美國人在職場及生活上都大量使用慣用語,有些用法不但很難從字面上判斷其意,更有別於我們在傳統教科書上所學用字。例如hold your horses、John Doe、luck out,如果聽不懂,可能會完全誤解整句話的意思,例如下面這句話: We lucked out with the joint venture with Disney.一看到luck跟out,你可能就會在腦中組合出「好運」+「出局」的意思,所以會以為這句話是說「我們很不幸沒有取得跟迪士尼的合作。」 事實上,luck out的意思卻是「運氣好」,所以這句話的意思應該是: 「我們運氣很好取得跟迪士尼合作。」
目錄 A a slew of... ~ awash B back off (...) ~ by word of mouth C caliber ~ cut corners D daunting ~ DUI E e.g. ~ Exhibit A (in one’s file) F facilitate ~ function G game plan ~ gung(-)ho H hand out... ~ hypothetical I I am not sure... ~ It’s your call. J jack up... ~ just one of those things K kaput ~ kudos L land ~ luck out (on, with) M Main Street ~ music to one’s ears N (the) name of the game ~ (the) nuts and bolts O odds ~ owe P (a) pain in the neck ~ put up with... Q quantum leap ~ quote ... unquote R rain check ~ run S sack ~ synopsis T tail end ~ typo U ultimately ~ upward(s) of... V verdict W wacky ~ wrap X x out... Y yellow flag ~ yours truly Z zero in on... ~ zoom in on...