地道海外生活口语

1. Absent-minded 健忘，心不在焉 Definition: forgetful; constantly having other things on one’s mind A: Do you know where the keys to my apartment are? B: That’s the third time you’ve lost them this week! How could you be so absent-minded? A: I don’t know. I guess I am thinking about other things.

英文中absent和present是一组互为相反的形容词，可分别表示某

人“不在场”或“在场”。某人可能只是身体“在场”，但心却“不在场”。Absent-minded便是此意。此词常用来描述学生在课堂不专心的表现，如：Harry was absent-minded during the historical lecture.哈里在历史课上心不在焉。

2. Good taste 品位高 Definition: having a sense of style and refinement A: Lila has good taste. All of the furniture in her apartment is beautiful. B: Lila’s mother is an artist and her father is a carpenter, so she knows what kind of furniture is suitable for different rooms. A: I want Lila’s help when I buy new furniture because I never seem to be able to find something that looks good in my home.

taste一词从指食品的味道引申到指生活其它领域的品位。描述某人

时，taste指某人的审美观和鉴赏力。

3. Got licked 被压倒，被制服 Definition: to be defeated A: The team got licked by their archrivals. B: I thought we would win. What happened? A: The other team played better so they made fewer mistakes. Our team couldn’t score many points. 在动物界中可见到牛或猫等用舔幼仔的方式使小动物们顺服。此习语的含义似乎由此而来。

4. Cocksure 自认为十拿九稳 Definition: take for granted; used as an adjective to describe someone who takes something for granted A: I really don’t like George because of his cocksure attitude. B: I understand. He takes many things for granted and thinks that he is incapable of ever making a mistake.

一般指太过于自信的人。说话人的语气中带有一定的蔑视。

5. Edge of one’s seat 坐不住了 Definition: very exciting A: Did you like the new James Bond movie? B: I loved it! It was so exciting that it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time that it was on.

中国人在形容一个人激动的态势时有“坐立不安”或“脚下生风”等

妙语。在英语中与之对应的形象说法是“坐到椅子的边棱上”。用到名词seat的短语还包括suicide seat这个非常有趣的习语，它谑指驾车者旁边的座位，因为在车祸时乘坐此座位的其死亡率最高。

6. Jump on someone 向某人发脾气 Definition: be upset or mad at a person A: Dad is really upset today. I don’t know what happened at work but it wasn’t a good day. B: I don’t want him to jump on me. After dinner I’m going to my room to study so he can’t get mad at me for doing something that might irritate him. 这里描述的是言辞之激烈，而不是指“身体扑上去”，形容当人们情绪不好时，说话气冲冲的。又如：She jumped on her husband if he came back too late. 她丈夫回家太晚就会招来一顿呵斥。

7. Not so hot (Not that hot) 不怎么样 Definition: not very good A: Why didn’t you go to class yesterday? B: I woke up with a stomachache and a fever so I took some medicine and rested. A: How do you feel today? B: Not so hot, but I have a quiz today so I have to go to class.

描述某人或某物的状态不佳。

8. Run around 东跑西颠来回折腾 Definition: directed and redirected to different places apparently without result A: Don’t give me the run around! I’ve been here for seven hours and no one has answered my question. B: I am sorry, miss, but you are going to have to talk to the customer service department. A: I have already talked to several people in customer service. Each of them told me to go see different departments. I finally decided that the only way to get help was to come here and talk to someone in the main office.

人们在打问某事或找某人时常常会遭遇这样的事；一会儿跑到东，

一会儿跑到西，来回折腾。

9. Sit on the fence (Straddle the fence) 举棋不定 Definition: be undecided A: I’m not sure how I will vote on this issue. I think it’s important for schools to have more money to improve education but I think people pay a lot of taxes. Not everyone can afford to pay more. B: You may sit on the fence for this issue but I know how I will vote. My children need more teachers and better conditions in school. I support the tax to improve education.

指某人对某事持骑墙派的立场，不明确表示赞同或不赞同任何一方，

只是居于中间。

10. Get rusty 手生了 Definition: to lose one’s ability to do something due to lack of practice A: I don’t think Eileen plays basketball as well as she did when she was in high school. B: It’s been seven years since she played. You get rusty if you don’t practice, no matter how well you used to play basketball.

用铁生锈来比喻一个人的技艺长久不用变得不熟练了。

11. Cutthroat 你死我活的 Definition: very competitive A: I heard that the computer company might have broken some laws in producing their new software. Do you think that they would have purposely done such a thing? B: I don’t know. The computer industry is a real cutthroat business. Many people want to make a lot of money real fast and might even consider breaking the law.

cutthroat原指杀人凶手。用作形容词要描述世态炎凉。常见的搭配

有cutthroat competition严酷无情的竞争；cutthroat price跳楼价。

12. Cozy 舒适