If you’ve decided to quit smoking where you used to smoke a dozen cigarettes a day, you'll want to quit by smoking less and less cigarettes over a period of time instead of trying to quit all at once in one day, going "cold turkey."
Do you simply have to have that very expensive coat even though it's not in your budget? If you buy it, you could say it "cost you an arm and a leg," due to its excessive cost.
This saying comes from an anecdote that claims crocodiles cry to lure in their prey. When someone cries "crocodile's tears" it means they are being insincere and fake.
This saying comes from the childhood story The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The little boy in the story kept falsely warning his neighbours that there was a wolf trying to eat their sheep, when there really wasn’t. One day when there actually was a wolf, the little boy tried to truly warned them, but his neighbour's didn’t believe him, only to be shocked finding all their sheep gone. "Crying wolf" means to give false warning.
There are many theories about the origin of this term. Sailors and pirates used this term to describe the mythical place at the bottom of the sea where drowned mariners rest, their souls locked into "Davy Jones' locker" forever. It's normally used to refer to death by drowning in the ocean.
There is no clear or logical explanation as to why a doornail is used to denote the concept of death. One guess is that a door-fastener — a beam of wood used across the inside of a door as a lock — it is also called a nail and it resembles a corpse, which could be why "dead as a doornail" is used to describe a person or animal who is really dead.
Originated in the Roman Catholic Church, this term was given to the official who argued against the proposed beatification of a dead person in order to generate debate. If you are part of a conversation, the person who mentions an opposing view without really believing in it, is playing "devil’s advocate."
Charles Dickens’ famous A Christmas Carol character Ebenezer Scrooge was a miserable soul who repeatedly yelled, “Bah! Humbug,” when faced with Christmas joy. If someone tells you not to be Scrooge-like, you’re probably being a little grouchy yourself.
44. Cold turkey 突然停止一个长期做的事儿
45. Connecting the dots 明白了
46. Cost an arm and a leg 付出昂贵代价，大放血
47. Crocodile’s tears鳄鱼的眼泪
48. Cry wolf狼来了的故事--假情报
49. Davy Jones’ locker 葬入大海
50. Dead as a doornail 铁板板的死定了
51. Devil’s advocate反面角度来探究问题的人/有意唱反调的人
52. Don’t be a Scrooge别当吝啬鬼
Before handing in a paper or presenting a project to your boss, make sure to "dot the i’s and cross the t’s." That is, be sure to check for one last time if there are any mistakes you need to fix before handing in your work.
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发表于 2012-2-7 00:53:41
