短语习语（四）
Mark Down有降价的意思。今天这则新闻Macy's mistakenly marks down necklace from $1,500 to $47里曾用到。看来以后看到特便宜的东西，也不能一概而论为骗人，也有可能是标错了 :-)。
Puddle-jumpers，扭转灵活的小飞机，出现在 Weigh more, pay more 这则新闻里。举双手赞成机票按重量收费。虽然我自己不瘦，应该说算胖子了 :-)，但还赶不上美国的超级大胖子。没和他们一起挤过飞机的，恐怕很难想象那种煎熬。几个月前，飞过一次南卡，身边就坐了这么个胖子，还是女的。胖到什么程度呢？小餐桌根本放不下来！两个多小时的时间，死死地贴这我，那叫一个难受啊！苦不堪言。实话实说，这位胖婶还是尽了力往走廊处靠的（我靠窗），以便能多给我一些空间；由于占走廊地方太多，以至于空哥（UA 不知什么传统，乘务男的多)推车根本就不能通过；尽管她已经尽力了，但还是死死地贴着我的左腿。那时候我就想，胖成已经影响到别的乘客了，是不是应该买两张票啊。再次支持这种按重量收费的政策，同时也对自己敲响了警钟；荒废了无数次的减肥计划，需要立刻上马，千万别长到那种惹人嫌的地步。
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. -Oscar Wilde。我们都生活在污水沟里，但有些人仰望星空。
Stool pigeon，间谍，卧底，线人。Remington Steele，season III，Episode 4 Second Base Steele里出现过，Laura发现了Mrs. Kelsey与其前夫偷情，前去质问，但先解释说：“I'm no stool pigeon”。
Put a damper on something，直译麻烦，就意译成扫兴或煞风景吧。Remington Steele，season III，Episode 3 Maltese Steele里出现过，当时聚会上其他人正商量吃完饭去海上泛舟，Laura抱歉地说：“Much as I hate to put a damper on the evenving, Mr. Steele and I have a very big day ahead of us tomorrow。”。
Rhetoric，词藻，修辞，华丽的修饰。
Take their toll，字面意思是征收使用税，喻意造成麻烦。比如Bad habits finally take their toll，那就是说坏习惯最终是要给人带来麻烦的。也有那么点儿“不是不报，时辰未到”的警示。
Level with you，实话对你说。
It’s worth noting that。。。，值得注意的是。
Hold a grudge againest，怀恨
Ballads，民谣。介绍一首Sir Patrick Spens，摘自A Book of Old English Ballads
THE king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine;
"O whare will I get a skeely skipper,
To sail this new ship of mine?"
O up and spak' an eldern knight,
Sat at the king's right knee,
"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailòr,
That ever sailed the sea."
Our king has written a braid letter,
And seated it with his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.
Skeely skipper，有经验的船长。
林语堂与廖翠凤结婚时，林当场撕掉结婚证书并发惊人语，说婚书只有离婚时候才用的着，留下无用。金婚的时候，林送给妻子一个手镯，上面刻了James这首《老情人》（An old sweetheart of mine）里的一段：
When I should be her lover forever and a day, 同心如牵挂 一缕情依依
And she my faithful sweetheart till the golden hair was gray; 岁月如梭逝 银丝鬓已稀
And we should be so happy that when either's lips were dumb 幽冥倘异路 仙府应凄凄
They would not smile in Heaven till the other's kiss had come. 若欲开口笑 除非相见时
Check在象棋语境里是将军的意思，但为什么Check加mate就是将死呢？搜了搜才知道，原来mate来自波斯语，是被遗弃，被打败，走投无路的意思。这样看来，checkmate就好理解多了。
Undetonated，未引爆的。A third, undetonated device was found near the finish line, a House Homeland Security Committee official and three law enforcement officials told NBC News. -- from this news
Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good evening’, and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t. 看来全世界都一样，吸引人的新闻大都不是什么好事儿。
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Oblivion，遗忘。看了这个电影，科幻的，还不错。
Lobbed，投掷。the suspects reportedly lobbed explosives at police。from this news
In the mindframe of。这则新闻里出现的。可以翻译成正沉浸在什么什么之中，通常指一种持续的（但不是特别长久）的情绪。
Meteor shower，今夜的流星雨最好看。
Resonate，共鸣，和谐。“Bikini contests as a tactic just don’t resonate with our consumer and don’t fit with who the brand is now,” said Danielle Duncan, the brand manager for Hawaiian Tropic. -- from this news
There's always MONEY IN THE BANANA STAND. 不看Arrested Development这个show的恐怕很难理解这句话。Season 1, Episode 2里，$250,000 cash被“壁藏”在banana stand，结果被误烧了。-- 相关新闻
Vaporize，蒸发。很有意思的一篇文章
Equivocation，含糊，模棱两可，有意误导的话。
Lily-livered，胆小，怯懦的。
Composed，安宁，心如止水。
Wine Race。每年春天，Memphis的Beale Streetd都会举行Wine Race，就是附近餐馆的员工，执盘拖酒跑步比赛，纯粹是个既开心解闷儿，又招揽生意的活动。
outstrips，供不应求。Across Northern Europe, where the practice of burning garbage to generate heat and electricity has exploded in recent decades, demand for trash far outstrips supply. -- from this news
purported，据称的。What would he have thought about the purported evidence for flying saucers? -- from this news