想像一張牌桌上:洗牌時清脆的啪啦聲、攤牌前那一瞬的屏息凝神,接著突然——王牌花色亮出,局勢立刻翻轉。to turn up trumps 這個說法,就把那種出其不意的驚喜感寫進了語言裡。它顯然源自吃墩類紙牌遊戲(如惠斯特或橋牌):會把一張牌「翻開」來顯示王牌花色,讓該花色在對局中凌駕其他花色、擁有更大的優勢。
到了今天,to turn up trumps 指的是意外帶來很好的結果、出乎意料地成功,或在關鍵時刻派上大用場。它常用來形容某件事(或某個人)最後表現得比預期更好。
應用
• 使用頻率:7/10
• 適用場合:Casual
例句
• I was nervous about the bake sale, but my neighbor turned up trumps with a mountain of brownies and we sold out in an hour.
(我本來很擔心義賣會賣不出去,結果鄰居出手相助,帶來一大盒布朗尼,意外大受歡迎,一小時就賣光了。)
• We were really struggling with the project deadline, but thankfully, Sarah’s late-night efforts really turned up trumps and we finished on time. (我們專案的死線快到了,壓力超大,還好Sarah熬夜趕工,結果出乎意料地好,我們才能準時完成。)
• I wasn’t sure if Jake could pull it off, but he really turned up trumps at the last minute and saved the whole project.
(我本來不確定Jake能不能搞定,但他在最後關頭真的超厲害,把整個專案給救回來了。)


