用法学习: 1. bumper I. A bumper crop 丰年, 丰收年 or harvest is one that is larger than usual. larger in amount than usual: Farmers have reported a bumper crop this year. ...a bumper crop of rice. In the state of Iowa, it's been a bumper year for corn. producing much more than usual: a bumper crop/harvest. A bumper crop of maize is expected. II. If you say that something is bumper size, you mean that it is very large. bumper sales/profits Profits are predicted to rise 15% due to bumper sales. ...bumper profits. ...a bumper pack of matches. It looks like 2024 is going to be a bumper year for international travel at Sydney Airport, with extra capacity coming online not just from Singapore but also from other key markets, including China and Indonesia. -centric 以...为中心的 having a particular type of person, place, or thing as your most important interest; seen from the point of view of a particular type of person, place, or thing: The stores' customer-centric approach has yielded dividends. The picture of British attitudes is clearly more complex than a London-centric view would lead us to conclude. We need computers to be able to assist people in a humancentric way. adj. I. central, or having a centre: There are two opposing centric forces that may well be irreconcilable. Transfers of income and property within the family may be centric or non-centric. II. relating to a nerve centre (= a group of nerves with a particular function). III. used by dentists to describe the way a person's upper and lower teeth come together in their mouth: Your chewing muscles can play a major role in allowing your joints to move symmetrically into the centric relation position. Centric occlusion is a functional relationship of the teeth. effusive [ɪˈfjuːsɪv] 热情洋溢的 adj If you describe someone as effusive, you mean that they express pleasure, gratitude, or approval in a very enthusiastic way. showing or expressing gratitude, pleasure, or approval in an unrestrained or heartfelt manner. "an effusive welcome". He was effusive in his praise for the general. She was very gushing and very effusive. She greeted them effusively. Biden offered effusive praise 盛赞 for the UAW president, telling Fain, "You've done a hell of a job," and calling him "a leader with a backbone like a ramrod." ramrod [ræmrɒd] noun. A ramrod is a long, thin rod which can be used for pushing something into a narrow tube. Ramrods were used, for example, for forcing an explosive substance down the barrel of an old-fashioned gun, or for cleaning the barrel of a gun. adj. If someone has a ramrod back or way of standing, they have a very straight back and hold themselves in a rather stiff and formal way. I don't have the ramrod posture 英挺 挺拔 亭亭玉立, 笔挺的身姿, 笔直的身姿 I had when I was in the Navy. At 75, she's still ramrod straight. like a ramrod/straight as a ramrod If someone sits or stands like a ramrod or straight as a ramrod, they have a very straight back and appear rather stiff and formal. ...a woman with iron grey hair, high cheekbones and a figure like a ramrod. ...his dashing military moustache and straight-as-a-ramrod back. 2. spur Manipur tragedy in India: But while the video sparked outrage and spurred action 督促采取行动, the spotlight made the women retreat further. Before they were attacked, Glory was a student and Mercy filled her days taking care of her two young children, helping them with homework and going to church. But after the attack both women had to flee to a different town where they are now living in hiding. Counselling has helped them but the anger and hate have seeped in deep( seep I. to flow or pass slowly through fine pores or small openings. = ooze. water seeped in through a crack. II. to enter or penetrate slowly. fear of nuclear war had seeped into the national consciousness. III. to become diffused or spread. a sadness seeped through his being.). Six months ago, Glory was studying in a mixed class of Meitei and Kuki students in college where she had lots of friends, but now she says she never wants to see another Meitei person again. Mercy clenches her hands 攥紧拳头 and she thumps the table as she agrees. SKIMS + Swarovski collaboration: In fact, the crystal company has long had a foot in the fashion world, having collaborated with a range of storied designers. In the 1950s, Coco Chanel was known for her penchant for garish, exaggerated costume jewelry which added intrigue and contrast to her muted color palettes and boxy tailored silhouettes, and Daniel Swarovski, the brand's founder, often worked closely with Maison Gripoix and Robert Goossens — Chanel's jewelry designers — to create costume pieces for the fashion house's shows and presentations. Swarovski similarly developed intimate working relationships with labels including Lanvin, Dior, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent throughout the 1950s and '60s, embellishing ( embellish [ɪmˈbɛlɪʃ] (embroidered) I. If something is embellished with 装饰, 装点 decorative features or patterns, it has those features or patterns on it and they make it look more attractive. The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. Ivy leaves embellish the front of the dresser. Embellish basic covers and curtains with borders, ties and fringing. II. If you embellish a story 添油加醋, you make it more interesting by adding details which may be untrue. I launched into the parable, embellishing the story with invented dialogue and extra details. Irving popularized the story in a dramatic and embellished account. embroider [ɪm'brɔɪdər] I. If something such as clothing or cloth is embroidered with a design, the design is stitched into it. The collar was embroidered 镶着, 镶嵌 with very small red strawberries. Matilda was embroidering an altar cloth covered with flowers and birds. I have a pillow with my name embroidered on it. ...hand embroidered tablecloths. II. If you embroider a story or account of something, or if you embroider on it, you try to make it more interesting by adding details which may be untrue. He told some lies and sometimes just embroidered the truth. She embroidered on this theme for about ten minutes. parable [pærəbəl] 寓言故事 A parable is a short story, which is told in order to make a moral or religious point, like those in the Bible. ...the parable of the Good Samaritan. The story is a pleasing parable of the problems created by an excess of wealth. ) delicate brocade ( brocade [brəˈkeɪd] 锦缎 Brocade is a thick, expensive material, often made of silk, with a raised pattern on it. heavy cloth with a raised design often of gold or silver threads: curtains of rich brocade. ...a cream brocade waistcoat. ) gowns for Christian Dior, for example, and regal empire-waist dresses for Cristóbal Balenciaga. In 1957, Swarovski created a vivid gem inspired by the shimmering iridescence ( iridescent [ɪrɪdesənt] 色彩缤纷的, 绚烂的, 灿烂的 adj. Something that is iridescent has many bright colours that seem to keep changing. showing many bright colours that change with movement: Her latest fashion collection features shimmering iridescent materials. ...iridescent bubbles.) of the northern lights — these stones became the centerpiece to an iconic black Dior cocktail dress that is still in its archives today. These relationships with fashion brands have endured for decades, engineering noteworthy runway moments — such as Viktor & Rolf's 1999 Fall-Winter show, which went down in fashion history for its "Russian Doll" presentation. And while the latest Swarovski collaboration is not quite couture ( couture [kʊˈtjʊə] Couture is the designing and making of expensive fashionable clothes, or the clothes themselves. the designing, making, and selling of expensive fashionable clothing, or the clothes themselves: a couture show/collection/house. ...Christian Lacroix's first Paris couture collection.), it is certainly more accessible. And at least now anyone wearing a new Skims bras can co-opt 套用, 化用, 化为己用 Rihanna's unforgettable comeback when questioned on the modesty of her dress: "They're covered! In Swarovski crystals, girl!" 3. Karst (karst landscape, Karst formation 岩溶地貌, 喀斯特地形) is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant rocks, such as quartzite, given the right conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes. In regions where the dissolved bedrock is covered (perhaps by debris) or confined by one or more superimposed non-soluble rock strata, distinctive karst features may occur only at subsurface levels and can be totally missing above ground. foothill a low hill at the base of a mountain or mountain range. a lower slope of a mountain or a relatively low hill at the foot of a mountain. a low mountain or low hill at the bottom of a larger mountain or range of mountains: the foothills of the Pyrenees. "the camp lies in the foothills of the Andes". access road An access road is a road which enables traffic to reach a particular place or area. An access road is a road which enables traffic to reach a particular place or area. ...the access road to the airport. ...the access road to the airport. 4. heavyset 壮硕的, 大块头的 Someone who is heavyset has a large solid body. Someone who is heavyset has a large, wide, strong body. A heavyset man picked her up after work. of every stripe/of all stripes 各种各样的, 各色人等 of all types. of all different types Politicians of all stripes complained about the plan. Governments of every stripe (= of all political opinions) have a bad habit of interfering in state broadcasting. But Pat McFadden of the opposition Labour Party used the new hire [of UK's ex PM as Foreign Minister] to take a dig at Sunak, who has recently attempted to pitch himself against successive governments of all stripes. of every description 各式各样的 of all types: Boats of every description were entering the harbour. Toys of every description lined the shelves. You can find electrical appliances, furniture, clothes - goods of every description - at the department store. Vehicles of every description make their way north, out of the city. Vegetables of every description are piled up on the tables. of choice Your thing or person of choice is the one that you usually choose in a particular situation: Botox is now the drug of choice in Hollywood. of little/no consequence 无关大局, 无足轻重, 无关紧要 (not of any/much consequence) not important: The money was of little consequence to Tony. In the grand scheme of things, these problems are of little consequence. She made it clear that our opinions were of little consequence to her. For healthy people, a little too much salt or sugar is of no consequence. At the time, the information had seemed of no consequence, but now she wished she had listened more carefully. He wanted to audition for the play, but since they had already cast all the parts, his performance wasn't of much consequence. of marginal interest of interest to only a few people: articles about subjects of marginal interest. The documentary was probably of marginal interest to anyone who doesn't work in the media. Exactly how food is produced is a matter of marginal interest to most consumers. Stories of marginal interest may be included in the day's news simply in order to fill the schedule. Diversity seems to be a topic of marginal interest to the party leader. arrest verb. I. 抑制. 阻止. 遏制. If something or someone arrests a process, they stop it continuing. to stop or interrupt the development of something: The treatment has so far done little to arrest the spread of the cancer. A quarantine was put in place to arrest the spread of the disease. The law could arrest the development of good research if applied prematurely. The move comes as Sunak carries out a major reshuffle of his government ranks, in a bid to arrest his Conservative Party's huge deficit in opinion polling. II. If something interesting or surprising arrests your attention, you suddenly notice it and then continue to look at it or consider it carefully. to attract or catch someone's attention: A photo of a small boy arrested my attention. The work of an architect of genius always arrests the attention no matter how little remains. As he reached the hall after her, he saw what had arrested her. The most arresting feature is the painted wall decoration. noun. I. = arrestation [ˌærɛsˈteɪʃən] the slowing or stopping of the development or progress of something. II. the stopping or sudden cessation of motion of something. a cardiac arrest. 5. 坐月子: New mothers in Australia are expected to be back on their feet quickly after giving birth. But in many ancient cultures, the first weeks are a precious time to recover and bond with the baby. Centuries-old tradition in India dictates new mothers spend a period after the birth being cocooned at home. That confinement 坐月子 can last for up to 40 days, depending on where the woman is from. The woman doesn't leave the house, and there are not many visitors either. It's a time to nurture and be nurtured. Darshini says she makes sure her daughter-in-law gets the traditional diet for postpartum care 产后护理. Once a mum goes home, midwives usually visit them at home in the early days and link them up for follow-up appointments in a maternal health clinic. The level of care in the community can vary from "substandard to excellent", says Hannah Dahlen, a professor of midwifery at the University of Western Sydney. Midwifery group practice — where women have the same midwife throughout their pregnancy and into the early weeks at home — is the "gold standard" of care. "One of the biggest problems is postnatal care is considered the poor cousin( It is used to designate something as an inferior version of something else. For example, "Windows MovieMaker is the poor cousin of professional video editing software". poor man's I. used to refer to someone (such as a performer) who is like another person in some ways but not as talented or successful a young actor who is said to be the poor man's James Dean. II. —used to refer to something that is like something else but not as expensive. Pewter is the poor man's silver. ). "Postnatal care has got to be seen as equally important as all the other parts of the pregnancy journey." In 2019, the Gidget Foundation Australia examined the cost of mental illness in the perinatal ( peri- I. around or surrounding. peri- + meter → perimeter. II. near. peri- + helion → perihelion. III. during. peri- + apocalyptic → peri-apocalyptic. peri- + natal → perinatal. ) — conception to postnatal — period. The organisation, which promotes the wellbeing of new parents, found one in five mothers suffered perinatal depression and anxiety. The risk is even higher for those not born in Australia, especially if they don't have an extended support network. 6. be driven to do sth 驱使着, 驱动着, 激励着: someone is motivated by a strong need or emotion to do something. To motivate, compel, or impel one to do something. Someone who is driven is so determined to achieve something or be successful that all of their behaviour is directed towards this aim: Like most of the lawyers that I know, Rachel is driven. The desire to set a good example for my kids drove me to finally complete my college degree. The stress of this job is going to drive me to drink. Getting that D on my midterm exam drove me to study much harder for the rest of the semester. "The child was driven to succeed in school after his parents divorced.". Ms Truscott was driven to find out the circumstances behind Mr Buckley's disappearance when her father, Donald Buckley Jr, made it his dying wish 遗愿 before he passed in 2016. peccary [ˈpekəri] I. any of several largely nocturnal gregarious American mammals resembling the related pigs. an animal that looks similar to a pig, found in the southwestern US and in Central and South America: Nicaragua's fauna includes mammals such as pumas, jaguars, various monkeys, deer, and peccaries. The big game that made up most of the protein in the diet of the Embera people - the tapir, the collared peccary, the white-lipped peccary - is gone. II. a grizzled animal (Tayassu tajacu) with an indistinct white collar. A peccary (also javelina 野猪的一种 or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like ungulate of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North America. They usually measure between 90 and 130 cm (2 ft 11 in and 4 ft 3 in) in length, and a full-grown adult usually weighs about 20 to 40 kg (44 to 88 lb). They represent the closest relatives of the family Suidae, which contains pigs and relatives. Together Tayassuidae and Suidae are grouped in the suborder Suina within the order Artiodactyla (even toed ungulates). Peccaries are social creatures that live in herds. They are omnivores and eat roots, grubs, and a variety of other foods. They can identify each other by their strong odors. A group of peccaries that travel and live together is called a squadron. A squadron of peccaries averages between six and nine members.
grovel [ˈɡrɑv(ə)l] ( = implore ) I. 卑躬屈膝, 谦卑的, 低三下四的, 做小伏低的. 跪求, 拉下脸来求, 上门求, 负荆请罪, 舔屁股. 跪拜. 哀告. 跪求. 哭求. 哀求. 恳求. 跪舔. to show too much respect for someone or be too willing to obey someone, because you want to please them or you are afraid of them. behaving with too much respect towards someone, in order to show that you want to please them or want them to forgive you. a. [disapproval] If you say that someone grovels, you think they are behaving too respectfully towards another person, for example because they are frightened or because they want something. I don't grovel to anybody. Speakers have been shouted down, classes disrupted, teachers made to grovel. ...a letter of grovelling apology. grovelling apology. Their spokesperson went on TV to make a grovelling apology. They are grovelling sycophants. Optus issues grovelling apology text messages to millions affected by outage. b. If you grovel, you crawl on the ground, for example in order to find something. We grovelled around the club on our knees. vocabulary: To grovel is to beg like a hungry dog. You don't have to be a canine though; you might grovel for a better grade (please don't). If you grovel you risk getting the opposite of what you want, because people (like teachers) don't like people down at their feet begging for something. But if you cheat on your date, you may have to grovel to get him or her back. Grovel also means to crawl around on your belly — you could grovel on gravel, but that might really hurt. The word comes from the Vikings; in Old Norse the word grufe means "prone" (lying flat) which is probably how Vikings liked to see the people they were conquering. You grovel when you want something but also when you're afraid. grovelling 低三下四的求, 哀求 noun. a way of behaving with too much respect towards someone in order to show that you want to please them or want them to forgive you: They would have to do some grovelling. He was sure that grovelling wouldn't help. sycophant [ˈsɪkəfant] 马屁精, 阿谀奉承的人 [formal, disapproval] A sycophant is a person who behaves in a sycophantic way. someone who praises powerful or rich people in a way that is not sincere, usually in order to get some advantage from them: The prime minister is surrounded by sycophants. ...a dictator surrounded by sycophants, frightened to tell him what he may not like. sycophantic [ˌsɪkəˈfantɪk] 谄媚的, 献媚的, 卑躬屈膝的, 低声下气的 [disapproval] If you describe someone as sycophantic, you disapprove of them because they flatter people who are more important and powerful than they are in order to gain an advantage for themselves. (of a person or of behaviour) praising people in authority in a way that is not sincere, usually in order to get some advantage from them. (of a person or of behaviour) praising people in authority in a way that is not sincere, usually in order to get some advantage from them: There was sycophantic laughter from the audience at every one of his terrible jokes. There was sycophantic laughter from the audience at every one of his terrible jokes. ...his clique of sycophantic friends. We heard the sound of sycophantic laughter. obsequious [əbˈsiːkwɪəs] 奴颜婢膝的 [disapproval] If you describe someone as obsequious, you are criticizing them because they are too eager to help or agree with someone more important than them. Perhaps your mother was very obsequious to doctors. He smiled and bowed obsequiously to Winger. His tone quickly changed from obsequiousness to outright anger. She is embarrassingly obsequious to anyone in authority. vocabulary: If you disapprove of the overly submissive way someone is acting — like the teacher's pet or a celebrity's assistant — call them by the formal adjective obsequious. There are many words in the English language for a person or an action that is overly obedient and submissive. Obsequious people are usually not being genuine; they resort to flattery and other fawning ways to stay in the good graces of authority figures. An obsequious person can be called a bootlicker, a brownnoser or a toady. You can also say that someone gives an obsequious bow, a gesture that means, "your wish is my command." ingratiating [ɪngreɪʃieɪtɪŋ] 讨好的 [disapproval] If you describe someone or their behaviour as ingratiating, you mean that they try to make people like them. Ingratiating behaviour is intended to make people like you: an ingratiating smile/manner. He said this with an ingratiating smile. His fellow students had found him too ingratiating. ingratiate [ɪngreɪʃieɪt] verb. [disapproval] If someone tries to ingratiate themselves with you, they do things to try and make you like them. to make someone like you by praising or trying to please them: ingratiate yourself with someone He's always trying to ingratiate himself with his boss. Many politicians are trying to ingratiate themselves with her. crawler UK informal disapproving a person who tries hard to please others in order to get an advantage. crawler 爬虫 (also web crawler) a computer program that automatically searches for information on the internet, usually in order to index (= list) internet content. toady [ˈtoʊdi] noun. If you refer to someone as a toady, you disapprove of them because they flatter or are pleasant towards an important or powerful person in the hope of getting some advantage from them. [disapproval] verb. 趋炎附势, 阿谀奉承. [disapproval] If you say that someone is toadying to an important or powerful person, you disapprove of them because they are flattering or being pleasant towards that person in the hope of getting some advantage from them. They came backstage afterward, cooing and toadying 溜须拍马, 拍马屁 to him. to pretend to like a rich or important person in order to get some advantage from them. toadying noun. the act of fawning on and flattering someone. The Central Committee demands that the people elected to high posts be modest, decent, honest, and intolerant of flattery and toadying. adj. fawning and flattering. The journalist's toadying oeuvre includes biographies of Richard Burton and John Major.
Matthew Perry wanted to escape being Chandler Bing: When a beloved TV star dies, the world mourns twice. In the case of Matthew Perry, whose death last weekend at 54 is still under investigation, the boundary between the grief for him and for Chandler Bing, the wittiest, most neurotic ( neurotic 神经质的. 神经兮兮的. [disapproval] If you say that someone is neurotic, you mean that they are always frightened or worried about things that you consider unimportant. behaving strangely or in an anxious (= worried and nervous) way, often because you have a mental illness: neurotic behaviour/tendencies. She's neurotic about her weight - she weighs herself three times a day. He was almost neurotic about being followed. There are also unpleasant brain effects such as anxiety and neurotic behaviour. A neurotic is someone who is neurotic.These patients are not neurotics. ) member of the "Friends" gang, is barely perceptible 看不到的, 看不出来的, 可以忽略的. Mourners have gathered outside Perry's home in Los Angeles and the iconic "Friends" apartment block in New York. Commentators have paid tribute to Perry and to Chandler in equal measure. In many minds, their voice and its unmistakable cadence ( cadence [keɪdəns] I. The cadence of someone's voice 韵律, 抑扬顿挫, 起起伏伏, 高低起伏 is the way their voice gets higher and lower as they speak. the regular rise and fall of the voice: Cadence is usually the hardest aspect of a foreign language to adopt. It can be difficult to find the words and cadences to deliver your argument effectively. He recognized the Polish cadences in her voice. He is not attempting necessarily to reproduce the cadence of speech. II. A cadence is the phrase that ends a section of music or a complete piece of music. inflection point 转折点, 拐点 I. MATHEMATICS a point of a curve at which a change in the direction of curvature occurs. In differential calculus and differential geometry, an inflection point, point of inflection, flex, or inflection (rarely inflexion)
is a point on a smooth plane curve at which the curvature changes sign.
In particular, in the case of the graph of a function, it is a point
where the function changes from being concave (concave downward) to
convex (concave upward), or vice versa. II. US (in business) a time of
significant change in a situation; a turning point. "the economy has crossed an inflection point and is poised for bigger things". inflection [ɪnˈflɛkʃn] = inflexion in UK GRAMMAR
I. a change in the form of a word (typically the ending) to express a
grammatical function or attribute such as tense, mood, person, number,
case, and gender. In grammar, an inflection is a change in the form of a
word that shows its grammatical function, for example a change that
makes a noun plural or makes a verb into the past tense. "a set of word forms differing only in respect of inflections 时态语态形态变化".
II. the modulation of intonation or pitch in the voice. An inflection
in someone's voice is a change in its tone or pitch as they are
speaking. The man's voice was devoid of inflection 平铺直叙, 没有情感. 'Seb?' he said, with a rising inflection 升调, 降调. "she spoke slowly and without inflection 升降调, 高低音". ) ("could I be…") belonged to the same person. As Perry made clear in his 2022 autobiography, it did not. With admirable frankness, Perry described his decades-long addiction to alcohol and drugs, its gruesome medical consequences ("Let me repeat for those in the back: my colon exploded!"), the indignity of summoning drug dealers to his home only to be thwarted by his assistant and the loneliness that drove him to seek out girlfriend after girlfriend, only to dump them for fear they'd leave him first. Chandler, Perry insisted, was a front. "If I drop my game, my Chandler, and show you who I really am, you might notice me, but worse, you might notice me and leave me. And I can't have that. I won't survive that," he wrote. By his own account, the man behind the funniest "Friend" could be vain, self-obsessed and superficial( vain I. 徒劳无功的. A vain attempt or action is one that fails to achieve what was intended. unsuccessful; of no value: The doctors gave him more powerful drugs in the vain hope that he might recover. formal It was vain to pretend to himself that he was not disappointed. The drafting committee worked through the night in a vain attempt to finish on schedule. I was singing in a vain effort to cheer him up. He hunted vainly through his pockets for a piece of paper. II. If you describe a hope that something will happen as a vain hope, you mean that there is no chance of it happening. He glanced around in the vain hope that there were no witnesses. He then set out for Virginia for what he vainly hoped would be a peaceful retirement. III. [disapproval] If you describe someone as vain, you are critical of their extreme pride in their own beauty, intelligence, or other good qualities. too interested in your own appearance or achievements: He was very vain about his hair and his clothes. I think he is shallow, vain 自恋的, 虚荣的 and untrustworthy. ). His memoir noted that his parents were "mesmerizingly attractive," that his Batman-style penthouse apartment in New York cost $20 million, that he'd spent $7 million on 15 visits to rehab facilities and that he'd professionally eclipsed his father, an actor who left him and his mother in Canada to pursue his Hollywood dream. Perry's accomplishments dwarfed Chandler's, and so did his demons. By detailing both with equal candor, he proved that the former could not erase the latter. Three weeks before his audition for "Friends," Perry said he fell to his knees and prayed "God, you can do whatever you want to me. Just please make me famous." Before long, he realized he'd struck a hollow bargain. Two years later, he reunited with an old actor pal who was wracked with regret over turning down the role of Chandler. Still just 26 years old, Perry reassured his friend that fame "doesn't do what we all thought it would." If anything, the dizzying success of “Friends” only drew Perry's struggles with addiction in sharper relief( bring/throw something into relief 鲜明对比 (also stand out in relief) to make something very noticeable, or to be very noticeable. sharp/stark relief. The tree stood out in stark relief against the snow. The article throws into sharp relief the differences between the two theories.). As he saw it, while his castmates enjoyed their rise to stardom unencumbered 肆意的, 毫无顾忌的, his was tainted by the disease. His bitterness was palpable. "It's not fair that I had to go through this disease, and the other five didn't," he told an interviewer last year. To rub salt in the wound 雪上加霜的, while Chandler evolved on television, getting married and starting a family with Monica, Perry in real life did not. His addiction became a toxic loop made conspicuous by how his weight fluctuated 起起伏伏 on camera. "When I'm carrying weight, it's alcohol; when I'm skinny, it's pills. When I have a goatee, it's lots of pills," he wrote. By "lots" of pills, he meant "Fifty-five Vicodin a day." Between seasons three and four, Perry stopped eating, because food “got in the way of the high.” During that period, he filmed the movie “Almost Heroes.” During the shoot 拍摄期间, he said he kept two towels next to the toilet, “one to wipe away the vomit and one to wipe away the tears.” For all his awareness that blockbuster roles wouldn‘t cure him, Perry was obviously disappointed that he never had an impressive big-screen career. His explanation was that the performance that made him famous was so exceptional he'd been "penalized for it." Being typecast as Chandler was his professional millstone, but he couldn't resist noting that his car's ignition worked via telling the vehicle to start out loud, "because, you know, I was on 'Friends.'" He couldn't be rid of Chandler, but he couldn't quit him either. The same pattern 同样的情形 dogged Perry's relationship with drugs and alcohol. Either he couldn't have what he wanted, or he did, and it proved a crushing disappointment. Eventually, he learned to focus less on what he desired, and more on what he — and millions of others — needed. Less than a year before he died, Perry said that the thing he should be remembered for above all else was that if someone asked for his help to stop drinking, he’d give it to them. No one could have guessed how soon his legacy would be weighed. In season one episode 13 of “Friends,” Phoebe’s psychiatrist boyfriend Roger tells Chandler: “You’re so funny. I wouldn’t want to be there when the laughter stopped.” For years, Perry devoted every effort to ensuring it never did. Flawed, vulnerable Chandler masked an exponentially more flawed, vulnerable Perry. Though Perry wanted to escape Chandler, he kept him around, because heaven forbid anyone saw what he was hiding. In writing his memoir — in all its gnarly, egotistical detail — Perry finally stepped out of Chandler’s shadow and dragged the most unflattering parts of himself into the light. He understood that addiction thrives in secrecy which in turn is built on shame, and that no amount of fame or wealth is a match for either. Being friends with Matthew Perry might often have been heartbreaking. But it’s his story, not Chandler’s, that will resonate for years to come.
