用法学习: 1. resile [rɪˈzaɪl] 退缩, 放弃主张 to abandon a position or a course of action. to spring or shrink back; recoil or resume original shape Well, Kyoto was binding, and when it suited them Canada, Russia and Japan simply resiled from it, with no penalties whatsoever. I'm apologising for how people might have perceived it, and the fact that it is confronting, and it is ugly, and I certainly don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I apologise for my language, I do not resile from my position. Jeremy Wiggins, who heads trans support network Transcend Australia, said gender affirmation [æfɜrˈmeɪʃ(ə)n] procedures were only available to people under 18 in rare circumstances. gender affirmation a process by which a person receives social recognition and support for their gender identity and expression There is no one-size-fits-all approach for the gender affirmation process. remedial [rɪmiːdiəl] I. intended to correct or improve deficient skills in some subject. Remedial education is intended to improve a person's ability to read, write, or do mathematics, especially when they find these things difficult. intended to help people who have difficulty learning the basic skills of reading, writing, etc. a remedial class/course/teacher. ...children who required special remedial education. His remedial teacher sees signs of progress in his reading and writing. II. Remedial activities are intended to improve a person's health when they are ill. He is already walking normally and doing remedial exercises. III. Remedial action is intended to correct something that has been done wrong or that has not been successful. Some authorities are now having to take remedial action. noun. A pupil enrolled in special classes to improve deficient skills. Are you a remedial 弱智, 学习障碍 or something? Can't you see I'm in a hurry?. 2. phone it in = mail it in: To perform a role or duty in a halfhearted, disinterested, and unprofessional manner. Everyone phones it in on the morning after a staff party, so don't worry if you don't feel able to give this report your all. You can tell the actor is phoning it in—I'm sure he got a good paycheck for the voiceover, but you'd think he would try a little bit harder. To do something in a perfunctory way or with little interest: One of the actors in the play was just phoning it in. perfunctory [pərˈfʌŋkt(ə)ri] 心不在焉的, 不经意的 done without much effort or interest. A perfunctory action is done quickly and carelessly, and shows a lack of interest in what you are doing. She gave the list only a perfunctory glance. ...a perfunctory handshake. Our interest was purely perfunctory. Melina was perfunctorily introduced to the men. Officers made a perfunctory search of the room. She gave her mother a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. phone in If you phone in an order for something, you place the order by phone. Just phone in your order three or more days prior to departure. dial it in 心无旁骛, 全神贯注, 聚精会神, 高度集中, 精神集中: If you're a sports fan, you might be familiar with the phrase dial it in. A favorite of athletes and sportswriters, it roughly means "to reach a state of peak focus, efficiency, or performance," as one Chicago-area high-school pitcher recently used it: There were a little bit of nerves 有点紧张 in the beginning there, but I was able to calm down and throw strikes after that ... I dialed it in and kept that until I came out of the game. Call it territorial instincts, but Federer would not go gently. He dialed in his serve and, after a 90-minute rain delay in the third set, won a riveting tiebreaker. I'm not really sure what happened there, but it happened and I'll take responsibility for it ... I need to be more dialed in to what's going on around me and I wasn't in that situation and it happened. We need to be better there—I need to be better there. Sherwood has lived in Bellingham all of his life, has been at the helm of the Jazz Project for nearly two decades and has five years of throwing a late-summer jazz festival under his belt going into this year's event. I think it's safe to say he's got some things dialed in when it comes to knowing how to give the people what they want. Where did this come from? Early usage of dialed in applied the term to the tuning of automobile engines. The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1977 Indiana newspaper: "We put a new motor in (this week) and we're breaking it in (break in new shoes/cars) right now. We're trying to get it dialed in. We're not pushing too hard." It naturally became a comfortable term in the auto racing industry: "Dialed in is one that comes from way back," Petty says. "It means getting the car perfect—you finally have the car exactly perfect." 3. Love, Victor: Um, how far is Willacoochee, 'cause I have a thing at Mia's tonight that I can't miss. Oh, it's like a couple of hours. But if we leave now, get there by 10:00, get this thing fixed by lunch, we can have you back by 4:00. That's cutting it close 卡着点. Love, Victor: Well, how much longer will it take? I don't know how much longer. Find out the ETA! Okay, fine. We will. Now will you please just do a head space ( headspace I. the air or empty space left above the contents in a sealed container. "pour the hot chutney into the jars, leaving 5 mm headspace". II. informal a person's state of mind or mindset. You can use headspace to refer to someone's mental condition. Most of what they do is to get players in the right headspace. "if you're not in the right headspace for this stuff it's going to bore you, no matter how well it's done" time to think clearly or to be free from mental pressures. ) and calm down? I'm calm, I'm calm. Just give me a coffee machine. Love, Victor: Hey, so Sarah called. She said to stay in a motel if the machine isn't ready tonight. That way 那样的话 we can bring it back first thing tomorrow before we open. We would stay the night here? Yeah. Don't worry, I know you need to get back. So let's just pay, drive over to the repair guy, and light a fire under his ass ( light a fire under sb 催促 mainly US to make someone act quickly or forcefully, especially someone who has not been doing enough before: The coach tried to light a fire under the team in his halftime speech. We use this expression when someone is considered lazy, example: John! What do I have to do "light a fire under your ass" to get this work done by Friday? It's not a statement you would use in formal occasions. Why not say, please hurry up and finish.......). Love, Victor: tablescape an attractive and often themed arrangement of tableware and other objects on a table. There are broadly three types of tablescape. Rahim, honey, would you like to stay for dinner? Really? Yeah. Adrian's at your dad's house. I have enough pad see ew to feed an army. What do you say? Uh, j'adore Thai food. Let me just call my parents, and I'll help you whip up a quick tablescape 桌面摆设, 桌面布置, 摆盘. tablescape: the arrangement of items on a table that produces an attractive and decorative effect, often with matching plates, bowls, etc. and items such as napkins, flowers, and candles. With only a few days left before Thanksgiving, there's not a whole lot of time for executing an elaborate tablescape. Another idea is to use multiples in varying sizes and shapes for a unique tablescape that's simple and stunning. Table-setting, or tablescaping, is an activity involving the setting of themed dining tables in artful, decorative ways for social events, and in a variety of categories for competitions. Tablescaping is a portmanteau of table and landscaping; it was coined by television chef Sandra Lee in 2003. In the United States, competitions take place at county fairs, and events across the country; competitive tablescaping traces back to at least the 1930s. The creations are "rigorously judged" with points lost for glassware, cutlery, and plates, and other items missing or out of place, while points can be gained for creativity or interpretation of a theme. Other criteria considered can include aesthetics, functionality, balance, and the corresponding fictional menu that would accompany the table's meal; an entry can use a formal table setting, or be quite casual depending on the theme. The practice has become better known since the rise in social media posts centered on meals people share including the setting; on photo-sharing Instagram, as of November 2019, #tabledecor has 1.9 million posts, and #tablesetting has 2.3 million posts. A counterintuitive trend is for a rustic or farm theme, with a sustainability aesthetic emphasizing materials and components that are recycled, and upcycled. Love, Victor: You probably won't understand 'cause you're gorgeous, but, uh, I'm just, I'm starting to wonder if Lake is... All right, man. You need to relax. Stressed and desperate are not turn-ons. You have to be... confident. Well, stressed and desperate is my resting state 自然状态. All right, look. Sex is scary for everyone the first time. I think the key is accepting that some moments will forever live on in the sexual blooper reel of our lives. If you're with the right person, doesn't matter. Well, that's how it was for me, anyway. Oh, and grooming is no longer just for the ladies, so, if downtown Felix looks anything like uptown Felix... Tidy up. Love, Victor: What did people do before phones? I don't know. Talk to each other. Okay. So let's do that. So, uh, what do you want to talk about? Oh, I know. Lake posted this super funny Instagram story of her singing Mamma Mia songs. You're obsessing 犯花痴 again. You're just like my friend Mandy back in Texas. She loves talking about her boyfriend, TJ. No, no. Now you're obsessing. I don't even know why I'm acting like this. It's not like my friends in Graham were even that cool. But at least I had a crew, you know? People to get coffee with. People to watch reality shows with. And you haven't met one person at Creekwood you like hanging out with? Nope. Or anyone that wants to hang out with me. I'm kind of an acquired taste. Hey, for what it's worth, I do like coffee. Do you wanna get coffee? Sorry. Didn't catch that. Do you wanna get coffee? I'd love to. 4. Sydney's gangland ( gangland [ˈɡæŋˌlænd] 黑帮的 (underworld) relating to organized crime, or to the people who are involved in it. Gangland is used to describe activities or people that are involved in organized crime. It's been suggested they were gangland killings. ...one of Italy's top gangland bosses. fears of a new gangland drug war. ) violence: the battle lines are drawn If you say that the battle lines are drawn between opposing groups or people, you mean that they are ready to start fighting or arguing, and that it has become clear what the main points of conflict or disagreement will be. The battle lines were drawn after the government refused to budge from its final offer. Gangland figures 黑道人物, 黑帮人物 have been banned from suburbs across Sydney amid fears a bloody underworld war could explode in the wake of a fatal daylight shooting. Mejid Hamzy, 44, the brother of notorious criminal and Brothers For Life founder Bassam Hamzy, was gunned down 被干掉 outside his home in Condell Park, in Sydney's south-west, on October 19. The daytime execution has already led to more violence, and police fear the retributions will cause carnage on Sydney's streets. Commissioner Webb said she understood the community would be concerned about the latest attack, which took place on a busy street, forcing witnesses to dive for cover 四处躲避. "They were warned last Thursday that their lives were at risk as they had been on countless other occasions. "And they decided not to avail themselves of ( use or take advantage of an opportunity or available resource. "my daughter did not avail herself of my advice". ) the resources and recommendations and suggestions of NSW Police to leave our state." He announced that an additional 30 police officers would be assigned to the Raptor Squad, which has been set up to combat organised crime ( combat 对抗, 抗击, 打击 If people in authority combat something, they try to stop it happening. to do something in order to try to stop something bad from happening or a bad situation from becoming worse. the need for effective action to combat global warming. measures to combat crime. Congress has criticised new government measures to combat crime. ) in NSW, boosting the number of police involved from 115 officers to 145. Homicide detectives have described how about 8pm on Tuesday night two men were seen getting out of a car at the Auburn gym before opening fire, peppering Tarek Zahed and his brother Omar with bullets. He said the attack happened in full view of staff and clients at the gym. Detectives are investigating whether there is any link between the targeted hit on Tarek Zahed and the fatal shooting of Mahmoud "Brownie" Ahmad at Greenacre two weeks ago. They are also looking at whether the latest attack was the result of a power struggle 争权夺势 within the Comancheros, which police described as "Australia's largest criminal network". Obviously with all these shootings and people are being killed, there's opportunity for people to try to take their place," Superintendent Doherty said. "There's a real power struggle within different criminal networks." Shortly after the attack, two Audi cars were found set alight in Berala and Greenacre in south-west Sydney.
sanctimonious VS sacrilegious VS sacrosanct: sanctimonious 趾高气昂的, 趾高气扬的 [ˌsæŋktəˈmoʊniəs] making a show of being morally superior to other people. used for describing someone who tries to show that they have better moral or religious principles than other people. If you say that someone is sanctimonious, you disapprove of them because you think that they are trying to appear morally better than other people. He writes smug, sanctimonious rubbish. You sanctimonious little hypocrite! She displays none of the sanctimoniousness often associated with spirituality. I was aware even as I spoke how sanctimonious I sounded. "what happened to all the sanctimonious talk about putting his family first?". sacrilegious [ˌsakrɪˈlɪdʒəs] 大不敬的, 亵渎神明的 involving or committing sacrilege. treating something holy or important without respect. If someone's behaviour or actions are sacrilegious, they show great disrespect towards something holy or towards something that people think should be respected. A number of churches were sacked and sacrilegious acts committed. sacrilegious practices/acts. The performance is not sacrilegious or blasphemous. "a sacrilegious act". sack noun. I.A sack is a large bag made of rough woven material. Sacks are used to carry or store things such as vegetables or coal. ...a sack of potatoes. Verb. I. If your employers sack you, they tell you that you can no longer work for them because you have done something that they did not like or because your work was not good enough. He had sacked the teacher as soon as he heard of her misconduct. An airport worker who was sacked for wearing a nose stud has won back her job. People who make mistakes can be given the sack the same day. II. When an army sacks a town or city 劫掠, 烧杀抢掠, they destroy it, taking away all valuable things. In 1527 Imperial troops sacked the French ambassador's residence in Rome. The Odyssey tells what happened to the Greek heroes after the sack of Troy. sacrilege [ˈsækrəlɪdʒ] I. behavior that does not show respect for a holy place, object, or idea. II. behavior that does not show respect for something that most people admire. sacrosanct [ˈsakrə(ʊ)saŋ(k)t] 神圣不可侵犯的, 至高无上的 (especially of a principle, place, or routine) regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with. thought to be too important or too special to be changed. If you describe something as sacrosanct, you consider it to be special and are unwilling to see it criticized or changed. Freedom of the press is sacrosanct. ...weekend rest days were considered sacrosanct. I'm willing to help on any weekday, but my weekends are sacrosanct. "the individual's right to work has been upheld as sacrosanct". sacred cows 老规矩, 金科玉律 In many industries, there are "sacred cows" that businesses worship. These are ideas so entrenched that people don't even think to challenge them. But these ideas aren't infallible, and many of them lead to bad business practices. A sacred cow is a rule, standard or formula that operators blindly follow because that's the way things have always been. At one time, those rules, standards and formulas may have made sense, but unwittingly, they became sacred over time, even though the world, the consumer, the business and the industry changed. And, unfortunately, a lot of businesses in our industry don't recognize that the world has changed. I'm proud that we changed the perception around Twitter's pace of innovation, and proud that we shifted the culture internally to make bigger bets, move faster, and eliminate sacred cows.
How two blokes 'mucking around' in the lab on weekends uncovered a medical breakthrough:Tony Velkov and Jian Li share the kind of geeky science story that would work perfectly as a Hollywood script. On quiet weekends at the Monash University science labs 20 years ago, the pair discovered they were the only ones crazy — or obsessed — enough to be working on their projects while everyone else was at home enjoying a few days off. Then, when Velkov and Li realised they shared not only a work ethic but a passion for researching bacteria, their personal and professional friendship was sealed. Over the past 12 years the two scientists have been developing a new antibiotic that recently began Phase 1 clinical trials in the US. Their intravenous drug targets deadly "superbugs" that are difficult to treat but can run rampant in hospital settings, causing pneumonia, blood infections, urinary tract infections, peritonitis and meningitis. This promising new drug, with the uninspiring 不出奇的, 平淡无奇的 name QPX9003, has placed the pair on the cusp of achieving something that hasn't been done for decades. No new antibiotics in this class, called polymyxins, that target hard-to-kill "Gram negative" bacteria, have been approved since the 1950s. In March, their research was published in the journal Nature. For anyone researching bacteria and antibiotics, getting a new drug to a clinical trial is the holy grail 圣杯, 终极目标(The Holy Grail is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous powers: providing eternal youth 青春永驻, or sustenance in infinite abundance, often in the custody of the Fisher King. By analogy, any elusive object or goal of great significance may be perceived as a holy grail by those seeking it. A pilgrimage 朝圣之旅 is a devotional practice consisting of a prolonged journey, often undertaken on foot or on horseback, toward a specific destination of significance. It is an inherently transient experience, removing the participant from his or her home environment and identity. ). But it's been a lonely, gruelling 寂寞难耐的, 寂寞难熬的 ( gruelling [ˈɡrʊəlɪŋ] 繁忙的, 繁重的. extremely tiring and demanding. A gruelling activity is extremely difficult and tiring to do. He had complained of exhaustion after his gruelling schedule over the past week. This flight was more gruelling than I had expected. "a gruelling schedule". ) process for Velkov and Li who have at times stumped up ( stump up 不情愿的支付, 心不甘情不愿的支付, 拿出自己的钱, 自己出钱 [British, informal] pay a sum of money. to give money, often without wanting to give it. If you stump up a sum of money, you pay it, often unwillingly. Customers do not have to stump up any cash for at least four weeks. Their insurance company stumped up £15,000 to hire a helicopter. "a buyer would have to stump up at least £8.5 million for the site". cough up o surrender (money, information, etc), esp reluctantly. If you cough up an amount of money, you pay or spend that amount, usually when you would prefer not to. I'll have to cough up $10,000 a year for tuition. Will this be enough to persuade Congress to cough up? fork out 无奈支付, 支付 If you fork out for something, you spend a lot of money on it. to spend money on something, especially when you do not want to. to give something, especially money to someone, especially when you do not want to: We had to fork over ten bucks to park near the stadium. Hey, that's mine. Fork it over! fork out on/for: I'm not forking out $400 on ski clothes! He will have to fork out for private school fees for Nina. You don't ask people to fork out every time they drive up the motorways. Britons fork out more than a billion pounds a year on toys. fork over If you fork something over to someone, for example money, you give it to them. Nonresidents who work in Philadelphia fork over 3.88 percent of their pay to the city. spit I. If something such as a machine or food 突突声 that is cooking spits, it sends out small amounts of something, making a series of short, sharp noises. The engine spat and banged. ...the fire where kebabs were sizzling and spitting. II. If someone spits an insult or comment, they say it in an angry or hostile way. 'Wait a minute,' Mindy spat. 'You can't stay overnight.'. Cramer spat an obscenity. He spat out 'I don't like the way he looks at me.'. She spat the name out like an insult. He appeared to be angry, spitting out disconnected words. III. [British] = sprinkle 淅沥小雨 in US If it is spitting, it is raining very lightly. It will stop in a minute–it's only spitting. noun. I. A spit is a long rod which is pushed through a piece of meat and hung over an open fire to cook the meat. She roasted the meat on a spit. II. A spit of land is a long, flat, narrow piece of land that sticks out into the sea. within spitting distance [informal] If one place is within spitting distance of another, they are very close to each other. ...a restaurant within spitting distance of the Tower of London. ) their own cash to keep the research going. "It can be a thankless job," Velkov says matter-of-factly. Each year in Australia more than 55,000 people are diagnosed with sepsis ( [ˈsepsɪs] 败血症 infection of your blood or body tissues, especially when this is serious and could kill you. the presence of pus-forming bacteria in the body. Sepsis, formerly known as septicaemia or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. leukemia = leukaemia (US) [luːˈkiːmiə] 白血病. ) — when an uncontrollable bacterial infection triggers inflammation throughout the body. If it can't be managed 控制不了的话, sepsis can lead to organ failure. And effective antibiotics are a key component of treatment. The problem is that bacteria reproduce faster than just about anything on the planet, some strains doubling their numbers in under five minutes. As the human population increases (giving bacteria has more places to multiply) and more and more of these people use antibiotics to get over their infections or keep them safe after surgery; or agriculture uses antibiotics to keep infection in animals at bay, bacteria have many more opportunities to become resistant. And as this process speeds up, the probability that bacteria will find a way to overcome antibiotics increases. The result is that our stash of usable antibiotics is dwindling 日渐减少. Those golden staph outbreaks we hear of invading hospitals provide a glimpse of what a post-antibiotic world could look like. Or worse still, a return to the bubonic plague pandemic ( bubonic plague 黑死病 [bjuˌbɑnɪk ˈpleɪɡ] a serious infectious disease that killed millions of people in Europe and Asia in the past but is now fairly rare. It is passed on by the fleas that live on black rats. ) that devastated Europe, Asia and North Africa in the 1300s. With so much at stake you might think that pharmaceutical companies would be tripping over themselves 争先恐后, 争抢着, 争着抢着 ( be tripping over each other ( Like a moth drawn to a flame) if people are tripping over each other in order to get or do something, they are all hurrying to get it or do it. There is, of course, the danger that too many groups with too many good intentions will trip over themselves as they work on empowering the same women at the same time. People were tripping over each other to congratulate her. trip over (someone or something) I. To trip or stumble and almost fall as a result of bumping into someone or something with one's feet. I tripped over a box someone had set down in the hallway. She tripped over the people sleeping on the living room floor as she made her way to the kitchen. II. To push and shove other people out of the way, as to get some place or in order to do something. People were tripping over each other to get their pictures taken with the famous actor. The kids tripped over each other to get into the ice cream parlor. III. To have difficulty saying something clearly or correctly; to stutter or stammer while trying to say something. The actors tripped over their lines 嘴瓢 and talked over each other constantly. They really needed more time to rehearse. He tried asking her on a date, but he was so nervous that he kept tripping over his words. ) to invest in the next great antibiotic and back the next Alexander Fleming or Tony Velkov. And when it costs up to $1 billion to develop a marketable drug, a decade isn't enough time for pharmaceutical companies to get their money back and deliver a profit. Tweaking the drugs to give them longevity isn't much help because when global patent laws run out, typically after about 25 years, the generic manufacturers move in. The two scientists years ago gave up expecting R&D funding from Australia. Of course, they had support from the university sector, and then tipped in more of their own cash at critical moments, but the big investment required to make their new drug a reality came from overseas. "It's just all about investment and development, that's all it is," says Velkov of the difficulty finding new antibiotics. "We can fix this problem [of antimicrobial resistance] but governments need to prioritise it. They can't rely on drug companies and they can't rely on Jian Li and myself mucking around in the lab on our days off. We are just two blokes trying to scrounge [skraʊndʒ] ( [informal, disapproval] to get something that you want by asking someone for it instead of by providing it or paying for it yourself. If you say that someone scrounges something such as food or money, you disapprove of them because they get it by asking for it, rather than by buying it or earning it. Williams had to scrounge enough money to get his car out of the car park. The government did not give them money, forcing them to scrounge for food. They are just scroungers. ) together materials to build something." Four avenues 四种途径 are being explored to combat 对抗 the rise of the superbug. One is to continue to push the message that existing antibiotics must be used sparingly 省着用 and carefully to minimise potential for bacteria to become immune. Another is reviving antibiotics that were previously passed over because something better came along. Returning to these discoveries saves research and development money, making them a more attractive investment. Scientists are also searching for ways to support or boost the effectiveness of existing antibiotics by using other drugs and therapies, known as "potentiators". Maytham Hussein's work looks at the effect of cannabinoids, which if taken in tablet form can boost the performance of antibiotics. Cooper is undertaking associated research that uses peptides as potentiators. Then there is the phage therapies, a branch of medical science that harnesses viruses to attack and kill bacteria. Finally, there is immune modulation known as "inflabiotics", which uses similar strategies to the immune therapies being used successfully in cancer treatment. "These get the ancient part of our immune system, our innate immunity, to stop making 'bad' inflammation and instead clear the infection with 'good' inflammation," Cooper says. He anticipates this therapy would face fewer issues with drug resistance because it targets the immune system not the bug itself. "If it is viable it could be broadly applied," he says.
way ahead of you 提前就想到了, 想到你前头去了, 我早想到了: TBBT: Leonard: Hey, buddy, why don't we go for a walk, so you can calm down. Sheldon: That's a good idea. I guess everyone's having them now. Leonard: Hey, I'm trying to help you. Sheldon: Fine. You can walk ahead of me and scare off the pigeons. Leonard: You just wave your arms a little and they fly away, it's not… TBBT: Sheldon: You know, I think I may have misjudged this restaurant. Leonard: No kidding. Sheldon: I won't go out on a limb, but I think we may be looking at my new Tuesday hamburger. Leonard: Your old Tuesday hamburger will be so broken hearted. Sheldon: Way ahead of you 提前就想到了, 想到你前头去了, 我早想到了. I was thinking of moving Big Boy to Thursdays, and just dropping Soup Plantation. Leonard: Really? Sheldon: Yeah, the name always confused me anyway, Soup Plantation. You can't grow soup. Penny: So, how's everything. Sheldon: Terrific, you'll be happy to know that I plan to come here every Tuesday night for the foreseeable future. Penny: Really, oh yay! Sheldon: Who do I speak to 跟谁讲, 和谁说 about permanently reserving this table? Penny: Um, I don't know, a psychiatrist? So hey, how are things with you and Lesley? Leonard: Oh, to be honest, I don't think it's going to work out. Penny: Oh, oh that's too bad. Well hey, don't worry, I'm sure there is someone out there who is just right for you. Leonard: Well what did she mean by that? Was that just a generic platitude 随便说说的, 废话, 没有用的废话 ( a remark or statement that may be true but is boring and has no meaning because it has been said so many times before: He doesn't mouth platitudes about it not mattering who scores as long as the team wins. trite [traɪt] 无趣的, 无聊的, 老生常谈的, 老掉牙的 If you say that something such as an idea, remark, or story is trite, you mean that it is dull and boring because it has been said or told too many times. a trite remark is not interesting or original because it is what people usually say in that situation. The movie is teeming with obvious and trite ideas. The simple concepts he had been taught now sounded trite and naive. prosaic [proʊˈzeɪɪk] ordinary and lacking imagination or excitement. Something that is prosaic is dull and uninteresting. His instructor offered a more prosaic explanation for the surge in interest. The truth is more prosaic. Arabian jam is also known as angels' hair preserve, or more prosaically as carrot jam. His father wrote briefly and prosaically. wiki: A platitude is a trite, meaningless, or prosaic statement, often used as a thought-terminating cliché, aimed at quelling social, emotional, or cognitive unease. The statement may be true, but its meaning has been lost due to its excessive use. Platitudes have been criticized as giving a false impression of wisdom, making it easy to accept falsehoods: A platitude is even worse than a cliché. It's a sanctimonious ( [ˌsæŋktəˈmoʊniəs] used for describing someone who tries to show that they have better moral or religious principles than other people. I was aware even as I spoke how sanctimonious I sounded. ) cliché, a statement that is not only old and overused but often moralistic and imperious. ... [P]latitudes have an aphoristic ( aphoristic [ˌæfəˈrɪstɪk] like an aphorism or relating to aphorisms. The language is aphoristic and concise. aphorism [ˈæfəˌrɪzəm] a short statement that says something wise and true. An aphorism is a short witty sentence which expresses a general truth or comment. 'What if they gave a war and nobody came?' was one of his generation's favored aphorisms. ) quality, they seem like timeless 超越时代的 moral lessons. They therefore shape our view of the world, and can lull us into accepting things ( lull (one) into (something) To cause one to fail to be aware of the risks, dangers, or true reality of a situation. Installing cameras at home lulled me into a false sense of security—our house still ended up getting robbed. A: "I can't believe you were able to unseat the valedictorian!" B: "I think three years of accolades lulled her into complacency." Deceive into trustfulness. The steadily rising market lulled investors into a false sense of security. Today it still often appears with the phrase a false sense of security. lull (one) into a false sense of security 虚假的安全感 To cause one to feel safe and secure in a situation that poses risks or dangers. to lead someone into believing that all is well before attacking or doing someone bad. We lulled the enemy into a false sense of security by pretending to retreat. Then we launched an attack. The boss lulled us into a false sense of security by saying that our jobs were safe and then let half the staff go. Installing cameras at home lulled me into a false sense of security—our house still ended up getting robbed. A: "I can't believe you were able to unseat the valedictorian!" B: "I think three years of accolades lulled her into a false sense of security." ) that are actually false and foolish. Platitudes often take the form of tautologies ( tautology [tɔˈtɑlədʒi] a statement, sentence, etc. in which the meaning is repeated in an unnecessary way by using different words. Tautology is the use of different words to say the same thing twice in the same statement. 'The money should be adequate enough' is an example of tautology. ), e.g., "it is what it is", making them appear vacuously 无脑的, 低能的 ( [disapproval] If you describe a person or their comments as vacuous, you are critical of them because they lack intelligent thought or ideas. Models are not always as vacuous as they are made out to be. ...the usual vacuous comments by some faceless commentator. ) true. But the phrase is used to mean "there is no way of changing it", which is no longer a tautology: "Structuring the sentiment as a tautology allows it to appear inescapable." At the same time, some phrases that have become platitudes may provide useful moral guidance, such as "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" ( "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you 己所不欲勿施于人," is also known as the "Golden Rule”. The actual quote from the Bible is from Luke 6:31, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” Simply put, this phrase means to treat others the way we want them to treat us. ). Others, though widely trivialized ( [disapproval] If you say that someone trivializes something important, you disapprove of them because they make it seem less important, serious, and complex than it is. People continue to trivialize the world's environmental problems. ), may be thought-provoking, such as "Be the change you wish to see in the world". ) or was that a subtle bid for attention? Sheldon: You know why this hamburger surpasses the Big Boy? This is a single decker hamburger whereas the Big Boy is a double decker. This has a much more satisfying meat to bun to condiment ratio. TBBT: Sheldon: Professor Hawking. Hawking: I understand you're struggling with professional jealousy. Sheldon: Thanks, Leonard, now he's not gonna think I'm cool. Hawking: Don't worry, I know how you feel. I have never won a Nobel Prize. Penny: Oh, wow, that doesn't seem fair. Hawking: It's fine. I've been on The Simpsons. Sheldon: How do you deal with the success of your colleagues? Hawking: I remind myself every scientific advancement is a victory. Also, I was on Star Trek. Leonard: Oh, it was a good one. He played poker with Sir Isaac, you don't care. Hawking: Don't waste your time on jealousy Sheldon, you're too brilliant. Amy: How can you feel bad if Stephen Hawking says you're brilliant? Sheldon: I can't. Thank you, Professor Hawking. You are a gift to mankind. There should be statues of you everywhere. You know, the Lincoln Memorial has a big chair. We could swap you right in. Hawking: I always thought a motorized toy of me would be cool. Sheldon: What a wonderful idea, how does this man not have a Nobel? Leonard: Do not tell Wolowitz. Amy: Way ahead of you.
