小儿科:mickey mouse, a little leaguer, it is child’s play, it is kid stuff, trite, trivial, petty stuff 小意思:toke appreciation 吹牛:rap session, bull session 功名富贵:fame and gortune 牛刀割鸡:to swat a fly with a cannon 声名远扬:spread far and wide 家喻户晓:a household word 成者为王败者寇:legitimacy belongs to the victor 随机应变:to improvise, improvisation 感情用事:let one’s emotions carry one away; allows one’s personal feelings to influence (to interfere with) 啼笑皆非:caught between tears and laughter 情人眼里出西施:beauty is in the eyes of the beholder 深入研究:in-depth study 吃力不讨好的工作:a thankless job 屈膝以求:fall to one’s knees and plead; bring something to its knees; crawl on one’s hands and knees 名副其实:to live up to one’s reputation; measure up 好好利用:put something to the best use possible; put to good use; take advantage of; make use of; make the most of 想吐:sick of the sight of; cannot bear the sight of; feel nauseous; throws up 油腔滑调:an oiled tongue; evasive; subterfuge; equivocal; ambiguous; avoid being nailed down on 拉后腿:drag one’s foot 债台高筑:sink deeply into debt; accumulate a tremendous amount of debts; deep in debt; go deeper and deeper into debt; deeply in one’s debt(指感情上欠债) 酝酿:brew 精神食粮:food for thought 心太软:don’t have the heart’ cannot bear to; to soft-hearted 失去民心:alienate the sympathies of the people 顺其自然:let Nature take care of it; let Nature take its own course; let chips fall where they may 捧上天:praise someone to the skies; sing someone’s praises; lavish praise on someone; heap praise on someone; sing the praise of 气死人:burn someone up; make someone mad; be bound to hit the ceiling; blow one’s top off; be outraged 砸破饭碗:take the bread out of one’s mouth 朝秦暮楚:blow hot and cold; play fast and loose; not consistent 暗地里搞鬼:sticky fingers; hanky-panky; 蛮劲:dogged determination 冠冕堂皇:explain in noble words; in high-sounding words 视而不见听而不闻:look without seeing and listen without hearing 屈指可数:be counted on the fingers of one’s hand; be counted on one hand 对牛弹琴:talk to a stone wall; preach to deaf ears 炒冷饭:rehash 装死:play dead 装傻:play dumb 良药苦口:good medicine tastes bitter to the mouth(英语谚语) 实验品:guinea-pigs 心惊肉跳,不寒而栗:chill up one’s spine; spine-chilling; goose pimples (or goose-skin),注意汉语用起鸡皮疙瘩表示肉麻,英语用起鹅皮疙瘩表示惊惧。 天下无不散的筵席:all good things must come to an end 天涯海角:the ends of the earth; every corner of the world 吃得清淡:eat light 掉头就跑:turn tail and flee 吃豆腐:make a pass; get fresh with; flirt with; pinch girls; take liberties; make advances with 荡妇:abandoned and dissolute woman 无可救药:be rotten to the core; an evil man from head to toe; be corrupt to the core; be rotten through and through; be rotten beyond redemption 暴发户:from rags to riches 晴天霹雳:a bolt out of (from)the blue; hit someone like a thunderbolt 天生掉下的馅饼:right out of the blue; windfall 天旋地转:one’s head is spinning 落井下石:kick a man when he is down 鹤立鸡群:head and shoulders above one’s colleagues 锦上添花:gild the lily 衣衫褴褛:in rags 流鼻涕:get a runny nose 眼屎:pus-filled eyes 伺机而动:bid one’s time 伸懒腰:take a stretch; stretch 不能以笔墨形容:be beyond description; be indescribable; words fail someone 回忆童年的美好生活:reminisce about one’s happy childhood 子承夫志:follow in the path of one’s father; follow in the footsteps of one’s father 造诣很高:an accomplished one; erudite 收红包:on the take; take bribes; graft; corruption 人治:government of men 朝气蓬勃:be bursting with life 浑水摸鱼,趁火打劫:fish in the trouble water 老当益壮:hale and hearty 白发:gray hairs; white hairs意为学识丰富的人 今不如昔:over the hill 天无绝人之路:every cloud has a silver lining 塞翁失马,焉知非福:a blessing in disguise 实地考察:on-the-scene observation 手腕圆滑:be diplomatic 有钱能使鬼推磨:money makes people go around; money makes the world go around 强权就是公理:might makes it right 婉拒:turn down with great tact; refuse very discreetly; say no very diplomatically 庭外和解:be settled out of court 守法公民:upright, law-abiding citizen 日薄西山:life is slipping away; life is ebbing; one’s days are numbered 时运不佳:fortunes are at a low ebb; fortunes are low; run out of luck 顺境和逆境:ups and downs; highs and lows; peaks and valleys 心安理得:peace of mind 奢侈糜烂:extravagance and dissolute habits 放下:rest assured 有百利无一弊:nothing to lose but everything to gain 久仰大名:know someone by name and reputation 微不足道:little, if any significance; minuscule; marginal; be not worth mentioning 速成班:crash course; crash program 读死书:inculcating knowledge by rote learning; rote memory 以身作则:personal example 身体力行:lives the doctrine of; practises what one preaches; live the ideal of 言行不一:discrepancy between one’s words and deeds; words do not match deeds 食言:go back on one’s word; break one’s word; break one’s promise; a breach of faith with one’s promise 开夜车:burn the midnight oil; cram 自行其是:go it alone 最早得等到…时候:not…until…at the earliest 影射:oblique references 字里行间:between lines; hidden meanings; nuances of 终有出头之日:cannot be kept down all the time 听从良心:follow the dictates of conscience 生死关:a life-and-death struggle 事关紧要:a matter of life and death 防患未然:nip in the bud 吓得魂不附体:scare the delight out of someone; scare someone to death 刚够钱:scrape together enough money 弄清楚:get the names straight; get straight on 竭尽全力:strain every muscle; exhaust every ounce of one’s energy 每况愈下:with each day that passes, the situation gets worse 与时俱增:grow with time; grow with each passing day; becomes graver with every passing day 前所未有:unprecedented; unheard; have not been seen before 瞬间:in what seemed the twinkling of an eye; in the twinkling of an eye; in a split second 天助自助者:heaven / god helps those who help themselves 后会有期:our paths will cross again sometime in the future 失败得种子早已播下:the seed of defeat were planted / sown long ago 正义的愤怒:righteous indignation 引起公愤:outrage the public sense of decency; public outrage; outrage the public 迫切以求:cry out for; crying need 肉搏战:hand-to-hand fighting 绞尽脑汁,用了九牛二虎之力:rack one’s brains; beat one’s brains out 推卸责任:pass the buck 居功:claim credit for 任重道远:burden rests squarely on the shoulders of someone; burden falls on the shoulders of someone 祸不单行:one disaster comes hard on the heels of the other 尽力而为:carry out to the best of one’s ability; works up to the limit of one’s ability 挂羊头卖狗肉:window-dressing 令人作呕:nauseating; feeling of nausea 不折不扣:nothing short of a hero 入乡随俗:when in Rome, do as Roman do 纪律松弛:discipline is lax and deteriorating 钢铁般的意志:steely will and discipline; iron regimentation 疲劳战:a war of attrition 无名英雄:unsung hero 有其父必有其子:like father, like son (作风)深肖其父:a chip off the old block (样子)像父亲(母亲):the mirror image of one's father / mother 同甘共苦:stick together through thick and thin / evil times and good 狠狠瞪了一眼:a dirty look 杯水车薪:a drop in a bucket 差点送命:a close call; a close brush with death; a narrow escape; escape by the skin of the teeth; hairbreadth escape 忙得不可开交:have one's hands full 卑鄙的事:mean things 不得而知:a moot point 走下坡路:go downhill 无可厚非:beyond reproach; above criticism 飘飘然:have one's head in the clouds 一生难遇的机会:once-in-a-lifetime-chance 起死回生:bring someone back to life 说起来容易做起来难:it is easier said than done 药石罔效:not respond to any medical treatment 次要人物:lesser figures 忍气吞声:swallow one's anger and pride 关系恶化:relations become strained; relations take a turn for the worse 杞人忧天:fanciful worry 报假帐:pad the expenditure bills; inflate roster of soldiers 冒充:impersonate; disguise oneself as 不择手段:the end justifies the means; unscrupulous; unprincipled 冒名顶替:assume one's name 自称:style oneself as 深夜:in the dead of night; in the dark of night 传宗接代:have a son to carry on one's family name 踩出一条路:blaze a trail 老路:the old beaten road 色鬼:sex fiend;sex maniac; color horse 心理作用:a state of mind; it is only imagination 有失身份:beneath the dignity of a gentleman; degrading to educated men 相貌平平:bland in appearance; homely 恬不知耻:not have any sense of shame / honor / propriety