英譯：
in/by dribs and drabs
例句：
The guests arrived in dribs and drabs. (賓客三三兩兩地到來)
The work had been coming in by dribs and drabs for several years. (幾年來，接到的活兒都是零零碎碎的)
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A：在美國，中午或正午 (noon) 通常叫做 “12:00 p.m.”，而子夜或午夜 (midnight) 叫做 “12:00 a.m.”。The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition, 2000) 對此也有一段相似的用法說明：「嚴格地說，12 a.m. 表示午夜，而 12 p.m. 表示正午，但這些用法容易造成誤解，因此最好使用 12 noon 和 12 midnight 俾使意思殆無疑義。」
美國許多文體指南都建議，最清晰的表示法是 “noon” 或 “12:00 noon” 及 “midnight” 或 “12:00 midnight” — 而非 “12:00 p.m.” 和 “12:00 a.m.”。不過，The Canadian Press Stylebook (11th Edition, 1999) 認為要寫成「noon 或 midnight，而不是 12 noon 或 12 midnight」。至於 “12 a.m.” 和 “12 p.m.” 等片語，該書完全未提及。
然而，”12:00 midnight” 或 “midnight” 的用法仍有問題，因為它未區分到底是某一天開始的午夜還是結束的午夜。為了避免混淆及誤解，美國若干文體指南建議以上下文其他提示或完全不用 midnight 這個字來釐清 “midnight” 的意思。後者所採用的一個方法就是，用 “11:59 p.m.” 或 “12:01 a.m.” 代替 “midnight” 來表示某一天的結束或翌日的開始。這在美國的法律文件、合約以及飛機、火車或巴士時刻表上已用得很普遍 (不過，某些時間表則使用其他慣例)。
二十四小時制使用 00:00 來表示某一天開始的午夜及使用 12:00 來表示正午，因此避免了上述所有模稜兩可的情況。從 23:59:59 到一秒後的 00:00:00 (翌日的開始)，時間的表示再清楚也不過了。但二十四小時制有若干不同版本 (包括世界時間標準 ISO 8601)，它們使用 24:00 來指一天結束的午夜。
相信大家都已看過「呼呼塞拉吹進牛津英語辭典」這篇 PO 文了。在筆者貼出這篇文章後，有三、四個英文學習網站也相繼引用這篇文章，其中一個網站可能是為了不標示引用的資料來源，以示自創，乃將文章略微改寫並加入筆者文章沒有譯出的幾個新字新詞的翻譯，其中之一就是 viral。該網站自以為是地將 viral 譯為「病毒」。大家都知道這個字本來的意思就是「病毒的；病毒引起的」(形容詞)，早就存在於各英文辭典中，新版《牛津英語辭典》為何還要大費周章、煞有介事地把它當作新字新詞來收錄呢? 難道《牛津英語辭典》腦殘嗎? 當然不是，這麼權威的一本辭典當然不會做出自毀長城的傻事!《牛津英語辭典》收錄的是 viral 的新義。
Viral 的新義為「網路短片」，尤其是指透過網路分享 — 通常是指透過影片分享網站如 YouTube 和電子郵件分享 — 而爆紅的影片。這些短片的內容通常以詼諧、搞笑、有趣為主。而在網路爆紅的影片往往被叫做 Internet sensation。viral 除了當名詞外，還可當形容詞用，後面大多接 video。所以，我們在 YouTube 上所看到的點閱率或人氣超夯的短片，英文就叫做 viral 或 viral video。
以下筆者就以英國《每日電訊報》每週精選的網路短片及其標題來印證上面的敘述：
Best viral videos: Cats, corgis, washing machines and skateboarding priests
Watch Telegraph TV’s pick of the best virals this week.
Number 5: Washing Machine Self Destruction
Household appliance meets bricky end.
Number 4: Maru the cat
One of the most famous felines on YouTube performs her latest cardboard box stunt in trademark ultra slo-mo.
Number 3: Skateboarding priest
A bit like watching your dad dancing. We’re not convinced this act will convert non-believers, but we have to thank Father Lendavi for trying.
Number 2: Indian Pole Gymnastics
Think pole dancing is just for sleazy night clubs? These Indian gymnasts would give Peter Stringfellow a run for his money.
Number 1: Corgi Flop
Life-vest sporting corgi attempts its best doggy dive.
go before
以前發生過
We can’t ignore what has gone before and pretend that everything has been OK.
go by
(時間) 流逝
Ten years went by before we saw each other again.
go by +
憑…判斷，根據…做判斷；以…為準
Don’t go by my watch; it’s usually a bit slow.
go by (+)
路過；順便去
Nobody was at home when I went by yesterday.
I went by the post office on the way home.
go down
減少；下降
The price of digital cameras has gone down recently.
go down
沈沒
The Titanic went down after it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage.
go down
(月亮、太陽) 沉落；西下
The sun went down at seven o’clock.
go down
坐牢
He went down for ten years for armed robbery.
go down
被記下來；被銘記
It went down as the worst day in the history of the company.
go down
(食物) 被吞下，被嚥下
The medicine went down easily.
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
go down
倒下；跌倒
The boxer went down in the second round.
go down
發生
The police thought that a big crime was going down that night.
I was nowhere near here when the robbery went down.
go down
(系統，尤指電腦) 停止運作
The computer system went down for an hour last night.
go down
(劇院或電影院的燈光等) 逐漸暗下來
The lights went down and the audience stopped talking.
go down
被接受；被認可；被喜愛
Jim went down well with Mary’s parents on his first visit.
The new director’s appointment did not go down very well.
go down to +
被打敗；被征服
Chelsea went down to Arsenal in a thrilling game.
The famous tennis player went down to an unknown young woman.
go down with +
罹患 (某種疾病)；因…而病倒
She went down with a virus.
Four people in my office have gone down with the flu.
go down with +
被…接受；被…認可
Do you think the scheme will go down with the farmers in the area?
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據英國《每日電訊報》(Daily Telegraph) 8月18日報導，南非足球迷愛用的塑膠喇叭「呼呼塞拉」(vuvuzela) 在今年世界盃足球賽一鳴驚人，也把 vuvuzela 這個字吹進最新修訂出版的《牛津英語辭典》(Oxford Dictionary of English) 裡，成為牛津英語辭典最新收錄的新字新詞之一。
《牛津英語辭典》與歷史悠久的《牛津英語大辭典》(Oxford English Dictionary, OED) 略有不同，以常用字為主，而網路衍生的新字詞最多，如 microblogging (微網誌)、tweetup (經推特 twitter 安排的聚會)、defriend (從 facebook 等社群網站將某人從自己的好友名單中移除)，源自日文的 hikikomori (繭居族) 也上榜。
金融海嘯也帶來 toxic debt (有毒債務，指可能無法償還的債務)、quantitative easing (量化寬鬆，指的是中央銀行增加全國貨幣供應量)、staycation (在國內度假) 等新字。科學方面的新字新詞多與氣候有關，如 carbon storage (碳封存)，指在燃燒燃料過程，留住二氧化碳並封存在某處。國家和全球政治領域出現的新字詞包括 exit strategy (退出戰略)、the fog of war (戰爭迷霧)、a surge (增兵)、overthinking (多慮)、catatrophizing (比實際情況更糟糕的局面) 以及 soft skills (軟技能，指與別人和諧相處的能力)。
新修訂出版的牛津英語辭典，會依據每個字詞使用的頻繁程度，決定是否將它們納入。7月份針對全球語言學者所做的調查顯示，vuvuzela 是本屆世足賽最重要的字。編纂單位請 60 多國的 320 多位語言學者，選出他們認為對本屆世足賽影響最大的字，結果有 75% 選擇 vuvuzela。
以下為《每日電訊報》的原文報導：
The vuvuzela has blasted its way into the Oxford Dictionary of English for the first time after becoming the sound of the World Cup.
Along with other new words like tweetup, cheeseball and turducken, it is included in the third edition of the dictionary, published on Aug. 18.
The word vuvuzela has only been in common use since the summer when the long horn began to be heard at the World Cup matches in South Africa.
It is one of more than 2,000 new words and phrases included in the dictionary for the first time.
Other newcomers include: tweetup (a meeting arranged through Twitter); cheeseball (lacking taste or style); and a turducken (a roast dish consisting of a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey).
Two of the greatest influences on current language have been the internet and the financial crisis.
Paywall (which restricts website access only to subscribers), microblogging (posting short entries on a blog), netbook, viral and defriend have all arrived in our language because of the internet.
The financial world has also provided a host of new words including toxic debt, deleveraging (reducing debt by quickly selling assets), overleveraged, quantitative easing and staycation (a holiday spent in your home country).
Many of these were words that, in the past, were only used by economists and City experts, but which have now crept into normal parlance.
The world of national and global politics has contributed a number of new words and phrases including exit strategy, the fog of war, a surge (of troops), overthinking, catatrophizing (presenting a situation as considerably worse than it actually is) and soft skills (personal attributes that let you interact harmoniously with others).
Scientists have provided words connected with the climate. Carbon capture, carbon storage and geoengineering are all ways to help fight global warming.
Other new entries are :
* wardrobe malfunction : when someone exposes an intimate part of their body after clothing slips;
* chill pill: a notional pill to make someone calm;
* bromance : a close but non-sexual relationship between two men;
* LBD (little black dress). This refers to the simple evening or cocktail dress that, it is claimed, should be part of every womans wardrobe; and
* frenemy : a person that one is friendly with despite a fundamental dislike.
A spokesman for publishers Oxford University Press said the dictionary, which was first published in 1998, is based on a huge word bank or corpus which is continually being added to.
The spokesman said : The Oxford Dictionary of English was the first dictionary to be fully based on evidence of how language is really used, with words and senses derived from the latest corpus research.
This third edition of the dictionary draws on the Oxford English Corpus to ensure that it remains at the leading edge of language research.
A：正確! believe you me 其實只是 believe me 的延伸而已，與 believe me 同義且同樣是祈使句，因此是一句很容易瞭解的口語，其目的在加強語氣，以表示「事情真的是這樣」、「事情確實如此」的意思。根據《牛津英語大辭典》(Oxford English Dictionary, OED) 和 The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage，believe you me 首次出現在 1926 年，而 believe me 則已存在好幾百年，如 What I said, believe you me, is really true. (相信我，我所說的真的千真萬確)。
英譯：
the devil finds work for idle hands
例句：
“The devil finds work for idle hands” is what your mother says to you when she finds you watching television, rather than doing your homework! (當你母親發現你在看電視而不做功課時，她就會對你說「一閒生百邪」)
When Paul was young his parents warned him that the devil finds work for idle hands. (保羅年輕時，他父母親就告誡他，一閒生百邪，無聊起壞心)
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A：在 I would like to thank my wife, Teresa, for her wise decision in selecting a school for our child. (我想要感謝我太太泰瑞莎在挑選小孩就讀的學校時所做的明智決定) 這句中，Teresa 的前後都要加上逗點。若沒有這兩個逗點，即 I would like to thank my wife Teresa for her …，那就表示我有一個以上的老婆，而我想要感謝的是其中一位叫做 Teresa 的老婆；因此，Teresa 是必要的資料、不可或缺，否則有人可能會認為我指的是我另一位老婆春嬌。然而，這顯然有悖普遍的事實，因為除了中東國家的回教徒可能有一個以上的太太外，絕大多數人都只有一個太太。因此，在 Teresa 前後各加一個逗點，使 Teresa 成為插入語，目的只是在補充資料，可有可無，並不影響句意。現在再舉一例來說明：
第 1 句表示我有一個以上的妹妹，而計畫今秋就讀衛斯理學院的是其中一位叫做 Margaret 的妹妹，其他妹妹並沒有這樣的計畫；第 2 句是說我只有一個妹妹，即使沒有把她的名字講出來，別人也知道 My sister 是誰，所以 Margaret 這個名字只是補充資料，可有可無，並不影響句子的意思，故用逗點隔開。
come over
來，(到某人家) 拜訪，順便來訪
Why don’t you come over after work for dinner?
come to
甦醒
Don’t worry! She faints all the time. She always comes to after a few minutes.
come to +
達到 (某數量、某金額、某狀況、某狀態、某時等)
The two men started arguing but they soon came to blows and started fighting in earnest.
come up
出現；發生
I’ll let you know if anything comes up.
A chance may come up soon.
come up
(太陽、月亮或星星) 出現，升起
The sun came up just as we reached the outskirts of the town.
come up against +
遇到 (問題、困難或不愉快的事)
They came up against a lot of opposition to their plans for an out-of-town supermarket development.
come up to +
達到；及於
The job offer didn’t come up to her expectations.
come up with +
提出，想出 (計畫、構想、方法、藉口等)
She came up with a great proposal for the new advertising campaign.
come upon +
偶然遇見；偶然發現
I came upon the book in a little second-hand bookshop in Tainan.
conjure * up +
使腦海浮現；使想起
This music conjures up a picture of flowing water.
conjure * up +
魔術般地變出；奇蹟般地創造
I had to conjure up a full weekend’s entertainment for the visitors with no notice at all.
They managed to conjure up a goal and won the match.
conk out
很快就入睡；熟睡
I was exhausted and conked out on the sofa.
conk out
突然停止運轉；突然發生故障
The printer conked out so I couldn’t get a hard copy.
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A：在英文中，deserve, need, require (以及比較不常用的 want) 等少數動詞的後面經常接動名詞或被動不定詞，但這兩種結構所表達的意思完全一樣，如 Your shoes need cleaning/need to be cleaned. (你的鞋要擦一擦)。換言之，這些動詞後面所接的動名詞，帶有被動的意思。例如：