知识加油站－词汇天地

002bush







the bush telegraph
If you talk about the bush telegraph, you are talking about the way in which information or news can be passed on from person to person in conversation. This expression is used in British English.

No, you didn't tell me, but I heard it on the bush telegraph.

Jean-Michel had heard of our impending arrival in Conflans long before we got there. The bush telegraph on the waterways is extremely effective.

not beat around the bush
not beat about the bush
If you don't beat around the bush, you say what you want to say clearly and directly, without avoiding its unpleasant aspects. In British English, you can also say that you don't beat about the bush.

I decided not to beat around the bush. `I'm at I told her. didn't come back from his paper route yet. Nobody knows where he is.'

Let's not beat about the bush -- they rejected it. The Review Group said it was their most important single recommendation and the Government rejected it.

003boat







float someone's boat   
If something floats your boat, you find it exciting, attractive, or interesting.

I can see its appeal. But it float my boat.

in the same boat
If you say that two or more people are in the same boat, you mean that they are in the same unpleasant or difficult situation.

We are all in the same boat as the miners. People all over Britain are being made redundant every week.

If baldness is creeping up on you, take heart -- 40 per cent of men under 35 are in the same boat.

We were two mums in the same boat and able to make each other feel better.

push the boat out
If you push the boat out, you spend a lot of money in order to have a very enjoyable time or to celebrate in a lavish way. This expression is used in British English.

I earn enough to push the boat out now and again.

Keep an eye on . He's likely to push the boat out among his friends.

rock the boat
If someone tells you not to rock the boat, they are telling you not to do anything which might cause trouble or upset a stable situation.

While he is careful not to rock the boat Juventus with any ill-timed criticism, there is clearly some frustration that he is not being used to maximum effect.

Diplomats are expecting so much instability in a power struggle after his death that they argue it's unwise to rock the boat now.

If someone is rocking the boat, their behaviour is likely to cause trouble or upset a stable situation. Behaviour like this can be described as boat-rocking.

Before the report was concluded, he pulled back on the subject. I suspect the other parts of the White House complained he was rocking the boat.

I'm outspoken, sometimes critical of the organization, which is seen as boat-rocking, upsetting a comfortable arrangement.

004breath







a breath of fresh air
If you describe someone or something as a breath of fresh air, you mean that they are pleasantly different from what you are used to.

I think you're a great family and I'm glad I'm going to join you. After the stuffy conversation we have at our dinner table, this is like a breath of fresh air.

Basically, I was bored. Brian never wanted to do anything. Life was stagnant. So Mike, my present husband, was a breath of fresh air.

hold your breath
If you say that someone is holding their breath, you mean that they are waiting anxiously or excitedly to see what happens next.

She had been holding her breath and hoping that the agreement would be signed.

The world is holding its breath, he said, as we begin to negotiate the future of our country.

If you say that you aren't holding your breath, you mean that you are not expecting a particular thing to happen, and so you are not worried or excited about it. In a situation like this, you can also advise someone: `don't hold your breath'.

The Chancellor has predicted Britain will drag itself out of the slump -- but don't hold your breath, because he doesn't know when.

in the same breath
If you say that someone says something and then in the same breath they say something else, you are pointing out that they are saying two things which are very different or which contradict each other.

For politicians to demand firm immigration controls and argue against racism in the same breath is a deep contradiction.

In the same breath you say that you are terribly depressed, and in the next, list your good points, which I am sure are very real.

take your breath away
If something takes your breath away, it amazes and impresses you because it is so wonderful.

`Tell me again about the picture.' `It's beautiful. sexy, It's so beautiful it takes your breath away.'

He had never believed he would come to such power. The more he realized it, the more it took his breath away.

waste your breath
If you tell someone that they are wasting their breath, you are telling them that there is no point in them continuing with what they are saying, because it will not have any effect.

He wanted to protest again, but the tone of her voice told him he was wasting his breath.

Before I could get very far he interrupted me to tell me that I was wasting my breath.

You can also tell someone that what they are saying is a waste of breath.

He would admit to the thefts, but deny everything else, and old accusations would be a waste of breath.

with bated breath
If you wait for something with bated breath, you look forward to it, or you wait in an anxious or interested way to see what happens next.

The institution is now waiting with bated breath to see if the results of the next few surveys confirm its current assessment.

They got the people in the villages interested in what was going to to this , so they were then watching with bated breath as the experiment began.

005beer







not all beer and skittles
If you say that something isn't all beer and skittles, you mean that it is not always as enjoyable or as easy as other people think it is. This expression is used in British English.

Others are keen to make clear that City life is not all beer and skittles.

Living on your own isn't all beer and skittles. It can be lonely too.

It's not all beer and skittles when you get to be famous.

small beer
If you say that something is small beer, you mean that it is insignificant compared with another thing. This expression is used in British English.

cost ￡6 million to make, small beer compared to the ￡43 million splashed out on the making of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator II.

The present of royal scandals makes the 1936 abdication look like pretty small beer.

Black films remain small beer; they are doing little to shape the movie business.

006bee







the bee's knees
If you say that something or someone is the bee's knees, you are saying in a light-hearted way that you like them a great deal. This expression is used in British English.

Back in the '80s it was the bee's knees but now it looks horribly out of date.

I bought this white sweatshirt - I thought I looked the bee's knees.

have a bee in your bonnet
If you say that someone has a bee in their bonnet about something, you mean that they feel very strongly about it and keep talking or thinking about it. This is often something that you think is unimportant. This expression is considered old-fashioned in American English.

I've got a bee in my bonnet about the confusion between education and training.

There was no arguing with the boy when he'd got this bee in his bonnet.

007call







a close call   
If you say that something was a close call, you are indicating that someone very nearly had an accident or disaster, or very nearly suffered a defeat. You can replace `call' with `thing'.

`That was a close call,' Bess gasped, as the boat steadied and got under way.

It was a close call and looking back now I have no doubt that if my friend hadn't acted so promptly I would be dead.

The contest had shown that the gap between man and computer was narrowing. `It was an extremely close thing. It shows that it can only be a matter of time before the computer wins.'

008club







join the club
When someone has been telling you about their problems or about their feelings, you can say `join the club' to indicate that you have had the same experiences or feelings.

Confused? Then join the club.

The Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens gave the game away. `I am having difficulty knowing what today's debate is about,' he said. Join the club, Geoffrey.

009card







a calling card
If you describe what someone possesses or has achieved as a calling card, you mean that it gives them a lot of opportunities which they would not otherwise have had.

Some cabinet ministers, comparing their likely pension with their lifestyle, are tempted to look for jobs in the City while their present status remains a calling card.

Gary a former Trupin says Mr. Trupin used the New York magazine cover story about him as `his calling card'.

Despite the temptation to make low-budget films only as Hollywood calling cards, one director has remained true to the independent spirit, that is to making the film he wants to make.

a wild card
You describe someone or something as a wild card when they cause uncertainty, because nobody knows how they will behave or what effects they will have.

The Cossacks are the wild card in Kazakhstan. Armed and of Russian freebooters whom the tsars allowed to push Russia's frontiers outwards in return for a measure of they claim a million supporters and demand official recognition as a paramilitary force.

One wild card in the situation is the recent election of Jean a Quebecois and an ardent advocate of Canadian as the leader of the opposition Liberal Party.

010carpet







on the carpet
call someone on the carpet
In British English, if someone is on the carpet, they are in trouble for doing something wrong. In American English, you say that they are called on the carpet.

The 22-year-old bad boy of English cricket was on the carpet again this week for storming out of the ground when told a Middlesex committee to wear one of the club's sponsored shirts.

In my hospital, if I ever allowed a nurse or a technician to work alongside me without wearing gloves, I'd be called on the carpet immediately for not protecting our staff.

roll out the red carpet
If you roll out the red carpet for someone, especially someone famous or important, you give them a special welcome and treat them as an honoured guest.

The red carpet was rolled out for Mr Honecker during his visit to Bonn in 1987.

The museum staff rolled out the red carpet; although it was a Sunday, the deputy director came in especially to show us round.

You can also say that someone receives red carpet treatment or a red carpet welcome.

Castro says he's open to any business proposition from abroad, and last week he gave the red carpet treatment to some of Spain's most right-wing business people.

Yeltsin arrived in Rome this morning to a red carpet welcome by Italian officials.

sweep something under the carpet
If you sweep something under the carpet, you try to hide it and forget about it because you find it embarrassing or shameful. Other verbs such as `brush' and `push' are sometimes used instead of `sweep'. This expression is used mainly in British English; the usual American expression is sweep something under the rug.

People often assume if you sweep something under the carpet the problem will go away, but that is not the case.

The problem has been brushed under the carpet for decades.