Idiom List – V

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII
image about idiom poker-faced

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poker-faced 面無表情

She sat there poker-faced the whole time, so I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
( 她全程面無表情地坐在那裡,我完全看不出她在想什麼。)


posthaste 快馬加鞭、全速

I’ll get that report to you posthaste, so you don’t have to wait.
( 我會盡快把那份報告給你,讓你不用等太久。)


a Pyrrhic victory 代價慘重的勝利

Winning that argument felt like a Pyrrhic victory—I lost a good friend over it.
( 贏了那場爭論卻像是慘勝,因為我因此失去了一位好朋友。)


to re-invent the wheel 多此一舉

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel—let’s just use the template from last year.
( 我們不需要重新來過,直接用去年的範本就好了。)


a red herring 轉移注意力的事物

Don’t let that argument about the weather be a red herring—we need to focus here.
( 不要被那個關於天氣的話題帶偏了,我們要把重點放在這裡。)


to ride roughshod over 霸道橫行

He just rides roughshod over everyone’s ideas and does whatever he wants.
( 他完全不理會別人的想法,總是照自己的意思去做。)


to rule the roost 當家作主

Ever since my sister moved out, I finally get to rule the roost at home.
( 自從我姐搬出去之後,我終於可以在家裡當老大了。)


be worth one’s salt 稱職

Any manager worth their salt would stand up for their team in a tough situation.
( 值得信賴的主管在困難時一定會為自己的團隊挺身而出。)


the salt of the earth 社會中的好人

My grandma is truly the salt of the earth—she’d help anyone in need.
( 我奶奶真的是個非常善良又熱心助人的人,遇到需要幫助的人,她總是義不容辭。)


a good Samaritan 好心人

Some good Samaritan helped me change my flat tire on the highway last night.
( 昨晚在高速公路上有位好心人幫我換了爆胎。)


a seal of approval 正式認可

Getting the boss’s seal of approval really boosted my confidence on this project.
( 獲得老闆的肯定,真的讓我對這個專案更加有信心。)


shell-shocked 嚇傻、怔住

When I heard the news, I was just shell-shocked and couldn’t say a word.
( 當我聽到這個消息時,整個人都愣住了,完全說不出話來。)


to live on a shoestring 拮据

Ever since I lost my job, I’ve been living on a shoestring every month.
( 自從我失業以後,每個月的日子都過得很拮据。)


to sign / take the pledge 宣誓

Before officially joining the club, you have to sign and take the pledge.
( 在正式加入社團之前,你需要先簽名並宣誓。)


the sword of Damocles 危機四伏

Ever since the layoffs started, it feels like the sword of Damocles is hanging over us.
( 自從開始裁員後,我們每個人都感覺壓力如影隨形,隨時都有危機降臨的可能。)


tarred with the same brush 連坐

Just because they’re friends doesn’t mean you should tar them with the same brush.
( 他們是朋友並不代表你可以一概而論。)


at the end of one’s tether 到達極限

After dealing with nonstop issues at work, I’m really at the end of my tether.
( 工作上一直有解決不完的問題,真的讓我快撐不下去了。)


to tilt at windmills 徒勞的戰鬥

Arguing with him about that is just tilting at windmills—he’ll never change his mind.
( 跟他爭論那件事只是白費力氣——他根本不可能改變想法。)


to a T 精準完美

She followed the instructions to a T and the recipe turned out perfect.
( 她完全照著食譜做,結果成品非常完美。)


to toe the line 嚴守規則

If you wanna keep your job here, you’d better learn to toe the line.
( 如果你想繼續留在這裡工作,最好學著配合一點。)


to trim one’s sails 改弦更張

After the new boss arrived, we had to trim our sails and change our approach.
( 新老闆上任後,我們不得不調整做事方式,改變策略。)


to turn up trumps 意料之外的成功

We weren’t expecting much from the project, but it really turned up trumps in the end.
( 我們本來對這個專案沒有太大期待,沒想到最後竟然有出乎意料的好成果。)


an ugly duckling 醜小鴨

I used to feel like an ugly duckling in school, but I grew out of it.
( 以前在學校的時候,我常覺得自己像醜小鴨,但後來我已經走出那段時期了。)


on the warpath 氣沖沖興師問罪

Watch out—Mom’s on the warpath after seeing the mess in the kitchen!
( 小心點——媽媽看到廚房那麼亂,現在正氣得不得了!)


a wet blanket 掃興、潑冷水

Don’t be such a wet blanket—just come to the party and have some fun!
( 不要那麼掃興嘛,來派對一起玩得開心點吧!)


a white elephant 中看不中用之物

That fancy bread maker turned out to be a total white elephant in my kitchen.
( 那台高級麵包機結果在我廚房裡根本派不上用場,完全是個浪費。)


a whiz kid 神童、聰明少年

Jake’s a total whiz kid when it comes to computers—he fixes everything for us.
( Jake在電腦方面超厲害,什麼問題他都能幫我們搞定。)


on a sticky wicket 情勢不利

I knew I was on a sticky wicket when my boss called me in early.
( 當老闆一大早就叫我進辦公室時,我就知道自己情況不妙了。)


a wild goose chase 徒勞的追尋

I felt like I was on a wild goose chase looking for my lost keys last night.
( 昨晚找我那把丟掉的鑰匙,感覺就像是在瞎忙一場。)


willy-nilly 草率隨意

You can’t just make decisions willy-nilly and expect everything to work out.
( 你不能隨便做決定,然後指望事情都會順利解決。)


to win hands down 輕鬆得勝

With all the extra practice she put in, she won hands down at the competition.
( 因為她花了很多時間練習,所以在比賽中輕鬆獲勝。)


under one’s wing 受到照顧

When I started my new job, Sarah really took me under her wing.
( 我剛開始這份新工作時,Sarah真的很照顧我。)


the apple of discord 禍端

Honestly, that rumor was the real apple of discord in our friend group last year.
( 老實說,那個謠言去年真的成了我們朋友圈裡最大的導火線。)


to go AWOL 擅離職守

He just decided to go AWOL and disappeared without telling anyone at work.
( 他就這樣決定擅自離職,沒跟任何同事打招呼就消失了。)


a battle-axe 悍婦

Don’t mess with her—she’s a real battle-axe when she gets upset.
( 不要惹她生氣——她一發火可是很兇的。)


a beaten path 常規、尋常

We wanted something different, so we decided not to stick to the beaten path.
( 我們想要一些不一樣的體驗,所以決定不走傳統的路。)


to get out on the wrong side of bed 起床氣

Sorry if I’m grumpy—I think I just got out on the wrong side of the bed today.
( 不好意思,如果我今天有點脾氣不好,可能是一早起床就心情不太對。)