英语俚语天天说 第47期:只涉小钱的,微不足道的 Nickel-and-dime

 　　介绍: NICKLE N I C K LE 镍 是美元中五分钱的硬币

　　Dime¹ D I M E是美元中十分钱的铸币

　　dime是值十美分的硬币。 dime的价值虽然是nickel的两倍， 但是dime也只是一枚很小的硬币，而且dime跟 nickel相比是既小又薄，原因是过去曾经用比镍贵重得多的银子来铸造dime。

　　Nickle-and-dime can be used as a verb², and it can also be used as an adjective³. Let’s see what does it mean by knowing some examples. Suppose a dad is complaining about his kids that they often ask him for money.

　　Nickel-and-dime既可以被当作一个动词来用，也可以作为一个形容词。我们还是通过例句来领会它的意思吧。先看一位爸爸在抱怨自己两个十多岁的子女老向父母要零花钱，数目虽然不大， 但是长年累月、积少成多，也成为负担了。请注意他话里的习惯用语nickel-and-dime是个复合动词：

　　例句1：Our kids Bill and Susie nickel-and-dime my wife and me to death. It's just a few dollars every time, but it never stops and after a while it adds up to so much money it makes quite a hole in our pockets.

　　他说：他们的孩子Bill和Susie老问他和太太来要零花钱，烦得要命。虽然每回只是几美元，但是没完没了，长此以往， 就成了一大笔钱，好象他们口袋里有个窟窿似的。

　　这段话里的复合动词nickel-and-dime意思显然是零打碎敲地长期消耗，而花费了大笔钱财。刚才说过习惯用语nickel-and-dime也可以当形容词用。比方说，在这句话里：

　　例句2：He has a little nickle-and-dime business that makes just enough money to put food on the table and pay the rent.

　　这句话是说一个人有个小本经营的小买卖，挣来的钱刚够饭钱和房租。

　　这里的nickle-and-dime描绘business，是形容词，意思就是“小本经营的”，或者“微不足道的”

1 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

2 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

3 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。