用法学习: 1. I stand corrected used to admit that something you have said or done was wrong: I stand corrected - the date of foundation was 1411, and not 1412 as I had written. As above, happy to stand corrected. Please advise what the cost currently is and I'll amend the post. Icarus falls: In Greek mythology, Icarus [IK-uh-russ] is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus' father warns him first of complacency and then of hubris ( Hubris 傲慢, 自大 ([ˈhjuːbrɪs]) describes a personality quality of extreme or foolish pride 骄傲, 傲娇 or dangerous over confidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. In its ancient Greek context, it typically describes behavior that defies the norms of behavior or challenges the gods, and which in turn brings about the downfall, or nemesis, of the perpetrator of hubris. The adjectival form of the noun hubris is "hubristic". Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual rather than a group, although the group the offender belongs to may suffer collateral consequences from the wrongful act. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities. hubris I. 过度自信, 过度骄傲. 极度傲慢, 过度自负, 太过自以为是: Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance. excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance. "There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris". II. Hubris (also hybris; ['hju:bris]) means extreme haughtiness or arrogance. Hubris often indicates being out of touch with reality and overestimating one's own competence or capabilities, especially for people in positions of power. Hubris appears in the terms "act of hubris自负行径," and "hubristic." In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is often associated with a lack of humility不谦逊, not always with the lack of knowledge. An accusation of hubris often implies that suffering or punishment will follow, similar to the occasional pairing of hubris and nemesis in the Greek world. The proverb "pride comes/goes before a fall 骄傲使人退步, 过度傲慢会导致跌倒" is thought to sum up the modern definition of hubris. If you're too conceited or self-important, something will happen to make you look foolish. It is also referred to as "pride that blinds 让人目空一切的傲慢, 遮住眼睛的傲慢", as it often causes someone accused of hubris to act in foolish ways that belie common sense.), asking that he fly neither too low nor too high, so the sea's dampness would not clog his wings nor the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignored his father's instructions not to fly too close to the sun; when the wax in his wings melted he tumbled out of the sky and fell into the sea where he drowned, sparking the idiom "don't fly too close to the sun". This tragic theme of failure at the hands of hubris contains similarities to that of Phaëthon. Phaëthon's [ˈfeɪ.əθən] fall: In the version of the myth told by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, Phaethon ascends into heaven, the home of his suspected father. His mother Clymene had boasted that his father was the Sun-God or Phoebus. Phaethon went to his father who swore by the river Styx to give Phaethon anything he would ask for in order to prove his divine sonship. Phaethon wanted to drive the chariot 战车 ([ˈtʃeriət] a vehicle with two wheels and no roof that was pulled by horses in races and battles in ancient times. Someone who drove a chariot was called a charioteer. ) of the sun for a day. Phoebus tried to talk him out of it by telling him that not even Jupiter (the king of the gods) would dare to drive it, as the chariot was fiery [ˈfaɪəri] ( fierce [fɪrs]) hot (fiery (跟火有关): a fiery temper. a fiery chili sauce. a fiery pit = hell. fierce [fɪrs] (跟情绪有关, 激烈的) debate/ criticism: The proposals provoked a fierce debate. fierce competition/ opposition: We face fierce competition from overseas competitors. ) and the horses breathed out flames. Phaethon was adamant. When the day came, the fierce horses that drew the chariot felt that it was empty because of the lack of the sun-god's weight and went out of control. Terrified, Phaethon dropped the reins 缰绳. The horses veered from their course, scorching the earth, burning the vegetation, bringing the blood of the Ethiopians to the surface of their skin and so turning it black, changing much of Africa into desert, drying up rivers and lakes and shrinking the sea. Earth cried out to Jupiter who was forced to intervene by striking Phaethon with a lightning bolt. Like a falling star, Phaethon plunged blazing into the river Eridanos. The epitaph on his tomb was: Here Phaethon lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared. And though greatly he failed, more greatly he dared. Phoebus, stricken with grief at his son's death, at first refused to resume his work of driving his chariot, but at the appeal of the other gods, including Jupiter, returned to his task. 2. sleaze [sliːz] (多用来形容道德败坏的人(性行为上或者喜欢行骗的人)) I. You use sleaze to describe activities that you consider immoral, dishonest, or not respectable, especially in politics, business, journalism, or entertainment. [informal, disapproval] They have made it easy for Sven to fill his expensive boots while allowing an atmosphere of sleaze to develop. The senator denounced the press for engaging in 'sleaze' and called the story a lie. ...porn movies and sleaze. II. = sleazebag = sleazeball a shady, coarse, or immoral person. My friend's husband is too friendly with me and I want to tell her he's a sleaze. sleazy I. If you describe a place as sleazy, you dislike it because it looks dirty and badly cared for, and not respectable. [informal, disapproval] ...sleazy bars. ...sleazy cinemas in London's Soho. Downstairs in the windowless basement, where the real work is done, it is sleazy and sweaty. II. If you describe something or someone as sleazy, you disapprove of them because you think they are not respectable and are rather disgusting. [informal, disapproval] ...sex shops and sleazy magazines. ...a sleazy fellow. The accusations are making the government's conduct appear increasingly sleazy. origin: Something that is sleazy is low and nasty. It's a perfect word to describe characters like the sleazy door-to-door con men who cheat old ladies into selling them their jewelry at a deep discount. Sleazy originally meant flimsy, but nowadays it's only used to describe morally degraded people or places. Usually it refers to sexual behavior, but it is often associated with people trying to swindle others as well. It's not as bad as perverse or criminal, which suggest that a line has been crossed. But sleazy people make you feel uncomfortable, for sure. 3. practical Practical refers to a person, idea, project, etc, as being more concerned with or relevant to practice than theory: he is a very practical person; the idea had no practical application. Practicable refers to a project or idea as being capable of being done or put into effect: the plan was expensive, yet practicable 可行的, 可实现的. I. 需要动手的, 需要付诸实践的. The practical aspects of something involve real situations and events, rather than just ideas and theories. of, relating to, or concerned with ordinary activities, business, or work: a habitual dreamer, who can't be bothered with practical 付诸实践的, 需要动手的 affairs. We can offer you practical suggestions on how to increase the fibre in your daily diet. This practical guidebook teaches you about relaxation, coping skills, and time management. II. (人) 实际的. 不浪漫的, 不妄想的. You describe people as practical when they make sensible decisions and deal effectively with problems. [approval] You were always so practical, Maria. How could she be so practical when he'd just told her something so shattering? He lacked any of the practical common sense essential in management. III. 切实可行的 (不止是说说的). 切合实际的. 切实可行的. 不是天马行空的. Practical ideas and methods are likely to be effective or successful in a real situation. Although the causes of cancer are being uncovered, we do not yet have any practical way to prevent it. It is not easy to make practical suggestions for helping her. adapted or designed for actual use; useful: practical instructions. IV. You can describe clothes and things in your house as practical when they are suitable for a particular purpose rather than just being fashionable or attractive. Our clothes are lightweight, fashionable, practical 实用的, 有实际用途的 for holidays. V. engaged or experienced in actual practice or work: a practical 有实践经验的 politician credited with much legislation. Bad Move Script: A: Dear oh dear, what are you doing? not that end 不是那一端. You are not practical, are you?
B: I've just never used one of these before. A: To be honest, I'm
surprised Nicky went for somebody like you after Tony. He was very hands-on. B: Hands on half the women in Kirkstall. VI. inclined toward or fitted for actual work or useful activities: looking for a practical 喜欢亲自下手的, 喜欢亲自动手的, 亲力亲为的 person to fill this position. noun. A practical 实际操作, 亲自操作 is an examination or a lesson in which you make things or do experiments rather than simply writing answers to questions. hands-on I. Hands-on experience or work 亲自动手的, 实际操作的 involves actually doing a particular thing, rather than just talking about it or getting someone else to do it. Ninety-nine per cent of primary pupils now have hands-on experience of computers. This hands-on management approach often stretches his workday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Someone who has hands-on experience of something has done or used it rather than just read or learned about it: Many employers consider hands-on experience 实践经验 to be as useful as academic qualifications. II. a hands-on person 亲自下手的 is involved in something and does not let other people do all the work and make all the decisions. Someone with a hands-on way of doing things becomes closely involved in managing and organizing things and in making decisions: She's very much a hands-on 亲力亲为的 manager. 4. veracity [vəˈræsəti] 真实可靠性, 真实性, 可靠性 truth, or honesty. Veracity is the quality of being true or the habit of telling the truth. Doubts were cast on the veracity of her alibi. We have total confidence in the veracity of our research. [+ of] He was shocked to find his veracity questioned. veracious [vəˈreɪ.ʃəs] very formal 实事求是的, 诚实的 truthful or true. honest and not telling or containing any lies: a veracious and trustworthy historian. He is a veracious person. mendacity [menˈdæsəti] the act of not telling the truth. Mendacity is lying, rather than telling the truth. ...an astonishing display of cowardice and mendacity. Politicians are often accused of mendacity. jockey noun. A jockey is someone who rides a horse in a race. verb. If you say that someone is jockeying for something, you mean that they are using whatever methods they can in order to get it or do it before their competitors can get it or do it. The rival political parties are already jockeying for power 争权夺势. Already, both sides are jockeying 争先恐后的, 争夺 to belittle the other side. 5. ALDI 宣传: Now a leaked Aldi Australia training video has spilled a few secrets on how to make sure you score the best Special Buy, if you decide to brave the crowds 不顾人群, 不顾人多(brave the crowds, brave the hordes, and brave the elements. horde [hɔːrd] 人流 If you describe a crowd of people as a horde, you mean that the crowd is very large and excited and, often, rather frightening or unpleasant. This attracts hordes of tourists to Las Vegas. [+ of] ...a horde of people was screaming for tickets.). Finally, the video also explains that all Aldi stores are laid out 布局 the same way( lay out I. If you lay out a group of things 摆列, you spread them out and arrange them neatly, for example so that they can all be seen clearly. Grace laid out the knives and forks at the lunch-table. She took a deck of cards and began to lay them out. II. To lay out ideas, principles, or plans means to explain or present them clearly, for example in a document or a meeting. Maxwell listened closely as Johnson laid out his plan. Cuomo laid it out in simple language. III. 布局. To lay out an area of land or a building means to plan and design how its different parts should be arranged. When we laid out the car parks, we reckoned on one car per four families. Only people that use a kitchen all the time understand the best way to lay it out. IV. 遗体瞻仰 To lay out a dead person means to clean their body and dress them for people to see before the funeral. Friends laid out the body. V. If you lay out money on something, you spend a large amount of money on it. [informal] You won't have to lay out 花费, 花销, 大把花钱 a fortune for this dining table. VI. To lay someone out means to knock them to the ground, especially by hitting them hard. [informal] Andy turned round, marched over to Chris and just laid him out.). When the queue snakes around the block and there's a stampede once the doors open, you know it means one thing; Aldi has some serious bargains in their latest Special Buys. The new specials are displayed at the back and are advertised to go on sale every Wednesday and Saturday. In other words, if you're racing 争抢 someone to get to the latest product, head straight to the back. 6. Sommelier [sɔˈmelieɪ] = Wine Expert 葡萄酒专家 a waiter who recommends and serves wine To accompany each course, the sommelier recommends wines served by the glass. While some wine consumers may consider themselves experts, a true wine expert is called a sommelier. A sommelier, also known as a wine steward, is a person that has undergone training in order to become extremely knowledgeable about wine. It can take many years of training to become a master sommelier. Sommeliers are often found working in high-end restaurants where they specialize in various aspect of wine service, including recommending the perfect food and wine pairings 搭配. In restaurants in which sommeliers are employed, they are considered just as important as the executive chef preparing the meals. Even if you know some of the basics, picking the right bottle at the store is a daunting task.
catch up with someone VS get to someone: catch on I. to become popular or fashionable Sports drinks have caught on as consumers have become more health-conscious. II. to understand He didn't catch on at first. catch on to: He doesn't take hints very easily, but he'll catch on (to what you're saying) eventually. Then I caught on to what it was the man was saying. be/catch onto something I. Fig. alerted to or aware of a deceitful plan. The cops are onto your little game here. 看穿. seeing through someone's deception. By the time we got on to the con artists, they were out of town. The sheriff got onto Jed, and Jed wanted to get out of town fast. II. Fig. having found something useful or promising; on the verge of discovering something. I think we are really onto something this time. I'm onto a new discovery. catch on or catch in something If something catches on or in an object or if an object catches something, it accidentally becomes attached to the object or stuck in it. Her ankle caught on a root, and she almost lost her balance. A man caught his foot in the lawnmower. be caught I. If you are caught between two alternatives or two people, you do not know which one to choose or follow. The Jordanian leader is caught between both sides in the dispute. She was caught between envy and admiration. II. If you are caught in a storm or other unpleasant situation, it happens when you cannot avoid its effects. When he was fishing off the island he was caught in a storm and almost drowned. Visitors to the area were caught between police and the rioters. catch I. If something catches the light or if the light catches it, it reflects the light and looks bright or shiny. They saw the ship's guns, catching the light of the moon. Often a fox goes across the road in front of me and I just catch it in the headlights. II. If the wind or water catches something, it carries or pushes it along. A gust of wind caught the parachute. catch up with I. When people catch up with someone who has done something wrong, they succeed in finding them in order to arrest or punish them. to find and arrest someone who has committed a crime after searching for them or chasing them. The police will catch up with you sooner or later. The law caught up with him yesterday. II. (比较get to someone) to begin to have an effect on someone The lack of sleep caught up with her, and she began to doze off 不堪重负, 不堪忍受, 积劳成疾, 吃不消, 饶过, 放过, 饶不过 (his age catches up with him). If something catches up with you, you are forced to deal with something unpleasant that happened or that you did in the past, which you have been able to avoid until now. Although he subsequently became a successful businessman, his criminal past caught up with him. catch up I. If you catch up with someone who is in front of you, you reach them by walking faster than they are walking. I stopped and waited for her to catch up.We caught up with the others. II. To catch up with someone means to reach the same standard, stage, or level that they have reached. Most late developers will catch up with their friends. John began the season better than me but I have fought to catch up. During the evenings, the school is used by kids who want to catch up on English and mathematics. III. If you catch up on an activity that you have not had much time to do recently, you spend time doing it. I was catching up on a bit of reading. IV. If you catch up on friends who you have not seen for some time or on their lives, you talk to them and find out what has happened in their lives since you last talked together. The women spent some time catching up on each other's work and families. She plans to return to Dublin to catch up with the relatives she has not seen since she married. V. If you are caught up in something, you are involved in it, usually unwillingly. The people themselves weren't part of the conflict; they were just caught up in it. Many people in the region, for reasons of poverty, get caught up in the drug trade. get to somebody/something (比较catch up with someone) to make someone feel annoyed or upset. to cause feelings, esp. suffering or disgust, in someone: The heat was beginning to get to me so I went indoors. I'm under a lot of pressure at work, and sometimes it gets to me a bit. Don't let things get to you. get to thinking/wondering something informal to start thinking something He got to thinking how disappointed his parents would be. where has something/someone got to? spoken used for asking where something or someone is.
dip VS pit VS hole VS pothole VS sinkhole: dip I. 蘸一下. If you dip something in a liquid, you put it into the liquid for a short time, so that only part of it is covered, and take it out again. They dip the food into the sauce. Quickly dip the base in and out of cold water. One dip into the bottle should do an entire nail. a. A dip is a thick creamy sauce. You dip pieces of raw vegetable or biscuits into the sauce and then eat them. Maybe we could just buy some dips 蘸酱. ...prawns with avocado dip. II. If you dip your hand into a container or dip into the container, you put your hand into it in order to take something out of it. She dipped a hand 伸手进去, 伸进去 into the jar of sweets and pulled one out. Watch your fingers as you dip into the pot. Ask the children to guess what's in each container by dipping their hands in. III. If something dips, it makes a downward movement, usually quite quickly. Blake jumped in expertly; the boat dipped 突然下沉 slightly under his weight. The sun dipped below the horizon. I noticed little things, a dip of the head, a twitch in the shoulder. IV. 大大的坑里. 低洼地. 地势低的地方. If an area of land, a road, or a path dips, it goes down quite suddenly to a lower level. The road dipped and rose again. ...a path which suddenly dips down into a tunnel. Where the road makes a dip 路突然下坡, 突然下沉, turn right. V. When farmers dip sheep or other farm animals, they put them into a container of liquid with chemicals in it, in order to kill harmful insects which live on the animals' bodies. Their father was helping to dip the sheep. He digs potatoes and helps with the sheep dipping. a. Dip is a liquid with chemicals in it which animals or objects can be dipped in to disinfect or clean them. ...sheep dip. VI. If the amount or level of something dips, it becomes smaller or lower, usually only for a short period of time. Unemployment dipped 走低, 下降 to 6.9 per cent last month. The president became more cautious as his popularity dipped. ...the current dip in farm spending. VII. If you have or take a dip, you go for a quick swim in the sea, a river, or a swimming pool. She flicked through a romantic paperback between occasional dips in the pool. VIII. If you are driving a car and dip the headlights, you operate a switch that makes them shine downwards, so that they do not shine directly into the eyes of other drivers. [British] He dipped (US: dim ) his headlights as they came up behind a slow-moving van. This picture shows the view from a car using normal dipped lights. IX. If you dip into a book, you have a brief look at it without reading or studying it seriously. ...a chance to dip into a wide selection of books on Buddhism. X. If you dip into a sum of money that you had intended to save, you use some of it to buy something or pay for something. Just when she was ready to dip into her savings, Greg hastened to her rescue. lucky dip (AmE: grab bag) 幸运抽奖 a lucky dip is a game in which you take a prize out of a container full of hidden prizes and then find out what you have chosen. dip your toes = dip your toes into the waters of something 尝试着做 If you dip your toes into something or dip your toes into the waters of something, you start doing that thing slowly and carefully, because you are not sure whether it will be successful or whether you will like it. This may encourage gold traders to dip their toes back into the markets. Universities are dipping their toes in the waters of management education. pit I. A pit is a coal mine. It was a better community then when all the pits were working. II. A pit is a large hole that is dug in the ground. Eric lost his footing and began to slide into the pit 大坑. III. A gravel pit or clay pit is a very large hole that is left where gravel or clay has been dug from the ground. This area of former farmland was worked as a gravel pit until 1964. IV. If two opposing things or people are pitted against one another, they are in conflict. You will be pitted against people who are every bit as good as you are. This was one man pitted against the universe. V. In motor racing, the pits are the areas at the side of the track where drivers stop to get more fuel and to repair their cars during races. He moved quickly into the pits and climbed rapidly out of the car (pit stop). VI. If you describe something as the pits, you mean that it is extremely bad. [spoken] Mary Ann asked him how dinner had been. 'The pits,' he replied. pit one's wits against sb If you pit your wits against someone, you compete with them in a test of knowledge or intelligence. I'd like to pit my wits against the best. in the pit of one's stomach If you have a feeling in the pit of your stomach, you have a tight or sick feeling in your stomach, usually because you are afraid or anxious. I had a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. a bottomless pit If you describe something as a bottomless pit, you mean that it seems as if you can take things from it and it will never be empty or put things in it and it will never be full. A gold mine is not a bottomless pit, the gold runs out. The problem is we don't have a bottomless pit of resources. He's a bottomless pit as far as food is concerned. pitted 去核的 I. Pitted fruits have had their stones 苹果核 removed. ...green and black pitted olives. II. 坑坑洼洼的. If the surface of something is pitted, it is covered with a lot of small, shallow holes. Everywhere building facades are pitted with shell and bullet holes. [+ with] ...the pitted surface of the moon. orchestra pit: In a theatre, the orchestra pit is the space reserved for the musicians playing the music for an opera, musical, or ballet, immediately in front of or below the stage. sandpit = US sandbox (孩子玩的) 沙坑, 沙土坑 A sandpit is a shallow hole or box in the ground with sand in it where small children can play. 路上的坑坑洼洼: A sinkhole, also known as a cenote [səˈnoʊteɪ], sink, sink-hole, swallet, swallow hole, or doline, is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. A hole (usually) passes entirely through a surface, or an object. A pit is (usually) a concavity. A "pothole 路上的坑坑洼洼" is a place on the paved surface of a road where the paving has been worn away, revealing the underlying layer. The top layer has been worn away. But there are times when concavities are called holes, and times when tears or (earth) penetrations are called pits.
Sri Lanka Travel: It is expensive to go to tourist attractions - a lot of the time, they are so not value for money. I think the government is trying to reap as much out of this tourism boom as much as possible. That's one of the problems, another problem that applies to many other Hyped 吹嘘的, 宣传过度的 Tourist destinations is that wealthy travelers who are on big or unlimited budgets don't give 2 hoots if they are getting fleeced ( noun I. 羊皮 羊毛皮 A sheep's fleece is the coat of wool that covers it. II. A fleece is the wool that is cut off one sheep in a single piece. III. Fleece is a soft warm artificial fabric. a type of soft artificial cloth used for making clothes, that looks and feels like a sheep's fleece. a fleece pullover. A fleece is also a jacket or other garment made from this fabric. verb [informal] to cheat or trick someone as a way of getting their money. If you fleece someone, you get a lot of money from them by tricking them or charging them too much. She claims he fleeced her out of thousands of pounds. ) and this in turn encourages corrupt and dishonest attitudes / practices 不良行为. Not sure where that is coming from but I guess when one starts a hype, everyone follows and because of the number of people who go there...it becomes the hottest destination. However, I personally think it will wear out in no time. Most people are dumbasses who wouldn't know they're being fleeced, and get sensitive when you talk about their romanticised memories. Most poor Asian countries will rip you off to some extent so it's nothing to get sensitive about. Note that I'm cynical by nature and have an exaggerated dislike of being deceived, and groupthink(Groupthink 不想惹事, 不想闹事, 息事宁人 is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences. Groupthink is sometimes stated to occur (more broadly) within natural groups within the community, for example to explain the lifelong different mindsets of those with differing political views (such as "conservatism" and "liberalism" in the U.S. political context ) or the purported benefits of team work vs. work conducted in solitude. However, this conformity of viewpoints within a group does not mainly involve deliberate group decision-making, and might be better explained by the collective confirmation bias of the individual members of the group. Groupthink requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions, and there is loss of individual creativity, uniqueness and independent thinking. The dysfunctional group dynamics of the "ingroup" produces an "illusion of invulnerability" (an inflated certainty that the right decision has been made). Thus the "ingroup" significantly overrates its own abilities in decision-making and significantly underrates the abilities of its opponents (the "outgroup"). Furthermore, groupthink can produce dehumanizing actions against the "outgroup". ). A normal person could probably take the deception in their stride, but I feel it my duty to re-educate scammers [especially when the deception screws you over in non-financial ways]. It's good to hear they've caught on 跟上时代 to how some foreigners prefer to be price gouged. Hopefully they stopped acting so shifty.
