1. Lemon = something defective废物，没用的东西。

范例对话:

A: Have you seen Joanne's new car yet?

B: Yeah. It looks good, but she's had nothing but problems with it.

A: That's too bad. It sounds like she got a real lemon.

B: She sure did! No sooner did she drive it home from the dealer's than it proved defective and started breaking down.

2. Get Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed = wake up in a bad mood

起床时心情很坏。

范例对话:

A: What's the matter with Bernard today? He started shouting from the moment he stepped into the office.

B: I don't know. He usually doesn't act that way at all. I guess he got up on the wrong side of the bed.

A: Just because he woke up in a bad mood is no reason for him to be so cross and to go around shouting at everybody.

B: Hopefully he'll relax as the day goes on.

A: Amen!

3. Get the Ax = be dismissed, fired

美国式的炒鱿鱼是接斧头，表示被解雇。

范例对话:

A: I feel sorry for Richard. He was feeling quite depressed when I ran into him.

B: Did he tell you what was bothering him?

A: Among other things, he informed me that he got the ax at work.

B: That's strange. He's always been a conscientious worker. I wonder why they dismissed him from his job?

A: Evidently he had a disagreement on company policies with one of the top executives.

4. In the Hole = in debt

中国人说债台高垒，美国人说掉进债窟。In the hole 表示欠债.

范例短文:

Unfortunately, Peter had to sell his neighborhood hardware store. Because of competition from the bigger stores in the shopping center, he was going in the hole every month. His store was small and did not generate enough income to meet expenses. As a consequence, he was rapidly losing money and going into debt.

5. Face the Music = accept the consequences面对事实, 接受后果。

范例对话:

A: It's no wonder you have a stomachache. I told you not to eat so many green apples. You don't listen, and now you're going to have
to face the music.

B: The trouble with me is that I can't stop with just one or two, especially when they're so tart. I'll admit that I tend to forget that eventually I'm going to have the accept the consequences for what I've done.

A: I sure hope it was worth it.

6. blow it = fail at something把事情搞砸了。

范例对话:

A: How did you do on the history exam?

B: I think I blew it! There was a section on the Civil War, and that's the chapter in the book that I studied the least.

A: Well, at this point you can't really be sure that you completely failed the examination. You must have done okay on the rest of the test.

B: Perhaps I didn't fail the entire exam, but I'm sure that I didn't do well.

7. On the Line = in danger of being lost

象在踩钢丝一样,岌岌可危.

范例短文:

Lately Tom's been more conscientious about the accuracy and quality of his work with the company. He was warned that his job was on the line because of his lack of concern for his duties. When Tom was alerted that he was in danger of losing his job, he began to take his obligations with the company more seriously.