2014年11月22日 星期六

have bearing on something 跟....有關係

have (some) bearing on something 跟....有關係

to have relevance to something. (Note the use of no and any in the negative.) I know something that has some bearing on the issue you are discussing. This has no bearing on anything that will happen today. This doesn't have any bearing on all that. What bearing does John's decision have on the situation?

2014年10月21日 星期二

wink and nod 暗盤

It means that the speaker was saying one thing in public, but he actually intended something rather different. The gesture of making "a nod and a wink" is a secret sign to your own supporters that tells them you're not being entirely straightforward, or you really mean something different. It's a way to reassure them using coded language that they will understand, but the general public won't.

A "theatrical" nod and wink would be one that's really obvious, so just about everybody will know what he really means - but since he doesn't actually say it outright, he can still deny saying it later if he has to.

2014年10月20日 星期一

shoe in 最有可能得到

shoe in = to be gauranteed OR to be most likely to 

get

He is a shoe-in for the job = He is gauranteed the 


job OR He is most likely to get the job.

paper over something 權宜之計

paper over something also paper something over
to solve a problem temporarily They papered over their disagreements in order to end the meeting on a positive note. She has asolid record of bridging differences between groups, not just papering them over.

tick somebody off 使某人生氣

tick somebody off (spokenalso tick off somebody
to make someone angry It just ticks me off to think that anyone who wants to can read my e-mail. It was only a suggestion, not acriticism, and she didn't think it would tick off everyone at the meeting.