turn your frown upside down

不要哭喪著臉;不要眉頭深鎖。

  • Turn your frown upside down! Everything will be OK. (別哭喪著臉!一切都不會有問題的)
  • What can turn your frown upside down? (什麼事才能讓你不再眉頭深鎖呢?)

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separate the grain/wheat from the chaff

分清好壞;區分優劣。

例句:

  • Although all the students seem equally quick and bright in class, a look through their written work is able to separate the grain from the chaff. (雖然所有學生在課堂上好像全都一樣聰明伶俐,但只要一看他們的書面作業就能分出高下了)
  • The CEO is in the hope that the new procedure for evaluating employees can separate the wheat from the chaff. (執行長希望新的員工評鑑程序能區分出優劣)

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水落石出;真相大白

英譯:
come out in the wash

註:本成語原指衣服等上面的髒東西被洗掉。除「水落石出;真相大白」外,它還意為「(問題或憂慮的原因) 獲得圓滿解決」,如 Don’t worry about that problem. It’ll all come out in the wash. (別擔心那個問題。它會獲得圓滿解決的)。

例句:

  • The real reasons for Megan’s resignation will come out in the wash. (梅根辭職的真正原因將會水落石出)
  • We don’t want the police to investigate, because we’re afraid of what might come out in the wash. (我們不想要警方進行調查,因為我們怕事情可能真相大白)

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a/the bag of tricks

各種訣竅、方法;全部法寶。

註:除了 a 和 the 之外,bag 的前面也可用所有格,且經常用 whole 來修飾。不過,這成語也可用來指負面的很多做壞事的手法。

例句:

  • My father is so clever and has a bag of tricks. I’m sure he can help us. (我父親很聰明,很會想辦法。我肯定他能幫助我們)
  • I’ve used my whole bag of tricks, but we still haven’t solved this problem. (我已經用盡了各種辦法,但我們仍未解決這個問題)

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(hit) below the belt

(評論、批評或攻擊等) 不公平的;卑鄙的;卑劣的。

註:這句成語的意思是說,跟別人吵架或發生衝突時,或者在選舉進入白熱化時,若要評論、批評或攻擊對手,應該就事論事,不要把別人的陳年舊帳或個人隱私翻出來,這對別人來說是不公平的,而這種行為也顯得不夠光明磊落,甚至是一種卑鄙、卑劣的作法。

例句:

  • That new advertisement really hits below the belt. (那支新廣告真是卑鄙)
  • The remarks John made about his wife’s failure seemed to be hitting below the belt (or his remarks were a bit below the belt). (約翰因他太太失敗所講的那些話對她頗不公平)

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錦上添花

英譯:
(the) icing on the cake

例句:

  • Tony was delighted to have his story published – getting paid for it was just icing on the cake. (東尼很高興他的故事能被出版 - 因此而獲得報酬只是錦上添花)
  • We’re really happy playing in Taipei, and if we win on Sunday that will be the icing on the cake. (我們真的很高興能來台北比賽,如果我們星期天獲勝的話,那就錦上添花了)

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(compare) apples and oranges

兩個非常不同的東西或兩種截然不同的事物,無法相比。

例句:

  • You can’t talk about John and Jack in the same breath! They’re like apples and oranges. (你不能將約翰和傑克相提並論!他們無法比較)
  • You can’t compare city schools and schools in the country – they’re apples and oranges. (你不能拿都市的學校和鄉下的學校來做比較。它們無法相比)
  • Comparing the average wages of workers and managers is like trying to compare apples and oranges. (比較工人和經理人的平均薪資,就像拿蘋果和橘子來做比較一樣,它們難以相比)

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雪上加霜

英譯:
add insult to injury

例句:

  • First, the basement flooded, and then, to add insult to injury, a pipe burst in the kitchen. (首先是地下室淹水,然後雪上加霜地,廚房的一根管子爆裂了)
  • My car barely started this morning, and to add insult to injury, I got a flat tire in the driveway. (今天早上我的車子差點發不動,而雪上加霜的是,車子在車道爆胎了)

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be/come down on somebody like a ton of bricks

嚴厲責備;嚴厲處罰。

  • If you miss any more classes, your teachers will be down on you like a ton of bricks. (如果你再有一次不去上課,你的老師一定會嚴懲你)
  • If my father finds me misbehaving, he’ll come down on me like a ton of bricks. (如果我父親發現我搗蛋的話,他決不會輕饒我)

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