知识加油站－词汇天地

071tricks







up to your tricks
up to your old tricks
If you say that someone is up to their tricks or up to their old tricks, you mean that they are behaving in a deceitful, dishonest, or foolish way which is typical of them.

Homeowners wondering if estate agents are no longer up to their tricks should think again.

Bosnian seemed to be up to their old tricks of promising one thing and doing the opposite.

072two







put two and two together
If you put two and two together, you correctly guess the truth about something from the information that you have. You can replace `put' with `add'.

He never came out and said, `I am Jewish', but after a period of time, I put two and two together, and I assumed he was.

He knew perfectly well who mother had been. He had only to think back to the time he'd dropped in on Grace and seen that book on pregnancy to put two and two together.

If you say that someone puts two and two together and makes five, you mean that they reach the wrong conclusion about something.

Mr Lane's solicitor said after the case that police put two and two together and made five.

073Peter







rob Peter to pay Paul
If someone is robbing Peter to pay Paul, they are using money meant for paying off one debt to pay off a different debt and so they are still in debt.

His mortgages ran into arrears and he borrowed from loan companies. He started robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I have not starved yet but I am very conscious of shelving debts, of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

074depth







depth
out of your depth
If you are out of your depth, you feel anxious and inadequate because you have to deal with a situation or subject which you know very little about.

You may feel out of your depth on an honours degree course, in which case a change to a diploma course may be a good idea.

Faced with the latest in medical high-tech, the baffled prince admitted being out of his depth.

who struggled for 90 embarrassing minutes, hopelessly out of his depth, managed to come up with the most honest assessment -- `We just didn't play that well.'

075limits







off limits
If an area is off limits to someone, they are not allowed to go there. If a thing is off limits to someone, they are not allowed to use it or do it.

The area was kept off-limits to foreign journalists until early this year.

The ideal is to have one room that's off-limits for the kids.

Many of the biggest and most desirable trees in those forests would soon be off limits to the timber industry.

076view







a bird's-eye view
If you have a bird's-eye view of a situation, you are able to form a clear impression of what is happening. Compare a worm's eye view.

Before I left England, I was a parliamentary lobby correspondent, getting a bird's eye view of the way politicians encourage people to believe in dreams.

People often change `bird' to a word that is relevant to what they are talking about.

He seems to have a soldier's eye view.

a child's eye view of the war based on his own experiences.

His pilot's licence enabled us to have a bird's-eye view of the beautiful countryside.

I remember with affection the dmus and splendid Glasgow `blue trains' which gave the added bonus of a driver's eye view.

take a dim view of something
take a poor view of something
If you take a dim view of something, you disapprove of it. In British English, you can also say that you take a poor view of it.

Back in 1989 he took a dim view of lotteries, and wrote to a proposer: `I do support your proposal for a lottery and would wish not to be involved at this stage.'

The French take a dim view of anyone who only snacks at lunchtime and it is usually best to choose one of the fixe set menus, chalked on boards outside.

Fellow critics took a poor view of a critic who reviewed Paramount films and accepted a fee from the studio.

a worm's eye view   
If you say that someone has a worm's eye view of something, you mean that they are able to form an impression of what is happening in a situation, but that they have a low status, or are considered inferior in some way. Compare a bird's-eye view.

Let me offer, then, a worm's eye view of what Thatcherism was, and what its legacy may be.

were considered to leaders who, for the most part, `were complete fools, with a worm's eye view of the world and a poor understanding of their jobs'.

If only gardeners would care, occasionally, to get down and take a worm's eye view of their lawns, they would discover a mass of fascinating and horticulturally very useful information.

077stump







on the stump
If politicians are on the stump, they are travelling to different places and speaking to voters as part of their election campaign. This expression is used mainly in American English, but is becoming more common in British English.

He began appearing frequently on the stump and in one celebrated incident mounted a soapbox and grabbed a megaphone to shout down hostile demonstrators.

Despite his falling popularity, the president braved it on the stump today on behalf of his fellow Republicans.

078chain







pull someone's chain   
yank someone's chain
If you pull someone's chain or yank their chain, you tease them about something, for example by telling them something which is not true. These expressions are used mainly in American English.

sat next to Wade's car, and he decided to take it: what the hell, why not? Let the man show him just how far he could go. Pull his chain, rattle his cage, shake the man up a little.

I glared at her, and she smiled. When would I learn to smarten up and ignore her when she yanked my chain?

079red-handed

catch someone red-handedIf someone is caught red-handed, they are caught while they are doing something illegal or wrong. In fact, the burglar wasn't inside the flat, but on the roof and was caught red-handed by the police. Three smugglers caught red-handed with several kilograms of uranium and other radioactive materials were detained last week in the southern Polish city of Rzeszow.

080straight







the straight and narrow
If someone keeps you on the straight and narrow, they help you to live an honest, decent life and prevent you from doing immoral or illegal things.

He depended on me when he was working to keep him on the straight and narrow, to keep some sense of perspective about what life was all about.

Education a devout Catholic, is determined to introduce a new classroom culture of morality to set youngsters on the straight and narrow.

The goal is to prevent them from straying from the straight and narrow.

straight as a die1   
If you say that someone is straight as a die, you mean that they are completely honest. This expression is used in British English.

But I got the impression that deviousness is not one of characteristics. He is, as the know more about deviousness and deception than any other race in the would say, as straight as a die.

straight as a die2   
If you say that something is straight as a die, you are emphasizing that it is very straight. This expression is used in British English.

The streets are lined up, straight as a die, along the left bank of the Guadiana estuary.

He pauses to point out a trunk that rises straight as a die -- an ash tree.