知识加油站－词汇天地

041lump







like it or lump it
have to lump it
If you say that someone has to like it or lump it, you mean that they will have to accept a situation even though they do not like it, because they cannot do anything to change it. This is an informal expression.

Like it or lump it, Cannes is the place where the entire spectrum of world film has its annual meeting.

If you're a shareholder in the club then you have some sort of say in the way things are run. But as a paying customer you like it or lump it.

You can also say that someone will have to lump it when they have to accept a situation whether they want to or not.

When we pointed out they'd effectively taken part of our garden, they said they hadn't even noticed. We just had to lump it.

a lump in your throat
bring a lump to your throat
If you say that you have a lump in your throat, you mean that you have a tight feeling in your throat because of a strong emotion such as sorrow, nostalgia, or gratitude. You can also say that something brings a lump to your throat. Compare a frog in your throat; see frog.

Meg felt a lump in her throat. She was going to miss Dot, even though the two of them had never been particularly close.

It brings a lump to my throat. We are so proud of her.

042wounds







lick your wounds
If you say that someone is licking their wounds, you mean that they are feeling sorry for themselves after being thoroughly defeated or humiliated.

England's cricketers are licking their wounds after being soundly defeated in the second Test against Australia at Melbourne.

The island has never supported a farming community, just a single farm doing the best it can. One by one the farmers have tried, failed and withdrawn to lick their financial wounds.

open old wounds
reopen old wounds
If you say that something opens old wounds, you mean that it reminds people of an unpleasant or embarrassing experience in the past that they would rather forget about. You can also say that something reopens old wounds.

But that afternoon my world was overturned. Ted's diagnosis had opened old wounds and I no longer felt secure.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extreme-right National Front, has suggested that it is `not a good idea to open old wounds. The past does not interest the French people, who are more concerned with unemployment, immigration problems, crime and AIDS.'

Our Political Correspondent, Andrew Whitehead, says the row is reopening old wounds among Conservative MPs.

043million







one in a million
If you say that someone or something is one in a million, you mean that they are very special or the best of their kind. You can replace `one' with a noun.

At 25, Bernstein was a star. One in a million.

He'll be a horse in a million if he wins.

You can also use one-in-a-million before a noun.

We still want love and the unique experience of a close, lasting partnership with that one-in-a-million man.

a one in a million chance
a chance in a million
If you say that something is a one in a million chance or that there is a chance in a million of it happening, you mean that it is very unlikely to happen, and that you would be either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky if it happened to you.

Martyn's accident occurred at the end of a tough practice session yesterday morning, and was described as being a one-in-a-million chance.

It is amazing really. He had a chance in a million of surviving. We are so relieved he is all right.

044pile







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.

045pill







sugar the pill
sweeten the pill
sugar-coat the pill
If you sugar the pill or sweeten the pill, you try to make bad news or an unpleasant situation more acceptable for someone by giving them or telling them something good or pleasant at the same time. These forms of the expression are used in British English; in American English, the usual form is sugar-coat the pill.

Ministers may reprieve Harefield hospital, the world's leading heart transplant centre, to sugar the pill of a further of hospital cuts and closures in London and the South-east.

Actors -- even the most famous -- are often insecure and, anyway, we all thrive on encouragement. A few words of praise help to sweeten the pill of criticism.

His bitter pill was sugar-coated with a promise of `free and fair' elections.

These expressions are often varied.

The appalling timing of that which brought an instant end to so many promotion and relegation issues and the disappearance at short notice of three has brought the game's followers to an anger rarely equalled. Now comes the sugared pill in the shape of the Conference, and not surprisingly Geoff Highfield's was not prepared to swallow it.

All that about Canal and our `mutual' concerns was nothing, of course, but sugar-coating meant to ease the pill down his throat.

swallow a bitter pill
a bitter pill to swallow
If someone has to swallow a bitter pill, they have to accept a difficult or unpleasant fact or situation.

Mr Major Pounds 76,234 hopes that with Ministers taking a lead in the bid to keep down wages, the nation can be persuaded to swallow the bitter pill.

Gordon Hodgson, Cowie's chief executive, said the failure to win was `a little bit of a bitter pill to swallow'.

New music is no longer a bitter pill that must be swallowed before we can wallow in old favourites.

You can also refer to a difficult or unpleasant fact or situation which you have to accept as a bitter pill.

I'm not going to tell you this is not a bitter pill for the armed forces, because clearly it is.

046soap








no soap   
You can say `no soap' to mean that you have tried to do something but have failed. This expression is used in American English.

I went out and wandered around the halls looking for him. Then finally I went home. I called him at home this morning. No soap.

047miles







miles away   
If you say that someone is miles away, you mean that they are unaware of what is happening or of what someone is saying, because they are thinking deeply about something else.

She looked up at Siobhan. `Sorry, I was miles away.' `Thinking about all the money Mike could win?' Siobhan said with a grin.

Her mother was pacing up and down and seemed miles away. She hadn't noticed them at all.

The nearest neighbors were miles away.

048month







a month of Sundays1
You say that a period of time seems to last for a month of Sundays to emphasize that it seems to be very long.

Torrential rain and jet-black skies can make each seem like a month of Sundays.

a month of Sundays2
If you say that something will not happen in a month of Sundays, you are emphasizing that it is very unlikely to happen.

`I think I know what you're about,' he `but it'll never work -- not in a month of Sundays.'

049murder







get away with murder
If you say that someone gets away with murder, you are complaining that they seem to be able to do whatever they like without anyone trying to control, punish, or criticize them.

His charm and the fact that he is so likeable often allows him to get away with murder.

British firms are being clobbered time and again by this power-hungry Commission when continental firms get away with economic murder.

It's hard for old women to travel. If you're a man you can get away with murder. Everywhere you go you're made welcome. But a single woman, no way!

scream blue murder
scream bloody murder
If you say that someone is screaming blue murder or screaming bloody murder, you mean that they are making a lot of noise or fuss about something. Other verbs can be used instead of `scream'. `Scream blue murder' is used only in British English.

People are screaming blue murder about the amount of traffic going through their town.

On the one hand, politicians want to be told what the policy is the president have a strong voice. On the other hand, they would scream bloody murder if they weren't consulted.

The push forward, shrieking blue murder, standing out on their kicking down barriers, till they reach the high perspex wall that separates the gangs.

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.