American Idioms

 

 

Jump the Gun   (to be hasty)

Denise was planning on telling her grandparents that the doctor said she was going to have twins, but when her dad found out he jumped the gun and told them before Denise could say a word. He was so excited that he became hasty and revealed the news before Denise had a chance to tell them.

 

Scratch Someone’s Back   (return a favor)

--Hey, Bea. I need some help stacking these boxes. Would you please give me a hand?

--OK. And I need some help tidying up the house. How about your helping¹ me out after that?

--OK. If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. I know you don’t like doing housework, but I’ll help you with the boxes if you promise to return the favor.

--No problem. I’ll even do the windows. CE

 

 

 

21、美国俚语

 

过早地行动

 

丹尼斯打算告诉她的祖父母，医生说她将生下一对双胞胎。但是这事儿让她父亲知道了，于是他先行一步，抢在丹尼斯之前告诉了他们。他太兴奋了，行动非常快，在丹尼斯有机会开口之前就透露了这一消息。

 

回报某人的帮助

 

——嘿，比，我需要你帮我把这些盒子堆起来。你帮我一把好吗？

——好。不过我也需要你帮我把房间打扫干净。我帮完你，你也帮我一把，怎么样？

——行。如果你帮了我，我也会帮你的。我知道你不喜欢做家务，但是如果你答应反过来帮我一把，我就会帮你。

——没问题，哪怕让我擦窗户都行。CE

 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。