用法学习: 1. madcap [mædkæp] [informal] A madcap plan or scheme 愚蠢的计划 is very foolish and not likely to succeed. The politicians simply flitted from one madcap scheme to another. His fast-paced novels are full of bizarre situations and madcap antics. flit I. If you flit around or flit between one place and another, you go to lots of places without staying for very long in any of them. to move quickly from one place to another without stopping long She has flitted from one country to another seeking asylum. Birds flitted across the grass. Laura flits about New York hailing taxis at every opportunity. He spends his time flitting between Florence, Rome and Bologna. II. If someone flits from one thing or situation to another 跳来跳去, they move or turn their attention from one to the other very quickly. She flits from one dance partner to another. He's prone to flit between subjects with amazing ease. III. If something such as a bird or a bat flits about, it flies quickly from one place to another. ...the parrot that flits from tree to tree. IV. If an expression flits across your face 一闪即逝, 一闪而过 or an idea flits through your mind, it is there for a short time and then goes again. He was unable to prevent a look of interest from flitting across his features. Images and memories of the evening flitted through her mind. The ghost of a smile flitted across her features. ghost 阴魂不散: The ghost of something, especially of something bad that has happened, is the memory of it. The Rams have finally laid the ghost of seasons past to rest. ...the ghost of anti-Americanism. II. If there is a ghost of something, that thing is so faint or weak that it hardly exists. He gave the ghost of a smile. The sun was warm and there was just a ghost of a breeze from the north-west. the ghost of a smile/sound etc 一抹笑意, 一丝浅笑 a smile etc that is so slight you are not sure it happened The ghost of a smile flitted across her sad features 闪过, 掠过一丝笑意. a ghost of a chance 多用于否定句 [informal] If someone does not stand or does not have a ghost of a chance of doing something, they have very little chance of succeeding in it. He doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of selling the house. to give up the ghost If someone gives up the ghost, they stop trying to do something because they no longer believe they can do it successfully. If a machine gives up the ghost, it stops working. Some firms give up the ghost before they find what they are looking for. The battery in my car gave up the ghost. verb. 代写. 写手. If a book or other piece of writing is ghosted, it is written by a writer for another person, for example a politician or sportsman, who then publishes it as his or her own work. I published his autobiography, which was very competently ghosted by a woman journalist from the Daily Mail. I ghosted his weekly rugby column for the Telegraph. 2. glance US: [ɡlæns] UK: [ɡlɑːns] verb. I. to look somewhere quickly and then look away. glance at/over/toward etc.: He glanced over his shoulder nervously. I glanced up to see Guido watching me from the window. Robin glanced around the room. "I have to go," Jen said, glancing at her watch. II. to read something quickly and not very carefully. glance at/through 浏览, 草草的看: I hadn't even glanced at the report. noun. a quick look at someone or something. cast/shoot/throw a glance (at): The other wives cast sidelong glances 斜眼睥睨 at me. without a backward glance: Rob turned and marched off without a backward glance. exchange glances: The girls exchanged nervous glances. 搭配词汇: adj. admiring, amused, backward, brief, curious, cursory, furtive, quick, sharp, sidelong, sideways, warning. glance off something 弹开 to hit something lightly and then move away in a different direction The bullet glanced off the tree and went through the window. look/glance sideways to look towards one side by moving your eyes only, without moving your head much. steal a glance/look 偷瞧, 偷偷看 to look at someone or something secretly and quickly. Bored, he stole a glance at his watch. give/take/have a glance (at) to read something quickly and not very carefully. She had a quick glance at the newspaper as she gulped down her coffee. curious [ˈkjʊriəs] I. someone who is curious wants to find out about something. I didn't mean to pry. I'm just curious. That's all. curious about: Children are curious about animals and how they live. curious to see/hear/know something: People were curious to know why the accident happened. II. used about someone's expression. a curious look/glance: She shot him a quick, curious look. III. 不通常的. 难以理解的. unusual and interesting. If you describe something as curious, you mean that it is unusual or difficult to understand. There is a curious thing about her writings in this period. The pageant promises to be a curious mixture of the ancient and modern. The naval high command's response to these developments is rather curious. Harry was curiously silent through all this. Curiously, the struggle to survive has greatly improved her health. For the Queen — looking happy but frail in her Balmoral tartan skirt — this was the last time she would ever be seen by her subjects. She died two days later. For Truss, this was the moment she became a curious 不通常的, 不寻常的 footnote in history. a set of curious kitchen implements. He felt a curious mixture of happiness and fear. it is curious that 让人好奇的: It is curious that you've never mentioned this before. curiouser and curiouser used for saying that something is very strange and you can't understand it; from a phrase said by Alice, the heroine of the children's story Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The story just gets curiouser and curiouser. 3. ravenous [ˈræv(ə)nəs] ( famished ) 如饥似渴的, 饥饿的 very hungry. If you are ravenous, you are extremely hungry. She realized that she had eaten nothing since leaving home, and she was ravenous. ...a pack of ravenous animals. She began to eat ravenously. She emerged looking ravenously hungry. Is there anything to eat? I'm ravenous! Ever since Taylor Swift announced a new album at the 2022 VMAs in August, fans have been scouring the internet for Easter eggs, ravenous for any detail about the mysteriously-named Midnights. glad-hand verb. I. (especially of a politician) greet or welcome warmly. To be overly friendly with (a stranger) in order to gain an advantage. "they had been taking every free minute to glad-hand loyal supporters". II. To extend a glad hand (to someone); to welcome warmly. glad-handing being very friendly to people you have not met before, as a way of trying to get an advantage: political glad-handing. Sweet Nothing: Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors, And smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other, And the voices that implore, "You should be doing more", To you, I can't admit that I'm just too soft for all of it. huckster [ˈhʌkstər] 街头摊贩, 摆摊的 ( pedlar, barker, vendor ) I. [US, disapproval] someone who sells things dishonestly or illegally. If you refer to someone as a huckster, you are criticizing them for trying to sell useless or worthless things in a dishonest or aggressive way. A huckster offered to sell Carnegie the formula for guaranteed success for $20,000. II. old-fashioned someone who sells things in a busy place such as a street or fair. 4. go spare 发疯, 发狂, 气坏 informal British I. become extremely angry or distraught. to get extremely angry Dad would go spare if he found out. Trevor went spare when he saw me with another man. "he'd go spare if he lost the money". If I hear another person say "marown" instead of maroon I'll go spare. It's not like Australian English has a special pronunciation of the oo dipthong. We don't say "gown" for goon or "sown " for soon. II. be unwanted or not needed and therefore available for use. "it was the only hotel with a room going spare". wintry [ˈwɪntri] I. 冬日的. 冬天的. cold and typs ical of winter. Wintry weather is cold and has features that are typical of winter. Wintry weather continues to sweep across Britain. A wintry wind was blowing. ...a dark wintry day. a cold wintry night. the wintry landscape. II. wintry sunlight is pale, and produces little warmth. III. 冷淡的. 冰冷的. deliberately unfriendly. If you describe someone's attitude or behaviour as wintry, you mean that they seem very unfriendly. He was, according to witnesses, extremely wintry with Her Royal Highness. a wintry smile. Machiavellian [ˌmækiəˈveliən] 玩弄权术, 狡诈 ( Machiavellianism 权术) [disapproval] using clever tricks and dishonest methods to achieve a goal, especially in politics. If you describe someone as Machiavellian, you are critical of them because they often make clever and secret plans to achieve their aims and are not honest with people. ...Machiavellian republicans plotting to destabilise the throne. ...the Machiavellian and devious way decisions were made. A Machiavellian plot was suspected. No one wanted to play with me as a little kid. So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since To make them love me and make it seem effortless This is the first time I've felt the need to confess And I swear I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian. 'Cause I care. 5. thumping [ˈθʌmpɪŋ] I. pounding or throbbing in a heavy, continuous way. "the thumping beat of her heart". II. informal of an impressive size, extent, or amount. "a thumping 64 per cent majority". The prospect of a return by Mr Johnson had thrown the already divided Conservative Party into further turmoil. He led the party to a thumping election victory in 2019, but his premiership was clouded by scandals over money and ethics that eventually became too much for the party to bear. vortex [ˈvɔː,teks] 漩涡, 旋涡 (暗流) (wormhole) I. a mass of air or water that spins around very fast and pulls objects into its empty centre. A vortex is a mass of wind or water that spins round so fast that it pulls objects down into its empty centre. The polar vortex is a system of wintertime winds. ...the spiralling vortex air-flow that slows the plane. II. a dangerous or bad situation in which you become more and more involved and from which you cannot escape, a feeling or situation that has so much power or influence over you that you feel you are not in control. If you refer to a situation as a vortex, you feel that you are being forced into it without being able to prevent it. This decision propelled her into a vortex from which there seemed no escape. His country is being dragged closer to the vortex of violence. caught up in a swirling vortex of emotions. I was sucked into a vortex of despair. The most common way to poach an egg is by creating a vortex in the water. You achieve this by stirring the water with a spoon in a vigorous circle once it is lightly simmering. All you do at this point is drop in the egg and wait for it to cook. wormhole In physics, a wormhole is a tunnel in space that is believed to connect different parts of the universe. ...the story of an astronaut who is sucked through a wormhole into the other side of the universe. 5. TBBT: So, you can imagine their shock when, six days later, they were summoned to the producer's office for what they thought were contract talks but turned out to be the death knell [nel] 丧钟 ( a death knell. an event or situation that is a sign of the end of something. the tolling of a bell to mark someone's death. used to refer to the imminent destruction or failure of something. "the chaos may sound the death knell for the UN peace plan". to sound the death knell If you say that something sounds the death knell for a particular person or thing, you mean it will cause that person or thing to fail, end, or cease to exist. The tax increase sounded the death knell for the business. It's going to be the death knell of the red deer. ) for the show. The story goes that the office was awash with tears that afternoon. But by the following morning when they all got together on set, the air was thick with animosity. Molaro got a text from Kaley Cuoco confirming that she was upset with Parsons and wasn't sure she could work that day. Johnny Galecki had said much the same thing to Lorre. 6. A production logo, vanity card( vanity [ˈvænəti] ( vanitous = vanitous) I. [disapproval] the fact of being too proud of your abilities, or too interested in your appearance. If you refer to someone's vanity, you are critical of them because they take great pride in their appearance or abilities. Men who use steroids are often motivated by sheer vanity 虚荣心. With my usual vanity, I thought he might be falling in love with me. II. formal complete lack of importance or value. vanity table a small table in your bedroom or bathroom where you keep makeup, etc. vanity case a small bag for carrying make-up. vanity press a publishing house where you pay for your book to be published and printed yourself. ), vanity plate, or vanity logo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce and to determine the production company and the distributor of a television show or film. Production logos are usually seen at the beginning of a theatrical movie or video game (an "opening logo"), and/or at the end of a television program or TV movie (a "closing logo"). Many production logos have become famous over the years, such as the 20th Century Studios's monument and searchlights and MGM's Leo the Lion. Unlike logos for other media, production logos can take advantage of motion and synchronized sound, and almost always do. The unique vanity cards for Chuck Lorre Productions have become a "trademark" for Lorre, starting with Dharma & Greg and used for every one of his shows since. An Apple Macintosh computer was used for Lorre's production card on the earlier Grace Under Fire and Cybill. Typically, on the end of every episode of his productions, Lorre includes a different message that usually reads like an editorial, essay, or observation on life. A typical card might include a range of topics as diverse as what the Bee Gees never learned, the cancellation of Dharma & Greg, his support of Barack Obama, the competence of AOL Time Warner management, and the genesis of Two and a Half Men. 7. agnostic or data agnostic: In computing, a device or software program is said to be agnostic or data agnostic if the method or format of data transmission is irrelevant to the device or program's function. This means that the device or program can receive data in multiple formats or from multiple sources, and still process that data effectively. flout [flaʊt] 不遵守, 违反, 不服从, 不遵从. 目无法纪 ( flaunt [flɔnt] If you've got it, flaunt it. ) to deliberately refuse to obey a rule or custom. If you flout something such as a law, an order, or an accepted way of behaving, you deliberately do not obey it or follow it. to intentionally disobey a rule or law, or to intentionally avoid behavior that is usual or expected: They think they can flout the law and get away with it. He conducted business in his pajamas to flout convention. ...illegal campers who persist in flouting the law. Building regulations have been habitually flouted. Skateboarders know they will be prosecuted if they flout the law. to intentionally not obey a rule, law, or custom. Many motorcyclists flout the law by not wearing helmets. The orchestra decided to flout convention/tradition 打破陈规, 破除陈规, 打破传统, and wear their everyday clothes for the concert. fossick [ˈfɑsɪk] to look for something among a lot of other things. a. to search for gold or precious stones in abandoned workings, rivers, etc. b. to rummage or search for (something). Matt and wife Amber Betteridge, are avid fossickers 业余掘金者 who purchased a mining claim and last year quit their jobs to follow their dream of running a sapphire jewellery business. wiki: In Australia, New Zealand and Cornwall, fossicking is prospecting, especially when carried out as a recreational activity. This can be for gold, precious stones, fossils, etc. by sifting through a prospective area. In Australian English and New Zealand English, the term has an extended use meaning to "rummage".
UK Rishi Sunak became PM: plummy [ˈplʌmi] I. [British, disapproval]
上流社会的. resembling a plum. If you say that someone has a plummy voice or
accent, you mean that they sound very upper-class. You usually use
plummy to criticize the way someone speaks. ...precious, plummy-voiced radio announcers. ...a plummy accent. "cosy reds and plummy blues". The two-decade-old clip of a plummy-voiced boy admitting the limits of his social circle raised the ire of the British public, who had experienced more than a decade of Tory government. II. informal British (of a person's voice) having an accent thought typical of the English upper classes. "a plummy voice rich with haughty disdain". brocade [brəˈkeɪd] 雕着花纹的, 雕花的, 刻着花纹的
expensive thick cloth with a pattern woven into it. Brocade is a thick,
expensive material, often made of silk, with a raised pattern on it. ...a cream brocade waistcoat. In
2001, a 21-year-old Rishi Sunak sat on a lush, brocade couch in his
family home and talked to the BBC about his privileged upbringing. ignominy [ˈɪɡnəˌmɪni] 丢脸, 丢人现眼 a situation where you feel embarrassed and lose other people's respect. Ignominy is shame or public disgrace. ...the ignominy of being made redundant. If they were caught, she would be thrown out in disgrace, dismissed with ignominy. The army suffered the ignominy of a quick and decisive defeat. But with Truss ousted and only the ignominy of being Britain's shortest-serving PM to show for it, Sunak found himself the last man standing. ignominious [ˌɪɡnəˈmɪniəs] 丢人的, 耻辱的 adj.
If you describe an experience or action as ignominious, you mean it is
embarrassing because it shows a great lack of success. very
embarrassing, especially because of making you seem very unsuccessful or
unimportant. an ignominious defeat. ...their ignominious defeat. Many thought that he was doomed to ignominious failure. rank outsider
someone who is not expected to win a race or competition. If one of the
people in a competition is described as a rank outsider, they are
considered to have very little chance of winning. The rank outsiders beat the defending champions by one goal to nil. He came from nowhere, this rank outsider, to beat a field of top-class athletes. When
he first fought to represent the Conservatives in Richmond, Yorkshire,
Sunak was described as a rank outsider in the predominantly white, rural
constituency. A cascade of 一连串的 resignations soon followed, and Johnson was left with no choice but to follow them out the door. "When the herd moves, it moves ( Boris Johnson blames herd instinct for pushing him out. )," he said. A month later as he campaigned to replace Johnson, a Tory rank-and-file member would warn Sunak: "He who wields the dagger will never inherit the crown." Sunak insisted that the only person responsible for Johnson's downfall was Johnson himself. "You are simply wrong to say I wielded the dagger because it wasn't just me that felt enough was enough," he said. No matter his motivation, Sunak's decision to resign kicked off a chain of events that would plunge the Conservative party into weeks of mayhem. Sunak's prophecy of doom led to his own rise. In the spectacular fallout from Johnson's demise, Sunak emerged as one of the frontrunners to replace his former friend as prime minister. With inflation at a 40-year high, Sunak's main rival Liz Truss came out swinging, promising to deliver wide-ranging tax cuts "from day one". The former chancellor pitched himself as the fiscally responsible option, laying out a plan to coax Britain's economy back from the brink with incremental steps. He warned that Truss's unfunded plan would serve as nothing more than a "short-term sugar rush", with future generations set to inherit the cavities. "Winning this leadership contest without levelling with people about what lies ahead would not only be dishonest, it would be an act of self-sabotage that condemns our party to defeat at the next general election and consigns us to a long period in opposition," he declared. But less than a month into the job, her bold plan would come crumbling down 轰然倒塌. On September 23, Truss's right-hand man Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled the "biggest package in generations", which included scrapping the highest income tax bracket entirely. The so-called mini-budget included no detail on how the government would recoup almost 45 billion pounds in tax revenue. Sunak watched from the back bench as his dire warning played out in real time. "The 'Trussonomics' experiment appears to have aggravated an already perilous economic situation," FT's Steve Bernard wrote. In any case, Sunak has put his hand up for the challenge. It's one he admits will have far-reaching consequences. The rise of Rishi Sunak has been described as a "dazzling success story". His transformation from Goldman Sachs finance guy to one of the richest MPs in Westminster, to the second-youngest chancellor of the exchequer ( Chancellor of the Exchequer the member of the British government who is responsible for taxes and for deciding how the government spends its money. The Exchequer [ɪksˈtʃɛkə] is the department in the British government which is responsible for receiving, issuing, and accounting for money belonging to the state. ) in British history occurred in just five years. His wife Akshata Murthy, an heiress to her father's multi-billion-dollar IT fortune who made her own money as a fashion designer and venture capitalist, took the "middle class" boy from the BBC documentary to lofty new heights. The couple owns a portfolio of four homes estimated to be worth $26 million, including a Santa Monica penthouse apartment that features ocean views and a "pet spa". When Boris Johnson tapped Sunak in early 2020 to be his finance chief, the relatively unknown young politician turned heads. He was credited with saving the British economy from catastrophe during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, pouring millions into loans and grants packages in a bid to avert a major recession. However, his 'Eat Out To Help Out' program, which gave Brits dinner vouchers so they could go to restaurants and help prop up the ailing hospitality industry, was later blamed for an outbreak of cases. The scandal fed into a narrative that Sunak, who kept a $320 'smart mug' with the ability to track his caffeine intake on his desk, cared only about the rich. He is close friends with former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak; they were contemporaries ( contemporary [kənˈtempəˌreri] noun. 同时代的人, 同级生 someone alive at the same time as a particular event or person. Someone's contemporary is a person who is or was alive at the same time as them. Like most of my contemporaries, I grew up in a vastly different world. ...a glossary of musical terms found in Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Most of his contemporaries regarded him as a mere eccentric. adj. I. Contemporary things are modern and relate to the present time. They wanted traditional music; he felt more contemporary music would aid outreach. Perhaps he should have a more updated look, a more contemporary style. Only the names are ancient; the characters are modern and contemporary. II. Contemporary people or things were alive or happened at the same time as something else you are talking about. ...drawing upon official records and the reports of contemporary witnesses. ) at Winchester College and are godparents to each other's children. Sunak was also best man at Forsyth’s wedding to Stratton in 2011.
the glass cliff 英首相辞职: In the business world, they call it "the glass cliff". The cruel and elusive cousin of the metaphorical "glass ceiling", which traps women from reaching their full potential, the glass cliff allows them to get there - and then promptly hurtles them into the abyss below. The term was coined by British researchers Michelle Ryan and Alexander Haslam, who set out to investigate a 2003 claim by the UK Times that female CEOs "wreaked havoc on companies' performance and share prices". They found that the women weren't really the problem at all. Instead, it became clear that ailing companies are more likely to appoint a woman or person of colour to lead them out of crisis. Subsequent studies have found a similar phenomenon plays out in sporting groups and politics. Whether the organisation is trying to signal that they're embracing change, or simply can't find a member of the old boy's network willing to take the risk, a woman takes the helm. A woman or person of colour, who may sense this is their only chance to lead, takes the gamble. Experts remain divided over whether the two most recent Tory female leaders, Theresa May and Liz Truss, slid off the glass cliff as they tried to lead Britain through post-Brexit pandemonium. "[May's] rise and fall was a classic example of the glass cliff syndrome," said Catherine Mayer, the founder of the UK Women's Equality Party, when Truss won the Tory leadership ballot. "In one way Liz Truss is a classic example of the glass cliff syndrome: her premiership is bound to be disastrous and end in failure. "But she is not a true Conservative in the sense of representing the status quo. She is part of a Tory party in total thrall( have/hold someone in thrall [θrɔl] If you are in thrall to someone or something, or in the thrall of someone or something, he, she, or it has a lot of power to control you. in a state of being controlled or strongly influenced by someone or something He was completely in thrall to her. He was completely in her thrall. Her love for him was like a madness, and she was completely in its thrall. in thrall to completely controlled or influenced by someone or something. He accused the government of being in thrall to big business.) to regressive ( regressive I. relating to behavior that is not responsible or controlled, or is like that of a child. the regressive and unruly aspects of human nature. II. 落伍的, 过时的. 退步的. 落后的. supporting methods and ideas that existed in the past. Regressive behaviour, activities, or processes involve a return to an earlier and less advanced stage of development. This regressive behaviour is more common in boys. a regressive prison regime. ) populism." Some say the Tory party, which has ruled Britain for 12 tumultuous years, has become hell-bent on self-destruction. Whether it was sexism that brought her down, her inexperience and overconfidence, her party's unravelling, or a combination of all three, Liz Truss plunged over the glass cliff with breathtaking speed. Every time Truss thought she had bought herself a few more days in office, another catastrophe would unfold. On a single October day, her Home Secretary quit, her party descended into farce over a fracking vote ( Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, hydrofracking, and hydrofracturing, is a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock. It involves drilling into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals at a rock layer in order to release the gas inside. The wells can be drilled vertically or horizontally in order to release the gas. The term fracking refers to how the rock is fractured apart by the high-pressure mixture. The injection of fluid at high pressure into the rock can cause earth tremors - small movements in the earth's surface. More than 120 tremors were previously recorded during drilling at Cuadrilla's site at New Preston Road in Blackpool. Seismic events of this scale are considered minor and are rarely felt by people - but are a concern to local residents. In the face of opposition, and concerns from the Oil and Gas Authority, fracking was halted in the UK in 2019. Fracking is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" (primarily water, containing sand or other proppants suspended with the aid of thickening agents) into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants (either sand or aluminium oxide) hold the fractures open. ), and she reportedly gave chase through the halls of 追着跑 Westminster when a colleague threatened to quit. Her security detail briefly lost the prime minister as they ran after both women. By the end of the day, no one was quite sure who had quit. At one point this seemed to include the prime minister, who was seen chasing after her chief whip in the aftermath of a chaotic vote which led to furious rows in the division lobbies. One MP said that the prime minister was forced to pursue Wendy Morton so vigorously around the parliamentary estate that she briefly lost her security detail.
Decision to leave: On the bustling streets of Busan, 40-something detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) is Park's take on the hard-boiled detective ( hard-boiled I. (of an egg) boiled until the white and the yolk are solid. II. (of a person) tough and cynical. You use hard-boiled to describe someone who is tough and does not show much emotion. She's hard-boiled, tough and funny. "a hard-boiled Hollywood producer". hard-boiled film/thriller/fiction etc 老练的, 喜怒不行于色的 a film etc that deals with people who do not show their emotions. III. used to describe a style of story, usually about crime and detectives (= people who solve crimes), that includes unpleasant or violent details: This is a series that comes from the tradition of hard-boiled detective novels. used to describe a typical character from this style of story, who is strong and determined and shows little emotion 老辣的, 不动声色的: The film stars Kathleen Turner as the hard-boiled detective of Sarah Paretsky's novel. He's hard-boiled, he smokes and drinks, he's too wrapped up in his work to have satisfying relationships. wiki: Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence of organized crime that flourished during Prohibition (1920–1933) and its aftermath, while dealing with a legal system that has become as corrupt as the organized crime itself. Rendered cynical by this cycle of violence, the detectives of hardboiled fiction are often antiheroes. ): addled with insomnia, trying to kick smoking, and – as his goofy younger partner (Go Kyung-pyo) likes to suggest – probably addicted to murder cases, so it suits him just fine 正合胃口 when a 60-year-old businessman plummets to a suspicious death during a hiking trip in the mountains. The deceased had everything inscribed with his initials, including, it turns out, his much younger Chinese wife, Seo-rae (Tang Wei, the controversial star of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution), a caregiver who seems indifferent to her husband's passing – no surprise, given he'd been knocking her about – and thus becomes the prime suspect in the police case. In this port-side town 海滨城市, 滨海城市, 海港城市 (coastal town, seaside town), with its fish markets and relative quietude ( a very quiet or peaceful state. ), Hae-joon's apparent resolve to make a go of ( be successful in (something). to make something succeed, especially a business or marriage Nikki was determined to make a go of the business. Many businesses are struggling hard to make a go of it. "he's determined to make a go of his marriage". ) domestic peace is up-ended 推翻 by the reappearance of Seo-rae, especially when her latest husband – the gormless ( [British, informal, disapproval] If you say that someone is gormless, you think that they are stupid because they do not understand things very well.), self-regarding 自我的 ( self-centred; egotistical ) Ho-shin (Park Yong-woo) – meets the grisly fate of his predecessor. It's a world in which romance, however alluring, is an irreconcilable fantasy. In wrestling with what compels Seo-rae, Decision to Leave is both an indictment of masculine desire (and its shortcomings) and an empathic treatment of the desire to flee – a recognition that for some, a life in limbo is the only mode of existence; of dealing with the world and its disappointments. That the film can be all of those things – bleak and fatalistic, faintly damning of love's foolish quest – and have its heart-rending romantic ending, too, is a testament to Park's undimmed talent. Decision to Leave is one of his best. Much of this is the result of Tang's cannily withheld 收着的 内敛的, 收敛的 performance, in which she suggests the notion of a woman who becomes an enigma by choice, a character driven to escape those who want to mould her to their desires – that Vertigo feeling again – men whose love can never meet her expectations. The film's first half, largely set against the dramatically heightened violence of the city, is a playground for Park's formal mastery, but it's the back stretch – involving a move to the seemingly more tranquil town of Ipo – that reveals his deceptive skill for burrowing deep into the hidden emotions of his players. Park has said that the film was inspired in part by teenage folk singer Jung Hoon Hee's Mist, an eerie lament of loss that was a huge hit in his homeland when he was a boy. And the song, which recurs 反复出现 here, is the film's melancholy heart, a haunting motif of lost love quietly punctuating the filmmaker's trademark formal virtuosity ( virtuosity [ˌvɜrtʃuˈɑsəti] 高超技巧 a high level of skill, especially in playing music. The virtuosity of someone such as an artist or sports player is their great skill. At that time, his virtuosity on the trumpet had no parallel in jazz. a dazzling display of virtuosity.). For Hae-joon, slowly zoning out of a 16-year-marriage to his beautiful but dull wife (played by former pop star Lee Jung-hyun), Seo-rae becomes the perfect subject for his life of late-night surveillance – and an object of intense fascination, an obsession that Park literalises with some remarkable (if predictably show-offy) sequences that entwine the two characters in a shared cinematic space. But Seo-rae is no mere femme fatale ( femme fatale [ˌfæm fəˈtɑl] 狐狸精, 红颜祸水 a woman who is sexually attractive but cruel and dangerous to men who have a relationship with her. If a woman has a reputation as a femme fatale, she is considered to be very attractive sexually, and likely to cause problems for anyone who is attracted to her. ), the kind that's historically designed to fuel – and then complicate – the hero's journey toward self-reckoning. In the hands of Park – and Tang, who gives a wonderfully enigmatic performance, smouldering with dark disdain – this Chinese immigrant with a layered backstory is the narrative hook that becomes the complex soul of the film.
