, state agencies spend more months putting on `dog and pony shows' in hopes of getting a share.

dog-eat-dog
You use dog-eat-dog to describe a situation in which everyone wants to succeed and is willing to harm other people or to use dishonest methods in order to do this.

In the 1992 campaign, that if it was going to be `dog eat dog' he would do anything it took to get himself re-elected.

The TV business today is a dog-eat-dog business.

dog-in-the-manger
If you say that someone has a dog-in-the-manger attitude, you are criticizing them for selfishly wanting to prevent other people from using or enjoying something that they cannot use or enjoy themselves.

I think there'll be a certain group of intransigent Republicans who'll take a dog-in-the-manger kind of attitude and that try to frustrate anything the president wants to achieve.

The council has an ambivalent attitude to the Carnival. On the one hand it has a high regard for its tourist benefits, but on the other does not want it to the thunder too too high a . It's a dog-in-the-manger attitude which has taken the fun out of a great event.

a dog's breakfast
a dog's dinner
If you refer to a situation, event, or piece of work as a dog's breakfast or a dog's dinner, you mean that it is chaotic, badly organized, or very untidy. These expressions are used in British English.

The act created what many admitted was an over-complex but inadequate regulate the selling of life assurance, personal pensions and unit . One senior regulator described it as a dog's breakfast.

Now she's having to watch as those whom she grew up with in politics are in Cabinet and making a dog's breakfast of it.

The whole place was a bit of a dog's dinner, really.

every dog has its day   
If you say `every dog has its day', you mean that everyone will be successful or lucky at some time in their life. This expression is sometimes used to encourage someone at a time when they are not having any success or luck.

Former England Davies said: `Every dog has his day, although the way I kicked throughout the game, who would have thought that drop goal would even reach the posts?'

`I don't have any money to fight him. These people are all the time in court, anyway,' Cecchini says. every dog has its day I have lots of patience.'

it's a dog's life   
People say `it's a dog's life' when they are complaining that their job or situation is unpleasant or boring.

It's a dog's life being a football manager.

you can't teach an old dog new tricks   
If you say `you can't teach an old dog new tricks', you mean that it is often difficult to get people to try new ways of doing things, especially if these people have been doing something in a particular way for a long time.

It is a convenient myth that a person cannot change their personality. Or as the saying leopard cannot change his spots' `You can't teach an old dog new tricks'.

This expression is often varied. For example, if you say `you can teach an old dog new tricks', you mean that it is possible to get people to try new ways of doing something.

Our work shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

An old dog can learn new tricks if he has both the will and the opportunity.

019dollars







to doughnuts
If you say that it is dollars to doughnuts that something will happen, you are emphasizing that you are certain it will happen. This expression is used mainly in American English.

It's dollars to doughnuts that the bank of the future will charge more for its services.

Well, I'll bet you, Alex, almost dollars to donuts that I'll wake up at 3am, as I do every morning now.

look a million dollars
feel like a million dollars
If someone looks a million dollars, they look extremely attractive and well-dressed. If someone feels like a million dollars, they feel very healthy and happy.

She looked a million dollars when she got off the plane.

Casual trousers, comfortable shoes, immaculate hair. He looks a million dollars.

After all my injury problems I now feel a million dollars.

It was the most relaxed I've felt in ages. I felt like a million dollars.

020dream







a dream ticket
If two people are considered a dream ticket, they are expected to work well together and have a great deal of success. This expression is usually used to refer to people who are well known, for example politicians or actors. It is used mainly in British journalism.

The move raised the prospect of a `dream ticket' of Tony Blair as leader and John Prescott as his deputy.

It should have been Hollywood's dream ticket: husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman starring together in a romantic blockbuster movie.

like a dream
If you do something like a dream, you do it very well. If something happens like a dream, it happens successfully and without any problems.

She had noticed, from across the dance floor, that he danced like a dream.

Wilson, an eminent American biologist who has done more than anyone else to popularise the notion of biodiversity, writes like a dream.

The first stages of installation worked like a dream. Then the procedure threw up an error message.