Those of us who grew up with English as our first language have been exposed to idioms and idiomatic expressions for most of our lives. They may have confused us a little when we were children, but explanation and constant exposure not only increased our understanding of them, but likely drew them into our own vernacular. If you’re in the process of learning the English language, you may come across some of these and not be entirely sure what they mean. Here’s a list of 20 that you’re likely to come across fairly often:
對英語是母語的人而言，大部分的時間都會接觸到習(xí)語和俚語。孩提時，遇到習(xí)語和俚語可能會有些迷惑，但是不斷的接觸會增加對這些詞語的理解，并有可能把它們納入到自己的詞匯中。如果你正在學(xué)習(xí)英語，那你可能會遇到一些習(xí)語或俚語，卻不是很清楚它們的意思。下面列出了你最可能經(jīng)常碰到的20個習(xí)語或俚語。
1. A Chip on Your Shoulder
耿耿于懷
No, this doesn’t mean that you’ve dropped part of your snack. To have a chip on one’s shoulder implies that the person is carrying around some grudge or bad feelings about something that happened in the past… like having walked through the wreckage of a building, and ended up with a chip of that building stuck to them for years afterward。這可不是說你掉了一點(diǎn)兒零食。“To have a chip on one's shoulder”
指的是一個人對過去發(fā)生的事情懷有怨氣或不良情緒....。。就像是走過建筑物的殘骸，而接下來的幾年中建筑物的碎屑仍粘在身上。
2. Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
貪多嚼不爛
Like taking a HUGE bite of a sandwich that will fill your mouth up so much that you can’t move your jaw, this idiom implies that you’ve taken on more than you can handle successfully. An example would be agreeing to build ten websites in a week when normally you can only handle five。
就像是你咬了一大口三明治，把嘴填得太滿了，下巴都動不了了。這個習(xí)語指的是做事情不要超出自己的能力。舉個例子，你同意一周的時間建10個網(wǎng)站，而通常情況下你只能建5個。
3. You Can’t Take It With You
生不帶來，死不帶去
You can’t take anything with you when you die, so don’t bother hoarding your stuff or not using it except for “special occasions”. Live now, because all your stuff is going to be around long after you’re gone。
當(dāng)你死時，什么東西也帶不走。所以不要貯藏東西或只有“特殊場合”才使用某些東西�；钤诋�(dāng)下，因為在你走了之后，那些東西還會長時間存在。
4. Everything But the Kitchen Sink
一應(yīng)俱全/無所不包
This implies that nearly everything has been packed/taken/removed. For instance, if someone said: “The thieves stole everything but the kitchen sink!” it meant that they took everything they could carry; it’s damned hard to remove a sink and carry it around。
這指的是無所不包。例如，如果有人說：“The thieves stole everything but the kitchen sink!”指的是賊把能搬的東西都搬走了;很難卸下水槽并隨身攜帶。
5. “Over My Dead Body”
“休想”
When the only way you’ll allow something to happen is if you’re no longer alive to stop it。
你允許某事發(fā)生的唯一方式是你不再活在世上，無法去阻止它。
6. Tie the Knot
喜結(jié)連理
To get married. This is left over from the old tradition of handfasting, wherein the hands of the bride and groom would be tied together with a length of ribbon to symbolize that their lives were fastened together permanently。
結(jié)婚。這是從婚約的古老傳統(tǒng)遺留下來的，新郎和新娘的手用緞帶系在一起， 代表他們的生活永遠(yuǎn)地系在了一起。
7. Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover
不要以貌取人
Things aren’t always what they appear to be at first glance, so it’s a good idea to give something a chance, even if its outward appearance isn’t immediately attractive。
事情并不總是第一眼看上去的樣子，所以即使事物的外觀不能立刻吸引你，也要給它們一些機(jī)會。
*The exception to this might be actual books that have hideous covers: those tend to be terrible all around, and in cases such as these, it’s best to contact the author or publisher and recommend a good graphic designer。
*例外情況可能是封皮駭人的書籍：那些書無論放在哪里都很嚇人，在這種情況下，最好聯(lián)系作者或出版商，并推薦好的平面設(shè)計師。
8. When Pigs Fly
永無可能
This means “never”. Pigs aren’t about to sprout wings and take flight anytime soon, so if someone says to their kid that they can get a forehead tattoo when pigs fly, it’s not gonna happen。
這意味著“不可能”。豬不可能在短期內(nèi)長出翅膀飛起來。 所以如果有人這樣對孩子說， 當(dāng)豬能飛時就能在前額上紋身，意思是這樣的事是不會發(fā)生的。
9. A Leopard Can’t Change His Spots
江山易改，本性難移
Basically: you are who you are. Just like a leopard can’t concentrate really hard and change the pattern on its skin, people can’t change who they really are at heart。
基本的意思：你就是你自己。就像是豹子很難集中精力并改變皮膚上的圖案一樣，人們很難從本質(zhì)上進(jìn)行改變。
10. Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve
感情外露
To freely show and express all of your emotions, as though your heart were on the outside of your body。
自由地展示和表達(dá)你所有的情感，就像是把你的心放在身體外面一樣。
11. Bite Your Tongue!
保持安靜
Stick your tongue between your teeth (gently)， and then try to speak. You can’t say a word, can you? To bite one’s tongue means to stay quiet: literally to hold the tongue still so it can’t make a sound. This goes along with:
把舌頭放在上下牙齒間(輕輕地)，然后試著說話。你一個字也說不出來，是吧?“To bite one's tongue”指的是保持安靜：字面意思是讓舌頭靜止不動，這樣不會發(fā)出聲音。隨之而來的是：
12. Put a Sock In It
閉嘴
The idea behind this is that if you stuffed a sock in your mouth, you’d be quiet… so if you tell someone to “put a sock in it”， you’re telling them to shut up。
意思是如果你的嘴里塞了一只襪子，你就會安靜下來....。。所以如果你對別人說“put a sock in it”，你是告訴他們不要說話了。
13. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
莫惹是非
If a couple of dogs had been fighting and are now sleeping peacefully, it’s best to just leave them alone. The idea behind this one is to avoid bringing up old arguments so they’ll just be argued about again。
如果幾條狗打了一架后現(xiàn)在在安靜地睡覺，最好讓它們獨(dú)自呆著。這個諺語背后的意思是，盡量不要提出以前爭論過的問題，避免再一次爭論。
14. Foam at the Mouth
非常憤怒
To hiss and snarl in anger like a rabid dog (whose mouth would be foamy as he jumps around like crazy and tries to bite people)。
像瘋狗一樣發(fā)出噓聲和憤怒的咆哮(瘋狗的嘴上全是泡沫，它瘋了一樣的跳來跳去并想咬人)。
15. A Slap on the Wrist
輕微的懲罰
A very, very mild punishment. To be slapped on the wrist doesn’t hurt much, and isn’t a deterrent from misbehaving again。
非常小的懲罰。在手腕上拍一下不會造成傷害，對行為不當(dāng)無震懾作用。
16. You Are What You Eat
人如其食
This is the idea that everything you eat influences your health and well-being. If you eat nothing but junk food, you’ll end up unhealthy and malnourished, so be sure to eat a well-balanced diet。
意思是你吃的東西影響著你的健康和幸福。如果你光吃垃圾食物，到頭來，你會不健康和營養(yǎng)不良，所以一定要吃營養(yǎng)均衡的飲食。
17. “It’s a Piece of Cake!”
“小菜一碟”
…meaning that it’s incredibly easy. No-one has a difficult time eating a piece of cake, do they?
意思是非常容易。任何人吃一小塊蛋糕都很容易，對吧?
18. It Takes Two to Tango
孤掌難鳴
A person can’t dance the tango alone, nor can they fight by themselves either. If an argument has occurred, there were two people involved, so two were responsible。
一個人跳不起來探戈，也不可能和自己打架。如果有爭論，肯定會涉及到兩個人，所以兩個人都應(yīng)負(fù)責(zé)。
19. Head Over Heels
神魂顛倒
To be incredibly excited and joyful, particularly with regard to being in love. Imagine someone so happy that they do cartwheels down the street: like that。
令人難以置信的興奮和快樂，尤其是在愛情方面。想象某人如此高興，在街上側(cè)身翻跟斗：感覺就像那樣一樣。
20. An Arm and a Leg
代價昂貴
When something is so ridiculously expensive that you might have to sell your own body parts in order to afford it, it’s said to cost “an arm and a leg”。
當(dāng)有些東西貴的離譜時，你可能得賣到身體的一些器官才能買得起。這就是說成本是“an arm and a leg"。
