用法学习: 1. vainglorious [veɪnˈɡlɔːriəs] If you describe someone as vainglorious, you are critical of them because they are very proud of what they have done and boast a lot about it. showing too much pride in your own abilities or achievements: In Britain he is regarded as a vainglorious fool. 2. lift-off = liftoff I. 起飞. the action of a spacecraft or rocket leaving the ground: The rocket blew up shortly after lift-off. Bad weather forced NASA to delay liftoff. Living in Florida, we get to see lift-offs up close. have lift-off We have lift-off (= the spacecraft, etc. has left the ground). II. the act of starting to develop or improve suddenly: Ireland's economic lift-off 经济腾飞 began about 12 years ago. Somehow, the show never quite achieves liftoff. liftout I.(business) = poach 整体挖走团队. Acquiring a high-functioning team to quickly build capability in a new area rather than hiring individuals, allowing the team to keep their collaborative structure. Hiring an intact team (rather than individuals) to maintain chemistry and performance, often used to quickly enter new markets. The practice of luring a whole team of employees away from a competitor and hiring them oneself. Moving internal functions, such as compliance or accounting, to a specialized third-party administrator for better resources. II. (typography) A quotation taken from the main text and given special visual treatment. A "lift-out" or "pull quote" is a key sentence, quote, or excerpt from an article highlighted in a larger typeface to grab reader attention. Note: A "lift-out" refers to several distinct concepts: in business, it is the strategic hiring of an entire, high-performing team from a competitor or the transfer of an operations team to a third-party provider. It also means removing a section for separate publication or a, physically pulling something out. Friends: I know you guys heard about me and Ross. But I've been obsessing about it and would love not to talk about it. I don't know if this falls under that category 属于那一类... ...but Ross is right back there. That's not Ross. Not that guy. He does look like him, though. Ross is in the bathroom. Oh, my God! It's happening. It's already started. I'm Kip. Yeah, you're not Kip. Do you even know who Kip is? Who cares? You're Rachel. Who's Kip? My old roommate. We all hung out together. Oh, that poor bastard. You told me the story. He and Monica dated. When they broke up, you all promised you'd stay his friend. And what happened? He got phased out.You won't be phased out. Of course I am. It won't happen to Ross. He's your brother, your college roommate. Kip didn't even have to be Kip. We handled that all wrong. It was a long time ago. And it was before you and me were around. They didn't know what they were doing. Chandler had a mustache, for crying out loud. It was just a matter of time. I just assumed Phoebe would be the one to go. You live far away, you're not related. You lift right out. I'm sorry about the whole "lifting out" thing. 3. warning shot 开枪警告 (by extension, figuratively) An action intended to act as a warning. a shot across the bow = fire a (warning) shot across someone's bow (bow 船头, stern 船尾, port 船左边, starboard 船右边) If you describe someone's actions as a shot across the bows of another person, you mean that it is a warning to that person to stop or change what they are doing. A warning that negative consequences will be faced if something is carried out or allowed to continue. a warning to not do something or to stop doing something. to do something in order to warn someone that you will take strong action if that person does not change their behaviour: Airline employees have fired a warning shot across the company's bows by threatening to strike if higher pay increases are not offered. The fine is a shot across the bow to an industry that thinks it can ignore the law. As a warning shot across the bows of rivals, it is already setting aggressive prices. note: Originating from 18th-century naval warfare, it refers to firing a cannonball in front of a ship to force it to halt or change course. 4. harp on 没完没了, 说个没完 = harp on about sth If you say that someone harps on a subject, or harps on about it, you mean that they. to talk or complain about something many times. keep on talking about it in a way that other people find annoying. Jones harps on this theme more than on any other. She concentrated on the good parts of her trip instead of harping on about the bad. He's always harping on our lack of discipline. on the up and up 诚实的, 值得信赖的, 蒸蒸日上 I. BRITISH ENGLISH becoming more successful. improving all the time: Her career has been on the up and up since she moved into sales. Wow, another promotion? Sarah's really on the up-and-up these days, isn't she? 天天向上. "his career is certainly on the up and up". II. NORTH AMERICAN ENGLISH honest or legal. Someone who is on the up (and up) is honest and can be trusted. Strictly honest, respectable, and strait-laced. fair and straight. Do you think that the mayor is on the up-and-up? Yes, the mayor is strictly on the up-and-up. If your behavior isn't on the up and up, no one here will trust you. Don't bother trying to bribe him—he's the only politician in this city who's on the up-and-up. "investigators wanted to make sure everything we did was on the up and up". I'm a pretty good judge of men. If you're honest and on the up and up, I'll be able to tell it. III. ( = above board) Legitimate; honest; upright. Before paying any money, make sure the organization is on the up-and-up. 5. empty shell 空壳子 someone or something with no importance or meaning: My life was an empty shell without love. He was an empty shell of a man who never amounted to anything. A "shell of a human" is a metaphor for someone who appears physically present but is emotionally empty, detached, or a mere remnant of their former self, often due to trauma, illness, or profound loss, lacking personality, vitality, or purpose, like an empty husk. It signifies a deep internal void, where the outer appearance hides a lack of feeling, strength, or substance, feeling hollow or like a stranger in their own life. a shadow of your former self someone or something that is not as strong, powerful, or useful as it once was: Since her accident, she’s become a shadow of her former self. smoulder = smolder 闷烧, 无声的燃烧, 没有火焰的燃烧 I. to burn slowly with smoke but without flames: a smouldering fire. smouldering embers. A number of buildings around the Parliament were still smouldering today. Whole blocks had been turned into smouldering rubble. The fire was started by a smouldering cigarette. II. If a problem or unpleasant situation smoulders, it continues to exist and may become worse at any time: The dispute is still smouldering, five years after the negotiations began. III. If a strong emotion smoulders, it exists, but is prevented from being expressed. If a feeling such as anger or hatred smoulders inside you, you continue to feel it but do not show it. Baxter smouldered 生闷气 as he drove home for lunch. That's a lot of people smouldering with resentment. She was smouldering with rage as she explained how her son had been killed. After graduating he became a barrister and television presenter, but his political ambition continued to smoulder. IV. 闷骚. A person who smoulders has strong sexual or romantic feelings but does not express them: He gazed at her with smouldering eyes, wishing she wasn't married. If you say that someone smoulders, you mean that they are sexually attractive, usually in a mysterious or very intense way. The actress seems to smoulder with sexuality. His darkly smouldering eyes never left her face. While Thorpe continued to thrive in his high-profile career, more than 10 years after their liaison Scott continued to brood in the shadows and pester anyone who would listen to his story. brood 生闷气 verb. I. to think and worry about something a lot. to think for a long time about things that make you sad, worried, or angry. to think silently for a long time about things that make you sad, worried, or angry: He brooded over the insult. I wish she wouldn't sit brooding in her room all day. While Thorpe continued to thrive in his high-profile career, more than 10 years after their liaison Scott continued to brood in the shadows and pester anyone who would listen to his story. brood about/over: If someone broods over something, they think about it a lot, seriously and often unhappily. I guess everyone broods over things once in a while. She constantly broods about her family. I continued to brood. Would he always be like this? Don't sit and brood over it for weeks. II. 孵化 if a bird broods, it sits on its eggs until the young birds are born. noun. I. a group of young birds all born at the same time: The blackbird flew back and forth to its brood. II. humorous a person's young children. You can refer to someone's young children as their brood when you want to emphasize that there are a lot of them. ...a large brood of children. Ann was at the party with her brood. brooding engaged in or showing deep thought about something that makes one sad, angry, or worried. "He stared with brooding eyes". appearing darkly menacing. "the brooding moorland". 6. pesky
[ˈpɛski] adj. Pesky means irritating. causing trouble; annoying. annoying or causing trouble: ...as if he were a pesky tourist asking silly questions of a busy man. Those pesky kids from next door have let the air out of my car tyres again! "a pesky younger brother". idle chit-chat 闲谈, 闲聊 informal, light, and often trivial conversation about unimportant things, serving to build social connections, relieve tension, and find common ground, though it can also be seen as pointless or distracting from deeper matters. It's essentially "small talk" or "gossip," covering everyday topics like the weather, family updates, or general pleasantries, rather than deep subjects. Those whispers about Thorpe refused to go away. Whether the idea emerged from idle chit-chat among Thorpe and his friends or from a more sinister discussion, a plot was hatched to intimidate Scott, at the very least. louche [luːʃ] adj. If you describe a person or place as louche, you mean that they are unconventional and not respectable, but often in a way that people find rather attractive. disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way. not completely moral or honest, often in an attractive way: A louche young man approached her on the dance floor. "the louche world of the theatre". ...that section of London society which somehow managed to be louche and fashionable at the same time. Thorpe's associates contacted Andrew Newton, a rather louche airline pilot and unprofessional hitman. Newton befriended Scott in October 1975 by claiming he was a private detective hired to protect him from someone planning to kill him. He talked the trusting Scott into going for a country drive in the dark. Newton brought a gun while Scott brought his dog, an excitable Great Dane called Rinka. rakish I. old-fashioned A rakish man, especially a rich man, lives in an immoral way, especially having sex with a lot of women: He has a rakish air about him. II. old-fashioned confidently careless and informal. A rakish person or appearance is stylish in a confident, bold way. ...a soft-brimmed hat which he wore at a rakish angle. ...rakish young gentlemen. ...a hat cocked rakishly over one eye. He wore his hat at a rakish angle. 7. humbug I. [disapproval] 说话不诚实的人. If you describe someone's language or behaviour as humbug, you mean that it is dishonest or insincere. dishonest talk, writing, or behaviour that is intended to deceive people: the usual political humbug. I know humbug when I see it. Her arguments are impeccable and she has absolutely no tolerance for humbug. There was all the usual humbug and obligatory compliments from ministers. At the end of the trial, the judge delivered what BBC Panorama's Tom Mangold described as "one of the most astonishingly partial 有偏袒的 summing-up speeches ever to a jury". Mr Justice Cantley said that because the three main prosecution witnesses had struck lucrative deals for selling their stories to the press upon conviction, their testimonies had been tainted. Bessell, said the judge, was "a humbug" while Newton was "a buffoon, perjurer and almost certainly a fraud". As for Scott, he was labelled "a crook, fraud, sponger, whiner and parasite". II. 人面兽心. 伪君子. [old-fashioned, disapproval] You can refer to a person as a humbug when you think they are being dishonest, insincere, or pretending to be someone who they are not. someone who says they have particular moral beliefs but behaves in way that shows these are not sincere: You're all a bunch of humbugs, the lot of you! He was a humbug: a former leftist who veered to the extreme right when his own interests were threatened. What a revolting humbug the man was! III. A humbug is a hard, striped sweet that tastes of peppermint. a hard sweet, usually with a mint taste and strips of two different colours on the outside: mint humbugs. 8. skewer noun. I. 肉串签子. a long, thin metal or wooden pin used for holding together pieces of food, especially meat, during cooking: Arrange the pieces of chicken and the vegetables on individual skewers. Check the lamb 15 minutes before it is ready by piercing the centre with a metal skewer. II. a long, thin metal or wooden pin with pieces of food on it: Small chicken and vegetable skewers cook quickly and can be kept raw in the fridge until right before cooking. Arrange the spiced pork skewers on top to serve. verb. I. 穿串. to put pieces of food, especially meat, on a skewer or other long pointed object. If you skewer something, you push a long, thin, pointed object through it. She skewered the sardines through the mouth and put them onto the barbecue. ...skewered chicken with vegetables. Simply skewer the carrots, potatoes, leeks, and green pepper chunks. Shashlyk is a Russian dish of marinated lamb and onions, skewered and grilled. II. 嘲讽. 讥讽. to criticize someone or something, or make an unkind joke about them, in a way that is very accurate or reveals the truth about them: The comedian skewered authority figures, corporate jargon, and mindless consumerism. The newspaper has often skewered developers and city officials. 9. high-water mark 高位. 高水位, 高光时刻 I. the level reached by the sea at high tide, or by a lake or river in time of flood. II. a maximum recorded level or value. "unemployment and crime both stand at a high-water mark". The February 1974 election was the high-water mark of Thorpe's career. Thereafter his and his party's fortunes declined, particularly from late 1975 when rumours of his involvement in a plot to murder Norman Scott began to multiply. Thorpe resigned the leadership in May 1976 when his position became untenable 难以为继的. When the matter came to court three years later, Thorpe chose not to give evidence to avoid being cross-examined by counsel for the prosecution. This left many questions unanswered; despite his acquittal, Thorpe was discredited and did not return to public life. 10. hem someone/something in 围住, 圈住, 围绕, 限制, 束缚 I. to surround someone and prevent them from moving or doing what they want to do. If someone is hemmed in or if someone hems them in, they are prevented from moving or changing, for example because they are surrounded by people or obstacles. The company's competitors complain that they are hemmed in by rigid legal contracts. When they reached Trafalgar Square, the demonstrators were hemmed in by the police. Her car was hemmed in between two other vehicles. limit what someone or something can do. The terms of this contract really have me hemmed in—even my lawyer can't see a way out. Unfortunately, I'm doing shift work these days, so my job has really hemmed me in. I won't have a Friday night free for weeks. I know you want to keep your kids safe, but they're really rebel if you hem them in with an excessive amount of rules. II. If a place is hemmed in by mountains or by other places, it is surrounded by them. Manchester is hemmed in by greenbelt countryside and by housing and industrial areas. The brick path to the door was hemmed in on either side by tall, unkempt boxwood hedges. be slated I. to plan or schedule. to be expected to happen in the future or to be expected to be or do something in the future: Jeff is slated to be the next captain of the team. The meeting is slated for (= the chosen day is) next Thursday. the trial is slated to begin in three weeks. II. to choose or destine. He was slated to go far. have a slate loose British and Irish informal I. to be eccentric. II. offensive to have a mental illness. slate (CRITICIZE) UK informal to attack by criticizing; to write or say that something is very bad: Her last book was slated by the critics. II. A record, for example, of money owed. (of money owed): Put it on my slate 记在我账上, 记账—I'll pay you next week. 11. move up I. If you move up, you change your position, especially in order to be nearer someone or to make room for someone else. Move up, John, and let her sit down. II. If someone or something moves up, they go to a higher level, grade, or class. to get a more important job in a company or organization: move up to sth He gave his first interview since moving up to the role of chairman. move up the ranks/ladder Gaining further qualifications can help you move up the career ladder. Share prices moved up. Children learn in mixed-ability classes and move up a class each year. III. to increase in value, number, or amount: Share prices move up and down depending on market conditions. IV. 提前. To reschedule (something) to an earlier date or time. The meeting was moved up to Tuesday. Korean officials are now rushing to meet Trump administration officials in person. The country's trade minister has moved up a scheduled US trip and will meet with Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in the coming days, Kang said, while the industry minister will also add a trip to the US to meet Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, once he concludes his current Canada visit. 12. nonce [nɒns] 强奸犯, 猥亵儿童罪犯 noun slang a person who commits a crime involving sex, especially sex with a child. derogatory, prison slang a rapist or child molester; a sexual offender. for the nonce 目前, 当下, 眼下 for the present; temporarily. for the nonce (idiomatic) For the time being, for now, with the expectation that the situation may change. That will do for the nonce, but we'll need a better answer for the long term. "our usual sources of advertising revenue have shut down for the nonce". In cryptography, a nonce is an arbitrary number that can be used just once in a cryptographic communication. It is often a random or pseudo-random number issued in an authentication protocol to ensure that each communication session is unique, and therefore that old communications cannot be reused in replay attacks. Nonces can also be useful as initialization vectors and in cryptographic hash functions. Many nonces also include a timestamp to ensure exact timeliness, though this requires clock synchronisation between organisations. The addition of a client nonce ("cnonce") helps to improve the security in some ways as implemented in digest access authentication. To ensure that a nonce is used only once, it should be time-variant (including a suitably fine-grained timestamp in its value), or generated with enough random bits to ensure an insignificantly low chance of repeating a previously generated value. Some authors define pseudo-randomness (or unpredictability) as a requirement for a nonce. 13. neither here nor there 不值得一提, 不重要, 无关紧要 of no importance or relevance. If you say that something is neither here nor there, you mean that it does not matter because it is not a relevant point. not important, or not connected with the subject being discussed: Her age is neither here nor there – the real question is, can she do the job? 'I'd never heard of her before I came here.'—'That is neither here nor there.' Whether or not he realised the fact was neither here nor there. denouement [deɪˈnuː.mɒ̃] 大结局 the end of a story, in which everything is explained, or the end result of a situation. the final part of a work of literature, after the climax (= the most important or exciting part). In a book, play, or series of events, the denouement is the sequence of events at the end, when things come to a conclusion. The book's sentimental denouement is pure Hollywood. ...an unexpected denouement. US President Donald Trump has stepped back from his Thanksgiving deadline for a deal in Ukraine, despite his urge to be seen as the peacemaker. It is a key signal the coming denouement of his peace initiative – now a meeting in Moscow between his envoy Steve Witkoff and the Kremlin – will likely not yield a sudden deal to end Russia's invasion. be someone's to lose 唾手可得, 掌中物, 稳拿, 稳赢 (idiomatic) To be anticipated to be won by someone. Widely considered the favorite, the election is his to lose, but an upset is still possible if a scandal emerges. oink [ɔɪŋk] 猪叫, 哼哼叫, 猪哼哼 (especially in children's books) used in writing to represent the noise that a pig makes. coincide [ˌkəʊ.ɪnˈsaɪd] I. to happen at or near the same time: coincide with 同时出现, 发生在一起, 同时发生 I timed my holiday to coincide with the children's. If the heavy rain had coincided with an extreme high tide, serious flooding would have resulted. to come together in position or happen at or near the same time: Power failures coincided with 伴随...而发生 the hottest weather. II. 一致. to be the same or similar: Our views coincide on a range of subjects. If our schedules coincide, we'll go to Spain together. 14. A capillary 微血管, 毛细血管 is a small blood vessel, from 5 to 10 micrometres in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima (the innermost layer of an artery or vein), consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. They are the site of the exchange of many substances from the surrounding interstitial fluid, and they convey blood from the smallest branches of the arteries (arterioles) to those of the veins (venules). Other substances which cross capillaries include water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, urea, glucose, uric acid, lactic acid and creatinine. Lymph capillaries connect with larger lymph vessels to drain lymphatic fluid collected in microcirculation. 15. garrulous ['gæruləs] 话多的, 爱讲话的, 话多屁稠的 I. Excessively or tiresomely talkative. Given to excessive and often trivial or rambling talk; tiresomely talkative. having the habit of talking a lot, esp. about unimportant things. If you describe someone as garrulous, you mean that they talk a great deal, especially about unimportant things. ...a garrulous old woman. I had talked too much about myself and felt like a garrulous old fool. We meet this garrulous chancer in 1952, in a down-and-dirty neck of New York City that's yet to feel the benefit of the post-WWII boom. A jittery grifter, he's slogging away in his uncle's shoe store. But not for long. II. (of something written or performed) Excessively wordy and rambling. Wordy and rambling: a garrulous speech. chancer 投机者, 机会主义者 A chancer is a British/Irish informal term for an unscrupulous or dishonest opportunist who takes risks to gain an advantage, often through dubious schemes. It describes someone who "chances their arm," acts as a rogue, or tries to trick people. It is used to describe a person who behaves selfishly or deceitfully. 16. inverse [nˈvɜːs] opposite in relation to something else. If there is an inverse relationship between two things, one of them becomes larger as the other becomes smaller. The tension grew in inverse proportion to the distance from their final destination. The size of the nebula at this stage is inversely proportional to its mass. in inverse proportion to 成反比 Their generosity was in inverse proportion to their income (= the more money they had the less generous they were). in inverse relation to He claims that the time and energy given to a problem is in inverse relation to the effectiveness in solving it. the inverse 正相反 the opposite. the inverse of 反向 The inverse of something is its exact opposite. There is no sign that you bothered to consider the inverse of your logic. Dividing by two is the inverse of multiplying by two. The hologram can be flipped to show the inverse image. By and large, your ability to cope with change varies inversely with age. In some ways, the current TikTok controversy is the inverse of the conservative outcry over alleged "deplatforming" and "shadowbanning" in the Biden years. Some of that was real, some of it was exaggerated, some of it was just imagined — and all of it became a potent, highly motivating political narrative. 17. tilt verb. I. to (cause to) move into a sloping position: He tilted his chair back and put his feet up on the desk. The woman tilted her head back, laughing at something Pascal had just said. He tilted his chair backwards and put his feet up on his desk. Anna looked up at him with her head tilted to one side. The front seats of the car tilt. II. Something that tilts toward/away from something increases or lessens its support for it: UN spending has tilted away from development toward relief, O'Reilly says. noun. a sloping position or a move in a particular direction, especially up or down. a sloping or uneven position, or a movement into this position: The house was on a tilt (= not horizontal). She wore her hat at a tilt. figurative There has been a tilt to/towards/away from the socialists among some groups of young people. tilt at windmills to fight enemies who do not really exist. tilt the balance/scales = tip the balance/scales If something tilts the balance, it is the thing that causes a particular situation to happen or a particular decision to be made when other situations or decisions are possible: This might just tilt the balance in the government's favour. on tilt 慌不择路 In a reckless manner, especially playing poker recklessly after experiencing bad or good luck. In a reckless or rash state; acting without proper care, attention, or consideration. Originally used in reference to poker players who begin making reckless decisions after experiencing either good or bad luck. Primarily heard in US. The team has been on tilt after losing their quarterback to a penalty, making foolish decisions that have cost them a number of points. The president has been on tilt ever since allegations of tax fraud began derailing her efforts to get a tax overhaul passed in Congress. note: Tilt is a poker term for a state of mental or emotional confusion or frustration in which a player adopts a suboptimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming overly aggressive. Tilting is closely associated with another poker term, "steam". Placing an opponent on tilt or dealing with being on tilt oneself is an important aspect of poker. It is a relatively frequent occurrence due to frustration, animosity against other players, or simply bad luck. stilt I. one of a set of long pieces of wood or metal used to support a building so that it is above the ground or above water: on stilts 悬空 The houses are built on stilts to protect them from the annual floods. II. one of two long pieces of wood with supports for the feet that allow you to stand and walk high above the ground: on stilts 高跷 I learned to walk on stilts, ride a unicycle, and juggle. 18. Lululemon is facing sustained 持续不断的 ( I. continuing for an extended period or without interruption. continuing for a long time: The president's speech was greeted by sustained applause. "several years of sustained economic growth". II. determined: We must make a sustained effort to get this task finished this week. ) criticism from customers over its handling of a controversial range of leggings and shorts, which it temporarily stopped selling in the US following complaints they were too sheer, sparking concerns the global company is losing its edge. Customers were critical on social media about the tights not being "squat proof" and for being so sheer they could see their underwear. "The leggings are absolutely see through when you squat or bend over (in every colourway)," said a Reddit user in a post claiming to be an "educator", which is what the company calls its retail staff. 19. hidey-hole [ˈhʌɪdihəʊl] 藏匿点, 僻静之所, 藏身处, 藏身之所 a place for hiding something or oneself in, especially as a retreat from other people. An isolated or secluded place; a hideaway or hideout. "favourite hidey-holes for studying included the main library and the underground classrooms". a hiding place, somewhere one can go to get away from other people. A hideout is a place where someone goes secretly because they do not want anyone to find them, for example if they are running away from the police. The blue house was to be our final hideout. We made our hideout under the bushes. They'll never find us in this makeshift hideout we've got in the woods. This weekend, let's find some romantic hideaway on the coast. The bandits fled to a remote mountain hideaway. ...the £3 million hideaway holiday home on the exclusive island of Mustique. Assistant Commissioner Holland said the squad would also assist in the ongoing search for Mr Ingram, along with specialist tactical police and rural crime investigators. "He's worked for the council, he's worked in areas out towards Mount Hope," he said. "He's aware where the water sources are, he's aware where the hidey-holes are, such as caves. "We have to systematically work through these locations, before we can move to the next." 19. Stephen Miller: His language is acerbic [əˈsəːbɪk] 尖酸刻薄的 ( used to describe something that is spoken or written in a way that is direct, clever, and cruel: acerbic wit The letters show the acerbic wit for which Parker was both admired and feared. The comic's acerbic style was not enjoyed by everyone in the audience.) and vitriolic [ˌvɪtriˈɒlɪk] 充满恶意的, 恶意满满的 ( full of violent hate and anger. intentionally unkind or causing hurt. filled with bitter criticism or malice. "vitriolic attacks on the politicians". He launched a vitriolic attack on the senator, accusing him of shielding corrupt friends. He launched a vitriolic attack on the prime minister, accusing him of shielding corrupt friends. He does not deserve the vitriolic criticism he has received.), whether he's crossing into CNN or standing in front of a crowd of Trump faithful. "Stephen made it his business at the school to be heard and be known. He was outspoken and a provocateur 挑刺找茬的人, 挑事者, 没事找事者, 肇事者 in every sense of the word," a former classmate told NPR years later. 20. Australian snowboarder 滑雪板 dies after becoming caught on ski lift in Japan: 报道1: Nagano Omachi Police said the 22-year-old tourist suffered from cardiac arrest after the accident on Friday at the Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Hakuba Valley, a popular ski destination in central Japan. The woman was rushed to a hospital but later succumbed to her injuries 伤重不治, according to police and the ski lift operator. In a statement, the Tsugaike Gondola Lift Co. said the waist buckle 腰带 of the tourist's backpack became entangled in the lift chair, which prevented her from getting off the lift. " Because the chest strap of the backpack was fastened, the backpack did not detach from the guest's body, and the guest was dragged along with the backpack after disembarking from the lift," the company's CEO and director Kubo Tsuneo said in a statement. "A staff member immediately pressed the emergency stop button to halt lift operations. Emergency assistance was promptly provided, and the guest was then transported to a hospital by ambulance," the statement said. The company expressed its "deepest condolences to the bereaved family" and vowed to strengthen safety measures. 报道2: Japanese police confirmed to ABC News that Brooke Day, from the Sunshine Coast, died after she became caught in a ski lift in the Hakuba Valley on Friday. Police said she was taking a lift at the Tsugaike Kogen Mountain Resort in the morning when she became caught and suffered critical injuries. Resort chief executive Tsuneo Kubo said Ms Day's backpack got caught in the lift carriage. "Staff subsequently pressed the stop button to halt the lift," Mr Kubo said in a statement. "Prompt rescue efforts were undertaken, and the customer was transported by ambulance." 报道3: An Australian woman has died after becoming trapped in a ski lift at a resort in central Japan, officials have said. The 22-year-old woman had been using a chairlift at Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Otari, Nagano prefecture, when part of her backpack became caught in the lift mechanism, leaving her suspended in midair 挂在半空中. The woman then suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead, officials said. He said in a statement that an unfastened buckle on the woman's backpack had become hooked to the chair while the bag's chest strap was still fastened, causing her to be dragged along with it after trying to disembark. The lift was stopped by an attendant who pressed the emergency button, after which first aid was administered and the woman was transported to hospital by ambulance, Kubo added. The accident took place at the top of the two-person Tsuga No.2 Pair Lift. The woman had been riding the lift with another person, police told local media. 21. be in the wash If you say that something such as an item of clothing is in the wash, you mean that it is being washed, is waiting to be washed, or has just been washed and should therefore not be worn or used. Your jeans are in the wash. it will all come out in the wash 真相大白, 大白于天下 I. used to say that a problem is not serious and will be solved in the future. Don't worry about it. It will all come out in the wash. II. used to say that the truth will be known in the future. No one knows who was responsible, but surely it will all come out in the wash. "Won't wash" (or "doesn't wash") = something doesn't/won't wash (with somebody) 不能接受, 没有用, 不起作用 is an idiom meaning an excuse, argument, or explanation is unacceptable, unbelievable, or will not stand up to scrutiny. It implies that a justification is weak or unconvincing, often used in the phrase "that won't wash with me". Used to say that you do not believe or accept someone's explanation, reason, attitude etc I'm sorry but all his charm just doesn't wash with me. 22. fluff I. fluff up/out 弄蓬松 to shake something so that more air goes into it and it becomes larger and softer. to shake a mass of fibers, feathers, or hair so the mass appears larger: If you fluff things such as cushions or feathers, you get a lot of air into them, for example by shaking or brushing them, in order to make them seem larger and lighter. Make the beds and don't forget to fluff the pillows. She stood up and fluffed her hair, wiggling her fingers through it and then throwing it back. Take the pan off the heat and cover for 5 minutes to fluff up the rice. She fluffed out her hair. Fluff the pillows after you use them. When he's frightened, the cat fluffs up his tail. II. informal = flub( mess up = screw up I really messed up the presentation. Don't screw up this opportunity! I had one chance and I blew it. ruin / spoil The bad weather ruined our picnic. botch: He botched the repair job. fumble She fumbled during the interview. Make a mistake / Make an error: Fail, Drop the ball, Wreck, Sabotage, Bungle, Epic fail, Drop a clanger(UK 闹大笑话)). to do something badly. to fail something or do it badly. If you fluff something that you are trying to do, you are unsuccessful or you do it badly. She fluffed her interview at Oxford. I fluffed my driving test three times before I finally got it. She started to fluff tasks that should have been childishly simple. fluff your lines (=say them badly when acting in a play): All the time I was acting with him, I never once heard him fluff his lines (= say the wrong words when acting). Try not to fluff your lines!
noun. I. [uncountable] very small pieces of hair, dust, or cloth that
stick together or to the surface of something else. II. [uncountable]
soft light fur or feathers from a young animal or bird. III. [countable]
informal a small mistake that you make when you are speaking or reading to an audience. IV. [uncountable] mainly American 浮皮潦草, 浮于表面的, 不关痛痒的东西. 没有什么本质重要的. something that is entertaining but not serious or important. useless or unimportant information: That film was pure fluff. Don't expect all fluff – like most good satire, this contains some moments of truth. So, if you think it's all for technology's sake and there's no fluff华而不实的东西 when it comes to enterprise-class IT, think again. 'Something of little substance or consequence, especially. Light or superficial entertainment: The movie was just another bit of fluff from Hollywood. Inflated or padded material: The report was mostly fluff, with little new information.' The point being made is that the IT products are not designed solely with practicality and performance in mind; design 'fluff' 华而不实的东西, 没有真正意义的东西, 噱头-- attractive colours, cool shapes-- are not important or necessary to operation but are also key selling features. 关于fluff talk: Fluff talk is an important part of approaching a girl, especially if you plan to launch into patterns, which you can't begin the conversation with on their own. Fluff talk is also needed, if you plan to continue with eliciting values - you must have had at least some sort of a casual conversation with the girl, for then it would sound only natural for you to have become a little more interested in her,
to the point of asking all sorts of questions:). Fluff talk is one of
the best and easiest ways to flirt with women. Learning how to flirt
with women requires an understanding of fluff talk and how to do it right.
So, what is fluff talk? Fluff talk means, basically, talking about
nothing. But fluff talk is also interesting. So you can't talk about the
weather or the traffic or other boring, meaningless things. The key to
interesting fluff talk is to direct the conversation towards FEELINGS. Feelings, not facts. Facts are boring. They make her feel absolutely nothing. Use the conversation to talk about feelings. I think a lot of people assume comfort is anything that is not seduction or attraction, but that's not comfort, that's fluff talk. So how do you know if you're in fluff talk or in comfort?
From my understanding, I'm guessing that fluff talk is more like
interview style questions like: - What do you do, - Where are you from, -
Where were you born, - Random things not about you or her - "Yeah
that's a good pizza place". Comfort something that defines your identity,
such as: - Values - "I value health, and like to eat healthy and
exercise"; - Emotions - "I find it hilarious when .. It bothers me when
that happens"; - Relationships - "I enjoy the company of people who have
that kind of attitude"; - Private stories/vulnerability - "I was sick
for a month and was hospitalized, it made me rethink what I want to do
with my life". - Goals - "I want to take a year off to travel the world
it's something I've been wanting to do for a few years". - Hobbies -
"I'm into fashion, I prefer this kind of style." - Experiences - "Oh I
went to Montreal last week, it was fun, we rode bikes and ate poutine".
What do you guys think, am I accurate or totally off? Any more examples,
and details? Agree with your classification; "What did you do this
week/weekend"- type of conversation typically counts as fluff in my book
too. It's important to see that fluff is your entry into comfort, since she'll give you pointers to take the conversation to a deeper level if she's interested. You can also segue into comfort by talking about your self. Also, fluff can be a powerful push if you switch to casual conversation from a very sexual or deep-connection vibe. It's not just a gap-filler填补空白, 填补空虚, but can create attraction when timed right. I think you're very right with making the distinction between fluff talk and comfort. IME small talk/fluff talk is relatively unnecessary when it comes to PU. Comfort on the other hand is not only a prerequisite先决条件 for most girls before they sleep with you
but also probably one of the fastest ways to get girls to have sex with
you (this was 100% counter-intuitive for me when I started). The difference between comfort and fluff talk is depth. Whenever you talk about something you can either ask superficial questions
about it or you can go deeper into the topic. Example: You: "Where have
you been on your last vacation?" She: "Spain". Now if you go the fluff
talk route you would ask: You: "Cool, I have been blablabla" then ask
her about superficial stuff, how was the flight, if she liked the hotel,
where she wants to go next, etc. Its like talking to a friend about his
last vacation, there is no depth or emotional connection. Its simple small talk/fluff talk and does nothing to build a connection between the two of you.
You may change the topic later on, but it will always be superficial.
If you go the comfort route you would ask: You: "Did you meet any
interesting people there?" Then you go more into detail and ask about
the people she met and let her describe them in detail, their accent,
how the Spanish people are compared to the people in your country, ask
her if she likes the mentality that Spanish people have.. ask her how
she felt there and if she is a person who likes water more or a person
who likes mountains and likes to hike..let her describe it and how she
felt .. then ask about her first vacations as a child and how much she
can remember..ask her about details.
turn verb I. to move in a circle around a fixed point or line, or to make something move in this way: The wheels started to turn. Turn the steering wheel as quickly as you can. Mercury wobbles 晃荡 slightly as it turns on its axis. II. to perform a movement in which your body moves around in a circle: turn a somersault 翻后空翻 She turned a full somersault in the air. turn cartwheels 侧翻 They turned cartwheels down the catwalk. III. to change the direction in which you are facing or moving, or to make someone or something do this: turn to face someone She turned to face him. turn towards someone/something Plants tend to turn towards the source of light. twist and turn The path twists and turns for the next half mile. turn a corner We watched until the car had turned (= gone around) the corner. turn your back on His wife tried to speak to him, but he turned his back on her/ (= moved so that his back, not his face, was towards her to show his anger). the tide turns At about three o'clock, the tide started to turn (= the sea started to come closer to or move away from the beach). The army turned their guns on the angry mob. IV. In cricket, if a ball turns, it changes direction suddenly when it hits the ground: On this pitch, the ball turns 转向 and our batsmen have had to learn a new technique. The totals became lower as the day wore on, and the ball turned more. V. to move, or to move an object or a page, so that a different side or surface is on the top: Now turn the page 翻页, please, and start work on exercise 2. She turned the vase over to look for the price. He turned over two or three pages. Please turn to (= open the book at) page 1 and start reading. VI. to become, change into, or come to be something, or to make this happen: turn cold The weather has suddenly turned cold. turn nasty When I refused to pay, he turned nasty. turn pale She turned pale and started to shiver. The mood of the meeting turned solemn when the extent of the problem became known. turn sour The companies worked well together for a while, but eventually the relationship turned sour (= became bad). Keele, pop star turned business tycoon, has launched a new range of cosmetics. By the end of September, the leaves had started to turn (= become brown). The heavy rain turned the capital's streets into rivers. turn 16, 60, etc. i to become a particular age: She turned 18 last year. ii. to become a particular time: It's just turned ten o'clock 刚刚十点. turn ten o'clock, midnight, etc. VII. to use a control to switch a piece of equipment or a power or water supply on or off, or to increase or reduce what it is producing: You can turn your ringer up or down using the volume buttons. turn your ankle old-fashioned to damage the muscles in the foot by suddenly twisting it too strongly: She turned her ankle 扭伤 扭脚 on the rocks and had to hobble back to camp. VIII. to shape a piece of wood while it is attached to a machine that spins it: I turn posts and spindles for new and replacement staircases. At the market you can buy turned bowls made from olive wood. not turn a hair to not show any emotion when you are told something bad or when something bad happens: I was expecting him to be horrified when he heard the cost but he didn't turn a hair. turn something on its head 大反转 to cause something to be the opposite of what it was before: These new findings turn the accepted theories on their head. noun I. an opportunity or a duty to do something at a particular time or in a particular order, before or after other people: Is it my turn yet? I waited so long for my turn to see the careers adviser that I missed my bus. It's your turn to do the dishes! miss a turn 耽误一轮 (= miss a go) In this game if you give the wrong answer you have to miss a turn. iteration the process of doing something again and again, usually to improve it, or one of the times you do it: the repetition and iteration that goes on in designing something. The software is on its fifth iteration. Travel plans for fans from two of the top soccer countries in Africa were thrown into disarray in December, when the Trump administration announced an expanded ban that would effectively bar people from Senegal and Ivory Coast following their teams unless they already have visas. Fans from Iran and Haiti, two other countries that have qualified for the World Cup, will be barred from entering the United States as well; they were included in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration. take turns = take it in turns, take it in turn When a number of people take turns, they do the same thing one after the other: We take turns answering the phone. in turn = by turns one after the other in an agreed order: Each of us takes a break in turn. out of turn 不按顺序 not following the agreed order: You are not allowed to play a card out of turn. II. an action that causes something to move in a circle round a fixed point: Give the screw a couple of turns 转几圈, 紧几下子 to make sure it's tight. III. a change in the direction in which you are moving or facing: make a turn When you see the school on the left, make a right turn. twists and turns The path was full of twists and turns. on the turn UK I. starting to change direction: The tide is on the turn. II. 开始变化. 开始改变. starting to become better or worse: There are fears that the housing market is on the turn. The world economy would appear to be on the turn. Some say the club's fortunes might be on the turn. I had a feeling my luck was on the turn. III. (of food or drink) starting to decay: This milk smells funny – I think it's on the turn. Often the fruit is so ripe that it is on the turn 在变坏, 在变质. the turn of something the point at which something changes or moves in a different direction: the turn of the tide. the turn the middle point in a round of golf, usually after the ninth hole: at the turn He was six under at the turn. reach the turn She reached the turn in 39. take a ... turn to develop in a particular way: The battle for control of the company took an interesting turn today. take a turn for the better/worse to suddenly become better or worse: Their relationship took a turn for the worse when he lost his job. IV. UK 表演. 节目. a stage act or performance: The first couple of turns were children singing and dancing. Glenn Close is the undisputed queen of the Academy Awards' always-the-bridesmaid gang 总是陪跑. She scored her first nomination in 1983, a Best Supporting Actress nod for her imperious turn as an amoral author in The World According to Garp, losing out to Jessica Lange in Tootsie. V. old-fashioned informal a slight illness, a strange feeling, or a nervous shock: After the accident I started having funny turns. give someone a turn It gave me quite a turn to see him after all these years. VI.
music specialized a sign above a note in a piece of written music that means four notes, including the note written and notes above and below this note, should be played: Ornamental turns are a common feature of baroque music. a good/bad turn 好事, 善事/恶事 an action that helps or harms someone: That's my good turn for the day! do someone a good turn You did me a good turn warning me that Abigail was going to be there. one good turn deserves another 好心应该得到好报, 以德报德, 善有善报 said when you do a helpful or kind act for someone who has done something good for you. at every turn If something unpleasant happens at every turn, it happens every time you try to do something: They do their best to frustrate my efforts at every turn. turn of the screw an action that makes a bad situation worse, especially one that forces someone to do something: Each letter from my bank is another turn of the screw. cooked to a turn = done to a turn cooked for exactly the right amount of time: The beef was done to a turn.
David and Victoria Beckham family drama pulls in a generation unafraid to go 'no contact': For a few hours this week, it felt like the world and all its horrors stopped with one subject taking over the internet: Brooklyn Peltz Beckham. People feasted on every morsel ( morsel [ˈmɔː.səl] 一小片的 I. a very small piece of food. A morsel is a very small amount of something, especially a very small piece of food. ...a delicious little morsel of meat. a morsel of cheese. The prisoners ate every last morsel. II. a very small piece or amount: a morsel of good news. ) after the eldest child of David and Victoria Beckham dropped six slides on his Instagram Stories accusing his famous parents of planting stories in the media about him, portraying "inauthentic relationships" on social media and trying to ruin his wedding to his wife, Nicola Peltz. Peltz Beckham launched his broadside with a statement of purpose: "I do not want to reconcile with my family." With that, though he didn't use the term himself, Peltz Beckham entered the fervent discourse shaking Gen Z and their Gen X and Boomer parents: going "no contact," or dropping those family members deemed too toxic and incapable of change. In private conversations and very publicly on TikTok, the idea of going "no contact" is debated from all sides. On the one hand are those who choose to drop relationships — often hailed by their peers for choosing themselves over whatever situation led to the fissure. On the other are the parents who have been banished 驱逐 by their children, some expressing confusion, and others finding their own influencer lane in telling their side of the story. Karl Pillemer, a professor of human development at Cornell told CNN that though there is a heightened awareness about adult children going no contact, thanks in part to social media, there is no actual hard data to show that there has been an increase. What he now sees at play is that younger people, including Gen Z, are receiving more support on social media when they decide to break with their families, even as their parents struggle to understand the language their kids are using to express why it's happening, like "gaslighting" and "narcissistic parenting." There's this kind of disconnect between what some young people seem to expect from the parent-child relationship that is very different from their parents' understanding of what they were doing. Another part of the draw to the Beckham scandal is the behind the scenes glance it gives into a powerhouse celebrity family. From the love-at-first-sight moment footballer David Beckham met then-Spice Girls singer Victoria Adams during a 1997 soccer game, the couple seemed to be living a fairytale. Their firstborn was an integral part of their love story. He’s been a barista, a model, a photographer and an aspiring chef complete with his own line of hot sauces. The celebrity progeny appeared to be seeking out his place in a world that had been aware of him since birth. As he grew older, Brooklyn Peltz Beckham seemed to work hard at finding his niche. The Beckham family feud previously lived only in the pages of tabloids and on social media, where there were tales 传说 of tension between the Beckhams and their eldest progeny and his wife. Brooklyn Peltz Beckham revealed how far from perfect by posting this week with a slew of accusations against his family. It was a direct move from a young man who many believe has had a soft life since the very beginning.
