1. curry favour

　　讨好，奉承，拍马屁（curry是咖喱）

　　He's always trying to curry favour with the boss.

　　他总是想方设法拍老板马屁。

　　2. be in apple-pie order

　　井然有序；整齐；井井有条（apple-pie是苹果派）

　　Their house is always in apple-pie order.

　　他们家总是收拾得井井有条。

　　3. jam tomorrow

　　许而不予的好东西，可望不可及的东西（jam是果酱）

　　As children we were always being promised jam tomorrow, if only we would be patient.

　　孩提时大人总是许诺只要我们耐心点儿就会给我们好东西。

　　4. （as） cool as a cucumber

　　镇静，冷静，泰然自若（cucumber是黄瓜）

　　She walked in as cool as a cucumber, as if nothing had happened.

　　她泰然自若地走进来，好像什么事也没发生过。

　　5. be like chalk and cheese

　　截然不同；迥异（chalk是粉笔，cheese是奶酪）

　　My brother and I are like chalk and cheese.

　　我哥哥和我截然不同。

　　6. like two peas in a pod

　　（尤指外观）非常相像（pea是豌豆）

　　The twins are like two peas in a pod.

　　那对双胞胎长得极像。

　　7. bean counter

　　（尤指大公司的）会计师（bean是豆类）

　　It looked like the project was going to be approved, but the bean counters said it wasn't cost-effective.

　　眼看这个项目就要获批准了，但会计师们认为它不划算。

　　8. bring home the bacon

　　养家糊口（bacon是培根）

　　I can't sit around all day - someone's got to bring home the bacon.

　　我不能整天坐着无所事事——家里总得有个养家糊口的人

　　9. chew the cud

　　深思，反复思考（cud是咀嚼物）

　　He sat for a moment chewing the cud before he spoke.

　　他坐着沉思了片刻才开口说话。

　　10. eat crow / eat humble pie

　　认错；道歉（pie是馅饼）

　　After boasting that his company could outperform the industry's best, he's been forced to eat humble pie.

　　他吹嘘他的公司可以压倒业内最好的企业，但之后，他就不得不承认言过其实了。

　　11. sour grapes

　　酸葡萄（指由于得不到而贬低某物，grape是葡萄）

　　I don't think it's such a great job - and that's not just sour grapes because I didn't get it.

　　我认为这份工作不怎么样——我可不是因为吃不着葡萄说葡萄酸。

　　12. spill the beans

　　泄露秘密（bean是豆类）

　　So who spilled the beans about her affair with David？

　　所以到底是谁把她和大卫的私情泄露出去的？