Language Café

Baller 风流倜傥 潇洒 That guy is rich and has a trophy wife. He is so Baller.That guy has a ton of cars and girls swarm over him. He is baller.She just broke into the music scene because she is baller.Definition: One who is successful in numerous social circles, or one that has earned a status of being proficient in the game of life. It can also be an adjective.Etymology: Derived from people who played baseball, and made it in life******例句1: Here is a baller person! He is from a rich family! He never does his own homework. He buys girls gifts whenever he wants too. He bribes teachers whenever he is in trouble. And he graduated he rode gravy train. He is simply:xxxx例句2: She is a painter. She spends all her money on ink and brush and travel. She has no fashionable dresses. She eats simple. The most enviable thing is that she's got a boyfriend who enjoys the same lifestyle. They are so so so xxx! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDon't hold one's breathEva said she was going to call, but don't hold your breath.We got to watch a movie for class, but don't hold your breath it's just a romantic comedy.The price of gas is supposed to go down, but don't hold your breath.Definition: Something that you say in order to tell someone that an event is not likely to happen or not to get excited over it.Etymology: "Don't hold your breath" refers to something that won't change anytime soon. Hence, if you held your breath to wait, you would pass out!******别指望 不要期待了例句1: Ten years ago, he left home and migrated to Australia. On the night prior to departure, he said to me that he would earn a lot of money and would send remittances and would eventually get me and my son out of the war-torn country and we three would be living together happily ever after. I received his money from time to time in the first several years and later mail was disrupted by the war in the country. We've lost contact with each other. It's possible that he would appear in front of us any time. But don't hold your breath. 别指望了!不要等他了! 你改嫁吧!例句2,The boss has been promising me a pay raise this past year. But one month and another have passed but nothing has happened. Hey! The economy is not doing very well, don't hold your breath! 不要期待了!

Shove down one's throat 灌输 逼 Movies shove the idea down viewers' throats that all bad guys are smokers.Joanna didn't like the insurance lady trying to force her product down her throat.Cory didn't like how the car salesman shoved the accident-prone car down his throat.Definition: To force someone to accept something.Etymology: Derived from force feeding.******例句1, 我喜欢文学,爸爸妈妈和老师逼我学数学. I love literature. But my parents and teachers shove down my throat the idea that I'd better pick up math and science and become a doctor in the future.******例句2,全家都在灌输我30岁以前必须结婚. The whole family is shoving down my throat that I need to get married before 30. Otherwise I will become a left over woman. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXDevil may careTony was not concerned about showing up drunk to work because of his devil may care attitude.Milo's hairstyle was devil may care.Grace was impressed by Trevor's Devil may care attitude towards money.Definition: Careless or reckless; happy-go-luckyEtymology: It's actually a shortened idiom. The entire idiom is, "The devil may care, but I do not."******爱谁谁 无所谓 不在乎例句1:扣工资?无所谓!Tom has been warned against moonlighting outside of the company at least three times by management. When he was told that he would face a pay reduction. His response: Pay reduction? Devil may care!例句2:你可以告诉他,我不在乎!Ｉ am critical of his latest work. One colleague reminded me that I should be careful in case he discovers my distaste. But I replied, ok, you can go and tell him, Devil may care! 例句3:老板不同意这样做!不行,这是我的项目,爱谁谁!The boss may not agree with the approach or the plan. But no, this is my project! I will do without or do it my way! Devil may care!

Looking fly:看起来很酷Kylie went to the party looking fly.You are looking so fly.I don't care how you dress. I'm going to look fly.Definition: Look cool.Etymology: It was mentioned in a Kanye West song.******例句1,你今天好酷,有什么喜事吗?You look fly today? Did any happy/nice/good thing happening?例句2, 去参加晚会,她从不穿晚装,她穿裤子,她喜欢看起来很酷. She never wears evening dresses for parties. She wants to look fly and wear only pants.例句3, 有人认为抽烟很酷,但我不同意. Some people think cigarettes make them look fly. But I do not agree!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxProduct placement The scene in the Amazing Spiderman where Peter Parker is using the Bing Search engine is product placementTransformers 4 was littered with product placement from bank cards to protein shakes.You witness product placement anytime you see the brand of soda cans in movies.Definition: A form of advertising where a brand or a product is placed in the media, for money.Etymology:******植入式广告例句1,我对插入广告不敏感, 但只要我意识它们的存在,我会感觉不舒服的. I am not sensitive to product placement but once I realized they were there I would feel uncomfortable.例句2,插入广告合法吗?如果合法就没有什么可说的,不喜欢不看就好了.Is product placement legal? If you do not wish to see them, you may give up watching movies or TV.例句3,好的植入式广告也是一门艺术,必须有创意,而且是电影的一部分.Good product placement is also an art. It should be creative and is an integral part of the movie.

Burn bridges 过河拆桥Wesley decided to neither ignore or accept the friend request from his annoying aunt, because he did not want to burn the bridge.Tyler decided not to burn the bridge with his X-boss because he wanted a good recommendation letter.Madeline did not want to burn the bridge with her high school rival because she could be useful in the future.Definition: To act unpleasantly in a situation that you are leaving, ensuring that you'll never be welcome to return.Etymology: It's based on the military action of burning a bridge you have just crossed to prevent the enemy from crossing it after you.*******Burn bridges 例句1,我帮她考试,考试一结束,她就过河拆桥不理我了.I helped her with her examination and after the examination, she burned bridges and disappeared from my life.例句2,她特别自私,经常过河拆桥,与她交往要小心! She is selfish and tends to burn bridges in dealing with people. So be careful!例句3,我实在受不了他,就过河拆桥了!I could not bear him any more and decided to burn bridges with him.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxServe up on platter Tracy does no work at all, expecting everything to be served to her on a platter.Johnny did not realize he served his little sister on a silver platter to his womanizing friend.The controversy garnered by the film literally served them viewers on a silver platter.Definition: Provide something valuable for nothing.Etymology: Alluded to being elaborately served at the table from the 1990s******白得 白送 轻松得到 饭来张口衣来伸手例句1,不少年轻人希望饭来张口衣来伸手,不过世界上没有免费的午餐哦! Many young people expected everything to be served on a platter. But please, there is no free meal in this world.例句2,他就想当明星,但是哪有不努力就能白得的名声呢? He wants to become a star. But there is no such thing as fame being served up on a platter.例句3,在别人眼里他轻松得到一切,只有他自己知道付出了什么.In other people's eyes, success was served to him on a platter. Only he himself knows how hard he has been trying.

Play hardball 强硬态度 态度强硬 没商量The President played hardball with the neighboring country in order to force a railway line through the country.Mrs. Tyson played hardball with her kids, threatening to ground them if they didn't clean their rooms.Tanya played hardball with her boyfriend, by threatening to dump him if she didn't get a huge diamond ring.Definition: The use of any means, however ruthless, to attain an objective.Etymology: This term originated in baseball, where it alludes to using the standard ball as opposed to the slightly larger and softer softball. It was later used to describe aggressive behavior in the 1970s.Play hardball 强硬态度 态度强硬 没商量例句1: 政府在这个问题上态度强硬. The government played hardball on the issue.例句2: 小李和小张是一对,他们想结婚,但在婚礼仪式问题上互不相让, 态度强烈. Xiao li and Xiao Zhang are a couple and they want to get married. But they have a dispute on how the wedding ceremony should be held and both of them are playing hardball. 例句3: 孩子该不该自己吃饭?爸爸妈妈,奶奶爷爷想法不一样,奶奶要喂孩子, 妈妈坚持孩子自己吃,态度强硬,没商量. Should a child eat on his own or her own? Parents and grandparents have very different opinions. The grandma says the child should be fed and mom is insisting on her child to eat by himself or herself. She is playing hardball on the issue.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxLowball 压价销售 低价推销产品 The students were lowballed into agreeing to show up to a morning class, only to be told it started at 7am.The construction company wanted the contract badly and lowballed.Gary knew the real estate market was bad, so he lowballed the real estate agent to sell the house for cheaper than what it was worth.Definition: A persuasion and selling technique in which an item or service is offered at a lower price than is actually intended to be charged, after which the price is raised to increase profits.Etymology: A tactic in a game of poker in which the player with the lowest hand wins. Likewise, it is a very low estimate or offer.Lowball 压价销售 低价推销产品 例句1,公司新成立, 没人知道它的存在, 为吸引顾客低价销售产品. The company is a new one. Nobody has even heard of it. So it is lowballing the price of its products in order to attract customers.例句2,这所学校的学费比其它学校低, 后来学生发现上当, 是非法办学.The school lowballed the students by charging fees below the average and later students found out that it's an illegal school.

Coasting along 滑行 随波逐流After Usain Bolt was assured of winning the 100m in the Beijing Olympics, he coasted to the finish line.After Amber quit her job she coasted along before aggressively finding a new job.After winning the lottery, Peter coasted along before the money ran out.Definition: To act or move aimlessly with little effortEtymology: It's derived from sliding down an incline by gravity or without using propelling power******A red herring 转移注意力 瞎扯The Agatha Christie Novel, The Murder on the Orient Express, is littered with red herrings to throw the readers off the real murderer.Cathy, the lawyer, had to detect clues and red herrings when she looked at the crime scene.The movie World War Z plants many red herrings for Brad Pitt to investigate.Definition: It's something that misleads or distracts from the relevant or important issue in a book or movieEtymology: A red herring was actually a kipper with a very strong smell. When trainers would train a dog to follow a scent, they would test the dog by distracting it with the scent of a red herring. Red herrings would have a strong scent that confused the dog. The dog eventually learned to follow the original scent rather than the stronger scent.******Running gag 流行笑话 In the first two seasons of Modern Family, there is a running gag of the character Phil tripping on the staircase.The British slap-stick comedy has a running gag of a person impersonating Craig David and saying the name "Craig David".The Comedy Big Bang Theory features a running gag of the character Penny giving an expression like she is smelling feces after she doesn't understand nerd talk.Definition: An amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other forms of storytelling.Etymology: Gag means a joke. Running means recurring.

An Item 一对 I did not expect Ray and Nadia to be an item, because I did not think Ray liked dating foreign girlsAre Tina and Albert an item, because I cannot tellJeff and Alexandra are no longer an itemDefinition: A romantically involved couple.Etymology: It's derived from the fact that an item is a single object instead of two.******On the Market 上市 走出来了After Troy got dumped by his girlfriend he was back on the market.Sophie wondered whether Mike was back on the market, because he had not been seen with his girlfriend.Gabby was on the market again after ending her long distance relationship.Definition: Being available.*****Cookie-cutter 一模一样 统一的解决办法 千篇一律 The army was using a cookie-cutter method to attack the militants hiding in a cave.The architects did not want another cookie-cutter mall.In order to solve the debt crisis, we need something besides a cookie-cutter approach.Definition: A cookie-cutter building or plan is identical to many others.Etymology: It alludes to the cooking utensils which are used to cut out cookie shapes for baking. These have been in use in the USA since at least the 19th century.

Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs杀鸡取卵Jared the undercover reporter refused to call police when his source told him he was a murderer. Jared did not want to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.Fred's wife knew he wasn't happy in his job, even though it paid well; still, she felt that advising him to quit would be killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.If you sell your shares now, you could be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.Definition: Destroy a source of riches through stupidity or greed.Etymology: A proverb in the late 1400s, alludes to Aesop's fable about a farmer whose goose lays one golden egg a day. The farmer kills the goose in the mistaken belief that he'll get all the eggs at once.******Short end of stick 吃亏 不公平Valerie got the short end of the stick when she got the night shift again.Wallace got the short end of the stick when he got the room that faced the noisy neighbors.The nation felt they got the short end of the stick since the land lacked resources.Definition: To suffer the bad effects of a situationEtymology: From the 1500s, but it was said a bit differently back then. During those times people fought with sticks. In this fight, having a shorter stick was a disadvantage.******Knock yourself out爱/想/该干嘛干嘛 关我什么(屁)事You are going to Spain, Go knock yourself out.You want some of the cookies, Go knock yourself out.You want to ask my cousin out on a date. Go knock yourself out.Definition: Do whatever the hell you want, it doesn't bother me.Etymology: From the mid-1900s, where it alludes to knocking oneself unconscious

Blind-sided 死角 盲区 措手不及 攻其不备Roose Bolton was blind-sided by his son who wanted him murdered.Donald Trump's opponents were blind-sided when he dug up dirt on them.Amber got blind-sided by Rob when he proposed to her on national TV.Definition: To attack someone where one is vulnerable or uninformed.Etymology: From American football where we have a blind side, which is behind us.******Up to speed 更新进展 了解最新情况等Alanna brought me up to speed on her love life.Ben brought the new guy at work up to speed.In fantasy worlds, ravens and owls bring people up to speed.Definition: Fully up-to-date on the state of someone or something.Etymology: The origin may refer to a person or animal that was performing at its best rate. The Oxford English Dictionary quotes the New York Times of 1879: "The mare was shown and her qualities and record were expatiated on. She looked decent and up to speed.******Get off high horse 放下架子 不要高高在上Dwight asked his wife to get off her high horse and talk to him.The old mean grandpa never got off his high horse and treated his servants as second-class citizens.Jerry was asked to get off his high horse when he mocked his colleagues.Definition: To become humble.Etymology: In 1380, a 'High horse' was a warhorse. In its figurative sense it is an air of superiority' that dates from 1782'.

On fire 火了The new girl at work is on fire.The football player has been on fire this season.The Harry Potter books were on fire when they first hit the shelves.Definition: Doing very well; very enthusiastic or attractiveEtymology: Derived from things catching on fire quickly.******Out of whack 不正常 有毛病 Rachel's reasoning that she came up with the invention was totally out of whack, since she used mental gymnastics to convince others that it was her own invention.Carrie got new glasses because she thought her left eye was out of whack.Eric thought the elevator was out of whack, so he climbed the stairs instead.Definition: Improperly balanced; not functioning correctly.******Fresh off the boat 新来的 新移民 新菜鸟 初来乍到You can tell they are fresh off the boat since they cannot speak English.Fresh off the boat Asians dress less casually than Asian AmericansMany fresh off the boat immigrants have blue collar jobs.Definition: Describes immigrants that have arrived from a foreign nation and have not yet assimilated into the host nation's culture, language, and behavior.Within some ethnic Asian circles in the United States, the phrase is considered politically incorrect and derogatory.