A：年份的所有格是在年份的後面加 ‘s，不能只加 s，因為兩者的意思截然不同。所以，2009’s results were excellent. (2009 年的決算結果非常好) 是唯一正確的句子。不過，筆者建議使用「of 片語」，亦即寫成 The results for/of 2009 were excellent.，因為有人可能會誤以為 “2009’s results” 是某種複數型態 (當然它不是，但有人就是會搞混)。
如果僅在年份的後面加上 s，如 1980s，其意思就變成「1980 年代」，是指從 1980 年到 1989 年的 10 年期間；同樣地，2000s 意為「2000 年代」，是指從 2000 年到 2009 年的 10 年期間。由此可知，年份後面加 ‘s 的意思和加 s 的意思有天壤之別，兩者千萬不可搞混。
The best of both worlds 意為「從兩種截然不同的活動或情況中同時獲益；從兩件截然不同的事情中同時獲益；享有兩者之優點；各取其長；兩全其美」，但其確切起源無從考證。這個慣用語於大約 1800 年代末期變得流行。它可能源自法國作家伏爾泰 (Voltaire) 的作品《憨第德》(Candide)。伏爾泰在這本 1759 年出版的諷刺小說中使用了意思完全一樣的 “the best of all possible worlds” 這個片語。
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Not see the forest for the trees 是個諺語，意為「見樹不見林」。不過，這是美國的慣用語，英國也有個比較早出現的同義慣用語，那就是 not see the wood for the trees，兩者僅一字之差。Not see the wood for the trees 最早出現在英國作家約翰‧海伍德 (John Heywood) 1546 年出版的諺語集中。
之後不久，有人便使用比較沒有那麼詩情畫意的 “forest” 來取代 “wood” 這個字，但兩者同樣直到 1800 年代才被廣泛使用。在實際的應用上，這兩個字或者說這兩個慣用語交互使用的情況所在多有，但 “forest” 版本的使用頻率略高一籌。
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(名詞) 老爸
(名詞) 老公
Shoot the breeze 意為「閒談，閒聊」。這個慣用語於 1900 年代初期至中期開始在美國使用。Breeze 這個字的意思是「和風，微風」，但它一度是個俚語，意為「謠言」(rumor)。這個慣用語的起源可能與此有關，因為閒聊的人往往天南地北亂扯一通，其中不乏流傳的謠言和八卦。
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Road hog 意為「不顧別人安危橫衝直撞的駕駛人；佔用車道的駕駛人；豬頭司機」。它的字面意思為「路上的豬」，但它一開始就用作比喻意思，把莽撞的駕駛人比喻為豬 (hog，亦指「貪婪或自私的人」)。這個慣用語於 1880 年代中期開始使用，有趣的是，汽車就在那個時候問世，當時路上的汽車還很少。
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A：“cannot” 和 “can not” 是截然不同的兩個字，兩者不可互換。Cannot (不能) 是 can (= be able to) (能) 的否定形式。Can’t 是 cannot 的縮寫形式，而且是比較後來才出現的寫法，在莎士比亞的作品中並沒有這樣的形式，《牛津英語大辭典》(Oxford English Dictionary, OED) 所提供的最早的例句是在 1706 年。由於是縮寫形式，can’t 並不適合用在正式寫作和論文中。此外，值得一提的是，cannot 通常發成 can’t 的音。
Can not 目前只出現在兩種情況中，第一種情況是 not 為某固定片語的一部份，如 You can not only borrow the car but you can also borrow my camping equipment. (你不僅可以借車，還可借用我的露營用品) － 由於在這句中，not 是 not only … but (also) 此一固定片語的一部份，因此不能使用 cannot；第二種情況是句子要特別強調 “not”，如 No, you can NOT wash the dog in the washing machine. (不! 你不可以將狗放進洗衣機去洗)；You can NOT go to the movies! (你不能去看電影)。
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Do a Houdini (act) 和 pull a Houdini (act) 為同義慣用語，意為「一溜煙就不見了；突然消失了；突然跑走或逃脫了」。它們的後面有時會如標題省略了 act 這個字，但不省略 act 的情況亦所在多有。英文中至少還有兩個慣用語的意思跟它們完全一樣，那就是 do a disappearing/vanishing act。
Do a Houdini (act) 和 pull a Houdini (act) 於 20 世紀開始使用，並於 1980 年代聲名鵲起。兩者都是美國慣用語。哈利‧胡迪尼 (Harry Houdini) 為匈牙利裔美國人，被稱為史上最偉大魔術師、脫逃大師及特技表演者。胡迪尼的表演往往都是非常成功的。他自己能從手銬、鐵鍊、繩索和約束衣中解脫出來，甚至能從「中國水牢」中逃脫。但他最著名的表演是，他曾經在倫敦的賽馬場讓一頭成年巨象從一座游泳池上方的舞台消失。
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There’s no time like the present 是個諺語，意為「目前正是好時機」，其中 the present 意為「目前，現在」。這是個古老的諺語，首次出現在 1562 年，它的意思在其近五百年的應用中一直沒有改變。不過，在實際的使用上，我們有時會省略 there’s，而變成 no time like the present。
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