美国影视作品中常见口语句型(8)

can't do anything with:无能为力,束手无策

Bill is such a discipline problem. I can't do anything with him.

My hair is such a mess. I just can't do anything with it.

can't complain:还不错,没什么好抱怨的:to admit that things are mostly all right

My job gives me a month's vacation, so I really can't complain.

我的工作有一个月的假期,所以我没什么可抱怨的.

can't carry a tune:唱歌跑调,五音不全,唱的不好:[to be] unable to sing a simple melody; lacking musical ability.

I wish that Tom wouldn't try to sing. He can't carry a tune.

I don't know why Mary's in the choir. She can't carry a tune in a bushel basket.

Joe likes to sing in the shower, though he can't carry a tune in a bucket.

I'd try to hum the song for you, but I can't carry a tune in a paper sack.

can't boil an egg:不会做饭,连煮蛋都不会:if someone can't boil an egg, they are not able to cook

Usage notes: This phrase comes from the idea that boiling an egg is a very easy thing to do.

Don't expect a dinner invitation from Laura - she can't boil an egg.

call the shots 或者call the tune:发号施令;操纵;指挥:to make the decisions; to decide what is to be done.

He isn't in a position to call the shots here.

他无权在这里发号施令.

Sally always wants to call the shots, and Mary doesn't like to be bossed around.

They don't get along well. Sally always wants to call the tune.

call something square:已经了结,不提:to pronounce a debt or obligation to have been paid, balanced, or ended.

Thanks for the hundred bucks. I think we can call it square now.

daylight robbery (British, American & Australian) 或者highway robbery (American & Australian)高的索价;明目张胆的剥削、掠夺:a situation in which you are charged much more for something than you think you should have to pay

Three pounds for an orange juice? It's daylight robbery!

It's daylight robbery to charge that amount of money for a hotel room!

dead and gone

1. [of a person] long dead.

形容人的时候,意思是久已离世的,死了好久的.

Old Gert's been dead and gone for quite a spell.

When I'm dead and gone, I hope folks remember me at my best.


2. [of a thing] gone long ago.

形容事情的时候,意思是被人遗忘的,湮没无闻的.

That kind of thinking is dead and gone.

The horse-and-buggy days are dead and gone.

dead and buried

and interred, and soon to be forgotten.死亡并埋葬,不久之后就会被忘记.

Now that Uncle Bill is dead and buried, we can read his will.

forever. 一去不复返

That kind of old-fashioned thinking is dead and buried.

somebody's/something's days are numbered(人)来日无多;生存时日屈指可数;死期不远,行将就木;(物)即将毁坏:if someone's or something's days are numbered, they will not exist for much longer

My days are numbered, but I hope I can live long enough to see my grandchild.

As our local cinema struggles to survive, it seems clear that its days are numbered.