发信人: roy_young(金陵二胡)
整理人: roy_young(2001-07-26 06:54:06), 站内信件
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●在「世界周刊」上曾發表了幾篇「特別字眼」，其中也包括俚語、口語等，只是因為個人覺得那些字眼很「特別」，所以就這麼稱呼了。現在再介紹一些其他「特別字眼」，作為補充。
1. nit - picker：這是指一些專門挑剔別人毛病、吹毛求疵或過分仔細的人。 (A person who is overly concerned with details or finds fault with others); 例如：
The old lady (man) is a nit－picker . (老太太（先生）是位吹毛求疵的人)
至於 nit-pick，就是動詞，意思是挑剔。例如：
Don't nit-pick over trivial things (matters). (不要挑剔芝麻小事)(即別在小事上鑽牛角尖)
The Republicans will nit-pick the Democratic proposals. (共和黨對民主黨的建議諸多挑剔)
當做名詞或動名詞時，就是瑣細無端的指責。例如：
My boss is always good at nit-picking. (我老闆擅於找人毛病)
2. displaced homemaker：這是指那些因離婚或喪偶等原因而失去生活經濟來源的家庭婦女。(有的婦女因為一直在家教養兒女，沒有上班，一旦離婚或喪偶，很難找到工作，生活十分困難) (Housewives who have been home for years and suddenly their husbands left and had difficulty getting back into the workforce.) 例如：
She became a displaced homemaker after her husband left her. (自從老公離開後，她成為生活困難的主婦。)
The government has tried to help many displaced homemakers by offering job skill courses. (政府提供工作技能的課程，幫助許多失去生活經濟來源的婦女。）
3. fly-by-night：這是指無信用的，不可靠的生意 (即把錢騙到手後，夜間溜之大吉) (dishonest business) 例如：
This man once operated a fly-by-night business. (這個人曾有一次經營不誠實的商業)
The owner of the shopping center prefers not to rent his stores to fly-by-night business people. (購物中心的老闆不喜歡把商店租給不可靠的商人)
Fly-by-night businesses are illegal in the U.S. （在美國不誠實的商業是違法的）
也有人把fly-by-nighter稱為不講信譽的商人。例如：
He is considered a fly-by-nighter.
4. jet set：這是指闊佬階層的有錢人（a group of wealthy people) (jet 指坐噴射機到處旅行。set 指一群人=group）例如：
Hollywood actors and actresses are part of the jet set. (好萊塢的男女影星就是屬於富豪階層)
Generally speaking, educational personnel are not in the jet set. (一般來說，教育人員不是有錢人。)
He is a jet setter. (他是富豪名流) 或
He is in the jet set. (但不說：He is a jet set.) 或
He enjoys the jet-setting life style.
5. scholar-in-residence：這是指一些有名的專家學者 (藝術家、作家、音樂家、詩人等)受聘作短期訪問工作。(Visiting scholar on a short term basis or a temporary position；usually residing within the organization) (通常住在任所或在其附近); 例如：
As a scholar-in-residence, he worked with students on advanced research projects and taught a seminar course. (他以短期學者身分與學生從事高層次的研究計畫，同時也教一門實習課程。)
The university has a scholar-in-residence in science for the fall semester. (這所大學在秋季班請了一位短期的訪問科技學者)
也可以說：
A photographer (artist) (writer) (musician 等) -in-residence will be required for our art department. (我們藝術系需要聘請一位短期訪問的攝影師)
6. bottom line：意思是真正的底細、概要、基本情況或結果 (The root, actual explanation or conclusion) 例如：
The bottom line is that Mr. A is not an honest person. (真正說來，A先生不是一位誠實的人。)
Sometimes the newspaper editorial tries to get(down) to the bottom line on a specific issue. (有時報紙的社論為某一特殊問題說出緣由)
Occasionally, the bottom line is elusive. (真正的結果，偶爾也是難以理解或捉摸。)
His bottom-line living expenses have exceeded his income. (他的基本生活費用超出他的收入)
(bottom-line = basic)
7. Chicken feed：意思是為數很少的款目或小額的金錢（small amount of money）例如：
Some people view minimum wage as chicken feed.（有些人認為最低工資是小數目）
To a wealthy person ten-thousand dollars would be chicken feed. （對富人來說，一萬元是小金額。）
有時也當「小事情」講：例如：
The problem seems to be chicken feed. (這問題似乎是無足輕重)
8. No holds-barred：意思是沒有拘束，可以我行我素，似乎沒有任何規則。(多半用在職業摔角者) (free of restriction; no limits; act like there are no rules; mostly refer to professional wrestlers or wrestling）例如：
Professional wrestlers participated in no holds- barred tournaments. (職業摔角者參加可以「我行我素」的比賽)
(也就是可以抓頭髮，用椅子打對手等各種緊張鏡頭，其實據說都是偽裝的。）(tournament 比 competition 較正式且友善)
也可以用在其他方面，例如：
As a super-power, the U.S. sometimes takes no holds-barred approach toward other nations. (做為一個獨一無二的超強，美國對其他國家，有時也用「我行我素」「隨心所欲」的處理方式）
注意：老外通常把 no holds-barred 視為整體的片語，所以不把 no 取消，成為「有拘束」的意思）
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