发信人: roy_young(Roy)
整理人: roy_young(2001-06-04 14:22:25), 站内信件
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美 (英) 語中的俚語、口語或「順口溜」等等，實在很多，它們的意義，往往又與字面意義不同，有時也不合文法的結構，所以正確瞭解和靈活使用，是學習美語者的難題之一。下面即是常見的一些，供讀者參考。
1. to be (或 become) fed up with (someone 或 something)： 意思是對某人或某事感到討厭或厭倦（to get tired of; to be disgusted or to get sick of); 例如：
I am fed up with his constant complaints.（他常常的抱怨令我厭煩。）
We all became fed up with his long speech.（他的長篇演說我們都覺得討厭。）
The husband has been fed up with his wife's nagging.（老公對老婆的嘮叨感到厭煩。）
如果只用「to be fed up」也可以：
I will not wait for her; I am fed up. (我不想再等她了；我厭了。) (動詞時態是：feed, fed, fed)
可見這句俚語似乎有「被動味道」，如果用 feed，意思又不同了。例如：
The mother will feed the baby with milk.（母親餵嬰兒牛奶。) (feed 是及物動詞)
The cattle feed on grass (牛以草為生。)（feed 是不及物動詞）
但是 The cattle were fed with the grass by the farmer.（農夫用草餵牛。）(cattle 是複合名詞，意為複數); 所以可以說：
I am fed up with him. (我討厭他) (但不能說：I feed up with him.）
2. to be in a rut：是指對每天同樣的工作或是墨守成規一成不變的習慣，感到單調乏味 (to be tired of routine job; nothing new or excited) (rut 這個字本意是慣例或老套）。例如：
He has not been promoted for 20 years; he must be in a rut.（他廿年未獲升級，一定感到單調枯燥。)
After thirty years of the same job, he feels he is in a rut.（幹了卅年同樣的工作，他覺得枯燥乏味。）
所以要放棄單調枯燥的生活方式，就是 to get out of the rut. 例如：
If you hate your old job, you need to get out of the rut.（假如你不喜歡你的老工作，你就要走出乏味的日子。）
3. to cut the cord: 意思是父母要讓兒女離家過著獨立自主的生活 (let your children leave home and become independent) (只用於父母與兒女間的關係); 例如：
When your children are old enough to take care of themselves, you have to cut the cord.（當你的孩子長大可以照顧他們自己時，你就應該讓他們自力更生。）(即切斷依賴父母的臍帶。)
It is very difficult for many Chinese parents to cut the cord with their children.（許多中國父母很難讓兒女完全獨立自主。）
(註：這裡的 cord，是指 umbilical cord 即臍帶。）
4. to start from square one: 意思是上次沒有成功，必須回到起點從頭做起 (something did not succeed in the first place, have to start over again） (這與 to be back to square one 意義相同); 例如：
He has to start from square one because his computer destroyed (crashed) his homework. (由於電腦搞壞了他的作業，他必須從頭做起。)
The search committee for the new college president will have to start from square one.（選拔新校長委員會上次沒有成功，現在又要從頭做起。)
We are back to square one. (我們又從頭做起。)
5. to paint (someone) a picture：意思是解釋某種情況，使人更加明白。(to explain the situation; to make things more clear); 例如：
In order for you to understand better, I will paint you a picture. (為了使你更能明白，我願加以解釋。)
He will try to paint us a picture when he gives a speech.（他演講時，盡量想法使我們明白。)
When I write an article for a newspaper, I will paint my readers a clear picture.（當我為報紙寫文章時，我盡量讓我的讀者充分瞭解。)
但是 to paint a picture，意思又有不同了。例如：
The artist will paint a picture of me.（畫家為我畫像。)
The artist painted a picture for his interior decoration.（畫家為了他的室內佈置而畫了一幅畫。）
6. to take a (或 its) toll：意思是造成損失或有不良的影響 (to have bad effect); 例如：
His hard work will eventually take its toll on his health. (他的辛勞工作，最後對他身體會造成傷害。)
Inflation has taken its toll everywhere.（通貨膨脹對各地都有不良影響。）
The storm took a heavy toll. (暴風造成重大損失。)
The severe earthquake may have taken its toll on the economy of Taiwan. (或 Taiwan's economy) (強烈地震對台灣的經濟造成損失。)
The boss eliminated several senior positions to save money；it took a personal toll on him.（老闆為了省錢刪除了幾個資深職位，對他個人倒有不良影響。）
(註：to take its toll 較為常用)
7. to have the floor：指在開會時取得發言權，有人發言時，其他與會者應該注意聽。 (Everybody at the meeting should keep quiet and listen carefully when someone speaks to the audience.)（floor 本意是全體議員或全體與會者。) 例如：
Will you mind letting Miss Wang have the floor？ (王小姐發言時，請大家安靜注意聽好嗎？)
Everybody should be able to have the floor during the meeting. (開會時，每個人都應該有發言權。)
Let Mr. Chen have the floor for ten minutes. (讓陳先生發言十分鐘，大家注意聽。)
He was given the floor by the chairperson. (主席讓他發言。)
(註：老外開會時，一般不會交頭接耳，談話聊天，也不會嗑瓜子，吃 東西，大家都很自愛的安靜聽著。)
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I
left
my
heart
in
San
Francisco
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