用法学习: 1. the proof of the pudding = the proof of the pudding is in the eating = the proof is in the pudding 没有实践就没有发言权, 试过才知道 If you say the proof of the pudding or the proof of the pudding is in the eating, you mean that something new can only be judged to be good or bad after it has been tried or used. said to mean that you can only judge the quality of something after you have tried, used, or experienced it. A fascinator 女性头饰 is a formal headpiece, a style of millinery. Since the 1990s, the term has referred to a type of formal headwear worn as an alternative to the hat; it is usually a large decorative design attached to a band or clip. In contrast to a hat, its function is purely ornamental: it covers very little of the head and offers little or no protection from the weather. An intermediate form, incorporating a more substantial base to resemble a hat, is sometimes called a hatinator. In recent times, especially in countries like Australia and New Zealand, the term 'fascinator' has devolved to often refer to mass-produced cheap hairpieces (and used in a more derogatory sense); pieces handmade by qualified milliners are referred to instead by the generic term 'headpiece 头饰', or by the particular style such as cocktail hat, percher, etc. 2. A merkin 假阴毛 is a pubic wig. Merkins were worn by people after shaving their mons pubis, and are used as decorative items or erotic devices by both men and women. muff I. (historical) 套袖. A piece of fur or cloth, usually with open ends, used for keeping the hands warm. A muff is a piece of fur or thick cloth shaped like a short hollow cylinder. You wear a muff on your hands to keep them warm in cold weather. II. (vulgar slang) The vulva or vagina; pubic hair around it. III. (synecdochically, vulgar slang) A woman or girl. IV. (glassblowing) A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet. The feathers sticking out from both sides of the face under the beak of some birds. V. 耳套. Muffs consist of two thick soft pieces of cloth joined by a band, which you wear over your ears to protect them from the cold or from loud noise. VI. especially in sport, a mistake, a dropped catch, or a badly performed action: His World Series muff lives in infamy. One of the scratch runs was thanks to Rodriguez's muff of an easy bouncer in the sixth. ("Scratch run" can mean a race where all participants start from the same line with no handicap given, a specific type of cycling race with equal-ability riders, or the process of running a script in the Scratch programming language.) verb. I. If you muff something 搞砸, you do it badly or you make a mistake while you are doing it, so that it is not successful. to spoil an opportunity or do something badly: I only had two lines in the whole play and I muffed them. He muffed his opening speech. ...a muffed opportunity. II. in sport, to fail to catch a ball or to perform an action badly: Williams muffed the handover, preventing the US team from even finishing the 4x100 relay. Samuel muffed his tackle, and Johnson scored from six yards. 3. incinerate [ɪnˈsɪnəreɪt] 烧毁. 焚烧掉. I. destroy (something, especially waste material) by burning. "waste packaging is to be incinerated rather than buried in landfills". When authorities incinerate rubbish or waste material, they burn it completely in a special container. The government is trying to stop hospitals incinerating their own waste. ...banning the incineration of lead batteries. ...an incineration plant. II. 烧死. If people are incinerated, for example in a bomb attack or a fire, they are burnt to death. bay for blood 要求暴力相向, 要求惩罚. 血债血偿 disapproving If a group of people are baying for blood, they want someone to be hurt or punished. If you say that people are baying for blood, you mean that they are demanding that someone should be hurt or punished. to demand something in a loud and angry way. The referee's decision left the crowd baying for blood (= threatening violence towards him). And so what will he say to those who have been baying for his blood? By now the crowd was baying for blood. put/leave something on/to one side = leave aside 放一边, 搁一边 to stop talking about a particular subject. You use leaving aside or leaving to one side when mentioning a fact or detail that you want to ignore when making a general statement. Leaving aside the question of privacy, constant surveillance can be remarkably convenient. Can we leave the issue of pay on one side for the moment? Leave to one side for now the direct allegations about specific failures of BBC coverage, and the BBC's own baffling inability or unwillingness to defend itself over the past week. But the row obscures the context that explains what is, at the heart of the matter, a political campaign against the BBC that could act as a textbook example of how to confuse and undermine the kind of journalism that is, at the very least, aiming for impartiality in a sea of spin and distortion. 4. mid-stride The middle of a stride. I stopped in midstride. Pedro, his mother and grandfather had come to visit the Louvre. "We wanted to go to the Louvre, but it was closed," he said. "We didn't know there was a heist." They asked officers why the gates were shut. Seconds later, AP photographer Thibault Camus, documenting the security cordon, caught Pedro mid-stride. 4. verge I. the edge or border of something: They set up camp on the verge of the desert. II. UK (US shoulder 路肩) the strip of land at the edge of a road or path. The verge of a road is a narrow piece of ground by the side of a road, which is usually covered with grass or flowers. grass verge 路肩草 She left her car by the side of the road and walked along the grass verge to the emergency phone. III. the edge, border, or limit of something. on the verge (of) = to the verge of = on the brink of If you are on the verge of something or come to the verge of something, you are very close to experiencing it: on the verge of collapse/success/tears/death/disaster/war. drive someone to the verge (of) Her husband's violent and abusive behaviour drove her to the verge of despair. The economy was on the verge of collapse. She is on the verge of winning her fifth successive tennis tournament. Negotiations between the two countries are on the brink of collapse. I have to say police have gotta make a split-second decision in real time often, as to whether someone's speech breaches free speech and verges into hate speech. febrile [ˈfiː.braɪl] I. extremely active, or too excited, imaginative, or emotional: She sang with febrile intensity. febrile imagination 熊熊燃烧的, 热情过度的 The news plunged the nation into a febrile, agitated state. He has a febrile imagination. In his resignation statement he referenced "the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times". II. medical pecialized caused by a fever: febrile convulsion 高烧导致的, 与高烧有关的 High fevers in babies can cause febrile convulsions with very serious consequences. afebrile [ˌeɪˈfiː.braɪl] 非高烧的, 和高烧无关的 not having a fever. The patient was afebrile, and her vital signs were stable. IV antibiotics are continued until the patient is afebrile for 24 hours. seismic [ˈsaɪzmɪk] I. science relating to earthquakes. connected with or caused by earthquakes seismic waves 地震波. seismic activity. II. 惊天巨变, 态度大变, 一百八十度大转变, 翻天覆地的, 变化巨大的, 惊天动地的, 地震式的 causing a very great change in a situation. having a very great effect; of very great size a seismic shift in the political process. a seismic shift in people's attitudes. 5. take swing at someone/something to try to hit someone or something. to strike or attempt to strike with the fist to take a swing at the man. They were arguing, and then I saw him swing at Brian. Bill didn't hear me coming up behind him, and he took a swing at me when I touched his shoulder. They arrested her for taking a swing at a police officer with a metal pipe. He stood taking swings at the golf ball for nearly five minutes before he finally hit it. dead meat used to suggest someone is in serious trouble. "if anyone finds out, you're dead meat". nubbin I. 未长开的水果. A stub, especially a stub of undeveloped corn or fruit or nipple. an undeveloped fruit or ear of corn. II. (informal) 小凸起. 小突起. 小肿块. 小疙瘩. A small protuberance, bud, bump or knob. As an avid button collector, I have had to develop an efficient way of removing the nubbin of thread from the buttonhole. III. (euphemistic or vulgar slang) Synonym of clitoris. Self-stimulatory behavior (stim 自嗨, 自hi, 自high, 机械重复, 重复做同一个动作 (self-stim = self-stimulate) verb. to make particular movements or sounds repeatedly, because of a condition such as autism (= a brain condition that affects the development of social and communication skills in ways that can be severe or slight, and that can make someone's behaviour and interests different from people without the condition): He often stims when he's excited and happy, not just when he's upset. If an autistic child's neurons are not processing the environment, they can respond by stimming. noun. a set of repeated movements or sounds made by someone who has a condition such as autism (= a brain condition that affects the development of social and communication skills in ways that can be severe or slight, and that can make someone's behaviour and interests different from people without the condition): His stims are usually rocking back and forth. She stopped hiding her stims after she was diagnosed with autism. ) (also called stimming, stims, self-stimulation, stereotypy, and stereotypic movement disorder) is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, words, moving objects, or other behaviors. Stimming is a type of restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB). They can be both conscious and subconscious. Such behaviors are found to some degree in all people, but are especially intense and frequent in those with developmental disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sensory processing disorder, or autism. Stimming has been interpreted as a protective response to sensory overload, in which people calm themselves by blocking less predictable environmental stimuli, to which they have a heightened sensory processing sensitivity. Stimming can be a way to relieve anxiety and other negative or heightened emotions. 6. (up) to the hilt 完完全全地 (hilt 枪把) Something that is done (up) to the hilt is done completely and without any limits: The government is already borrowing up to the hilt. rivulet [rɪvjʊlɪt] 一股溪流 A rivulet is a small stream. He learned that kind of well was fed by hundreds of tiny underground rivulets. Alex groaned, buried to the hilt 全根没入, and unloaded—hot pulses flooding Liam's guts, marking him inside out. He stayed plugged deep, grinding lazily, milking every last drop while Liam trembled and gasped, wrecked and dripping. When Alex finally pulled out, cum followed, sliding down Liam's thighs in filthy rivulets. reverent [ˈrev.ər.ənt] 崇敬的, 敬畏的 showing great respect and admiration. If you describe someone's behaviour as reverent, you mean that they are showing great respect for a person or thing. ...the reverent hush of a rapt audience. Ellen looks almost reverent. He got up and took the book out almost reverently. A reverent silence fell over the crowd. Liam watched him from the doorway, pulse fluttering beneath the thin cotton of his own tee, already half-hard just from the way Alex's gaze dragged over him—slow, deliberate, reverent. irreverent [ɪˈrev.ər.ənt] 没有敬畏之心的 not showing the expected respect for official, important, or holy things: an irreverent comment/approach/attitude. irreverent thoughts. rapt [ræpt] adj. I. 聚精会神的. 目不转睛的. 全神贯注的. 全心全意的. 心无旁顾的. giving complete attention, or showing complete involvement, or (of attention) complete. If someone watches or listens with rapt attention, they are extremely interested or fascinated. I noticed that everyone was watching me with rapt attention. Delegates sat in rapt silence as Mrs Fisher spoke. Phillips had a rapt expression on his face. He had held his audience rapt. ...listening raptly to stories about fascinating people. She sat with a rapt expression reading her book. The children watched with rapt attention. II. Australian English informal (also wrapped) extremely happy or excited. hush 沉寂 You say 'Hush! 安静' to someone when you are asking or telling them to be quiet. Hush, my love, it's all right. verb. If you hush someone or if they hush, they stop speaking or making a noise. She tried to hush her noisy father. I had to box Max's ears to get him to hush. noun. You say there is a hush in a place when everything is quiet and peaceful, or suddenly becomes quiet. a sudden, calm silence: deathly hush 死一般的沉寂, 死寂 There was a deathly hush after she made the announcement. hush falls 安静 A hush fell over the crowd. A hush fell over the room. mainly UK informal Let's have some hush, please 安静一会儿, 安静安静! (= Be quiet, please!) A hush fell over the crowd and I knew something terrible had happened. hush up I. If someone hushes something up, they prevent other people from knowing about it. The star shot him with an air rifle, then offered him money to hush it up. The Ministry desperately tried to hush up the whole affair. II. If people in authority hush someone up 禁言, they try to stop that person revealing information which they want to keep secret. 7. cajole [kə'dʒəul] 循循善诱, 哄骗说服, 连哄带骗, 哄着 I. To persuade by flattery, gentle pleading, or insincere language. to persuade (someone) by flattery or pleasing talk to do what one wants; wheedle; coax. to persuade someone to do something by encouraging them gently or being nice to them. cajole someone into/out of something to coax or persuade someone to do something. They tried to cajole us into helping them move. You can't cajole me into doing that! Try and cajole her out of going there. I cajoled her out of leaving so soon. She tried to cajole him out of his inheritance. Cannold tried a sunnier approach by cajoling the audience and co-opting menfolk男同胞. He really knows how to cajole people into doing what he wants. I managed to cajole her out of leaving too early. The most effective technique is to cajole rather than to threaten. II. To elicit or obtain by flattery, gentle pleading, or insincere language: The athlete cajoled a signing bonus out of the team's owner. cajole someone into something = coax sb into sth. 诱骗, 哄骗 to coax or persuade someone to do something. They tried to cajole us into helping them move. You can't cajole me into doing that! We coaxed the lion into the cage with fresh meat. The teacher coaxed the child into the kindergarten classroom. We coaxed her into singing for us. Janet coaxed the dog into sitting up and begging. cajole someone out of something = coax someone out of sth. I. to coax or persuade someone not to do something. Try and cajole her out of going there. I cajoled her out of leaving so soon. II. to coax or persuade someone to give up something or give away something. She tried to cajole him out of his inheritance. I coaxed the cat out of the canary it was holding in its mouth. She coaxed the puppy out of the carton. Janet coaxed the child out of the closet with a promise of a piece of cake. coax: I. 连哄带骗的. 好不容易的. 劝服. 循循善诱. 诱导. 劝诱. To obtain by persistent persuasion. gently and persistently persuade (someone) to do something. "the trainees were coaxed into doing boring work". A mother was coaxing her reluctant child into the water. a coaxing voice. coaxed the secret out of the child. obtain something from (someone) by gentle and persistent persuasion. "we coaxed our fare money out of my father". II. to work on or tend (something) carefully and patiently so as to make it function as one desires. to manage to get something to do something, or something to happen, by being very patient and taking great care: be coaxed to 小心操作, 细心操作 Stem cells are coaxed to grow into a variety of cells that can be injected into patients. She coaxed the plane in for the landing. he coaxed the engine into starting. When he reached Liam, he didn't speak; he simply cupped 手捧起, 手捧着 Liam's jaw, thumb brushing the corner of his mouth, coaxing it open. III. arrange (something) carefully into a particular shape or position. "her lovely hair had been coaxed into ringlets". coax someone to do something to urge someone to do something. I coaxed her to eat a little bit. The kids coaxed her to let them go swimming. Can I coax you to try some of this pie?coaxing the act of persuading someone gently to do something, by being kind and patient, or by appearing to be: A bit of gentle coaxing is all that's required and he'll come, I'm sure. After some coaxing, she agreed to sing for him. coaxingly in a way that persuades someone gently to do something, by being kind or patient, or by appearing to be: "Won't you let me come with you?" Letty said coaxingly . She patted the seat next to her coaxingly. hoax [həuks] prank call = hoax call n. a deception, esp a practical joke. vb (tr) to deceive or play a joke on (someone). languid [ˈlæŋ.ɡwɪd] 疏懒的, 懒洋洋的 moving or speaking slowly with little energy, often in an attractive way. lacking energy, or causing a lack of energy or enthusiasm. He sat on the porch enjoying the delicious, languid warmth of a summer afternoon. a languid manner/voice. He kissed a languid path from Liam' collarbone to navel, pausing to swirl his tongue around a nipple until Liam's breath fractured into soft, needy sounds. If you describe someone as languid, you mean that they show little energy or interest and are very slow and casual in their movements. To his delight a familiar, tall, languid figure lowered itself down the steps of a club. Time spent at Jumby Bay can be as energetic or as languid as you wish. We sat about languidly after dinner. nuzzle [ˈnʌz.əl] 轻轻摩擦, 轻轻摩挲, 轻触 to touch, rub, or press something or someone gently and/or in a way that shows your love, especially with the head or nose, usually with small repeated movements. to touch, rub, or press someone gently and affectionately, esp. with the head or nose: She loved to nuzzle her dog and scratch him behind the ears. My dog came and nuzzled my foot to try and cheer me up. The kittens like to nuzzle up against/up to their mother. Alex nuzzled the crease where thigh met groin, inhaling the warm musk of him, then pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the base of Liam's cock. ragged I. (of clothes) 衣衫褴褛的. torn and not in good condition: The five survivors eventually reached safety, ragged, half-starved and exhausted. She did not notice the raggedly dressed woman who was crossing the road towards her. The children were wearing dirty, ragged clothes. II. (of a person) untidy, dirty, and wearing old, torn clothes: Two ragged children stood outside the station, begging for money. III. 边缘凸凹不平的. 参差不齐的. (especially of an edge) not smooth or straight: The leaves of this plant have ragged edges. A ragged line of people were waiting at the bus stop. IV. 呼吸不畅的. 呼吸不匀的. (of a sound) not regular or controlled: The patient's breathing was ragged and uneven. His voice was even more ragged than before. The child was breathing raggedly. The conversations and laughter died away raggedly. You can say that something is ragged when it is untidy or uneven. She could hear his ragged breathing, as if he had been running. O'Brien formed the men into a ragged line 不齐的线. Some people tried to sing, but their voices soon died raggedly away. Alex worked Liam slowly, reverently, until Liam was trembling on the edge, thighs quivering 抽搐. Only then did he pull off, kissing his way back up, settling his weight over Liam so their cocks slid together, slick with spit and pre-cum. They rocked in a lazy grind, mouths fused, sharing ragged breaths. Alex reached for the lube on the side table—warmed it between his palms before slicking his fingers, tracing Liam's entrance with feather-light circles until Liam was pushing back, begging in broken whispers. V. not performing well, because of not being organized: The team was rather ragged in the first half of the game. in a way that is not very good, because of not being organized: The band played raggedly. run sb ragged If someone runs you ragged, they make you do so much that you become exhausted. They'd send me here, there and everywhere and I'd run myself ragged and get no place. For the first quarter of the match Australia ran England ragged. 8. One finger became two, curling, scissoring, stroking that spot inside until Liam's back bowed off 弓起背 the couch, a low, continuous moan spilling from his throat. Alex watched every flicker across Liam's face, drinking in the flush high on his cheekbones, the glaze in his eyes. When Liam was open and aching, Alex slicked himself, lined up 对准, and pressed in with exquisite slowness—one endless glide that had them both gasping at the perfect, burning stretch. Liam came first, untouched, spilling between them in pulsing waves, clenching tight 夹紧 around Alex with a broken moan that sounded like Alex's name. The sight undid Alex—he buried himself deep, hips stuttering, and let go with a shuddering groan, filling Liam in long, languid pulses that left them both trembling. After, they stayed locked together, Alex's weight a delicious anchor. He kissed Liam slow and sweet—temple, cheek, the corner of his mouth—then the lips themselves, tasting salt and satisfaction. laconic [ləˈkɒnɪk] 沉默寡言的, 话不多的, 少言寡语的, 说话简短的, 言简意赅的 adj. (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words. using very few words to express what you mean: She had a laconic wit. "his laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic". If you describe someone as laconic, you mean that they use very few words to say something, so that they seem casual or unfriendly. Usually so laconic in the office, Dr. Lahey seemed less guarded, more relaxed. 'At least we weren't kidnapped.'—'I'm glad of that,' was the laconic response. A week or so later he laconically announced that Digby had been transferred to another post. A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal austerity and were famous for their often pithy remarks. A laconic phrase may be used for efficiency (as during military training and operations), for emphasis, for philosophical reasons (especially among thinkers who believe in minimalism, such as Stoics), or to deflate a pompous speaker. The Spartans were especially famous for their dry, understated wit which is now known as "laconic humor". This can be contrasted with the "Attic salt" or "Attic wit" – the refined, poignant, delicate humour of Sparta's chief rival, Athens. tectonic [tekˈtɑnɪk] I. relating to the structure and movement of the surface of the earth. relating to the structure of the surface of the earth and the way it is formed, changed, and moved by forces inside it: the motion of the earth's tectonic plates (= sections of the planet's surface). II. usually before noun tectonic changes 翻天覆地的, 改天换日的, 惊天动地的 are very large and significant. A tectonic change is a very important one that will have major effects: He led the company through a period of tectonic shifts in the movie industry. The process of writing is in the midst of a tectonic change caused by changes in the technology writers use. The tectonic shift in the American church isn't coming – it's here. Something's changing and it feels tectonic. 9. BBC 假新闻风波: heads roll = heads will roll said to mean that the people responsible or in positions of power when something goes wrong are punished, usually by losing their job or position. something that is said to mean that people will be punished for something bad that has happened. Some people will be fired for incompetence. If this project isn't completed on time, heads will roll. The widely-held view is that heads should roll over the losses. Have heads rolled? Yes. The BBC's director general, Tim Davie, and the chief executive of BBC News, Deborah Turness, resigned Sunday, amid an escalating firestorm over the issues of partiality and bias raised in the Prescott memo. Is the BBC impartial? Nominally, yes. The license fee is supposed to free the BBC from commercial constraints faced by other outlets, which drive many to tailor their output to the political persuasion of their audiences. But the posture of impartiality has become hard to sustain. In recent years the BBC has faced allegations of bias from both the left and the right, and a polarized political landscape and a fragmented media ecosystem has made it harder to achieve an increasingly mythical ambition to be the singular, non-partisan voice through the nation's television and radio sets. "The BBC has been institutionally biased for decades," Nigel Farage, the leader of the upstart anti-immigrant party Reform UK, said Monday, calling for "a very much slimmed down 瘦身版的 BBC." gratuitous [ɡrəˈtuɪtəs] adj I. 毫无道理的, 没有理由的, 随便的, 瞎来的, 胡来的, 没有缘由的, 没有道理的, 不必要的, 没来由的. 没头没脑的. 无缘无故的. not called for by the circumstances. not necessary, appropriate, or justified. unwarranted. done or shown without any good reason. If you describe something as gratuitous, you mean that it is unnecessary, and often harmful or upsetting. gratuitous violence. A lot of viewers complained that there was too much gratuitous sex and violence in the film. There's too much crime and gratuitous violence on TV. ...his insistence on offering gratuitous advice. They wanted me to change the title to something less gratuitously offensive. There's too much gratuitous violence in the movie. a gratuitous insult. a gratuitous assumption. a movie criticized for gratuitous violence. They wanted me to change the title to something less gratuitously offensive. There were too many gratuitous personal insults throughout the debate. II. given unearned or without recompense We mistake the gratuitous blessings of Heaven for the fruits of our own industry. III. costing nothing. given or done free of charge. "solicitors provide a form of gratuitous legal advice". It was printed in France at the author's expense, for gratuitous distribution to educators and others. III. not involving a return benefit, compensation, or consideration has gratuitous permission to pass over private land. no word of a lie = without a word of a lie (chiefly Ireland) No falsehood at all; the absolute truth. no lie 没在说谎的, 不说瞎话的, 不说谎的, 不胡说的 It is the truth. (Can be posed as a question as well as a response.) A: "You really said that to him?" B: "No lie—you should have seen his face when I did!" A: "They said I'd be getting a 20% bonus this year!" B: "No lie? Wow, that's fantastic!" Inf. You are not lying, are you? Bill: A plane just landed on the interstate highway outside of town! Tom: No lie? Come on! It didn't really, did it? Bill: It did too! Tom: Let's go see it! Bob: I'm going to take a trip up the Amazon. Sue: No lie? mediocrity [ˌmiːdiˈɒkrɪti] (mediocre [ˌmiːdiˈəʊkə]) I. the quality or state of being mediocre. "the team suddenly came good after years of mediocrity". II. a person of mediocre ability. "a brilliant woman surrounded by mediocrities". 10. pivot [ˈpɪv.ət] noun. I. a fixed point supporting something that turns or balances. pivot point 支点 the central or most important person or thing in a situation. a fixed point supporting something which turns or balances, or a person or thing on which something else depends: Boston was the pivot of his emotional and intellectual life. turn/revolve on a pivot The former guerrilla leader has become the pivot on which the country's emerging political stability turns/revolves (= it depends on him). II. pivot point in basketball, an attacking player who usually stands with their back to the basket to catch the ball and give it to other attacking players: He's the most dominant pivot in the game. verb. I. to turn or twist: She pivots her left foot. pivot on He pivoted on his heels and headed out. Future deals will pivot on (= depend on) easing commercial conflicts. II. in basketball or netball, to stand with one foot on the ground and move your other foot to allow you to turn without taking a step when you have the ball: Once you catch the ball you can pivot, but you must throw it to another player. III. to change your opinions, statements, decisions 转向, etc. so that they are different to what they were before: The structural shake-up reflects Zuckerberg's pivot from fundamental AI research toward rapid, product-focused innovation aimed at catching up with OpenAI and Google. He has pivoted to bring himself in line with the rest of the candidates. It was harder for Bush to pivot to the positive when so much of his campaign revolved around taking down Kerry. IV. to avoid talking about something by talking about something else: Several viewers were eager to hear what he had to say about jobs, and found the evasion glaring when he immediately pivoted to 转移换题 a prepackaged answer on education. swivel [ˈswɪv.əl] verb. to (cause to) turn around a central point in order to face in another direction. to turn around from a fixed point in order to face in another direction, or to turn something in this way: Kennedy swiveled around in his seat. He swiveled his face toward Jack. She swivelled round to look out of the window. The ostrich swivelled its head in our direction. adj. turning around a central point to face in another direction: a swivel chair. a swivel lamp. mound I. 土堆. 石堆. a large pile of earth, stones, etc. like a small hill. a rounded pile of dirt, sand, stones, or other material, or a raised area of earth. A mound of something is a large rounded pile of it. The bulldozers piled up huge mounds of dirt. The table was a mound of paper and books. We're using that mound of sand to level the ground for our new pool. a burial mound (= a place where people were buried in ancient times). Mr Cordingley told the court he had paused to rest under a tree during the search when he noticed an "odd-shaped mound" at his feet that "didn't look like it formed naturally". "I kneeled down at the bottom of the mound," Mr Cordingley said in evidence on Wednesday morning. "I scraped away some sand at the bottom of it and … my hand hit something, and it was a foot. "I just reeled backwards, yelling out, 'Oh my God, oh my God, no, help.'" The court heard a hat belonging to Ms Cordingley was also found on the beach, not far from a tree where her dog Indie was tied tightly using a double-granny knot. II. a large pile of something. A mound is also a rounded mass of something: a mound of spaghetti. a mound of potatoes/papers. III. 垒. In baseball, the mound is the raised area where the pitcher stands when he or she throws the ball.
口腔卫生: swig [swɪɡ] 喝一大口 verb. to drink, especially by swallowing large amounts in a series of single actions. to drink something in large swallows He was swigging beer from a bottle. She had been swigging neat vodka all evening. noun. the act of swallowing a large amount of a drink in a single action: She took a swig of whisky, straight from the bottle. Charles swirled 旋涡, 漩涡, 旋转 the drink around in the glass before taking a good swig. Online theories have swirled about 不同说法旋风似的甚嚣尘上 the sharply dressed stranger and whether he was a detective, insider, or AI fake. Oil pulling is an alternative medical practice in which an edible oil is swished around ( swish I. 嗖的一声. to (cause to) move quickly through the air making a soft sound. If something swishes or if you swish it, it moves quickly through the air, making a soft sound. A car swished by heading for the coast. He swished his cape around his shoulders. He heard a swishing sound. She turned with a swish of her skirt. I heard the rope swish through the air. The horses swished their tails to get rid of the flies hovering around them. II. in basketball, to throw the ball into the basket (= goal) so that it falls through without touching either the basket or the board behind it: The basketball player made a beautiful jump shot that swished through the net. III. To cause a liquid to move around in a container, or in one's mouth. 漱口 Swish the mouthwash around the mouth and between the teeth for one minute. IV. To make a rustling sound while moving. The cane swishes. adj. If you describe something as swish, you mean that it is smart and fashionable. fashionable or expensive: a swish hotel. ...a swish cocktail bar. ) the mouth for a period of time and then spat out, similar to mouthwash. It originates from Ayurvedic medicine. Practitioners of oil pulling claim it is capable of improving oral health. Oil pulling is an ancient Indian folk remedy 民间偏方 claimed to whiten your teeth, freshen your breath, and greatly improve your oral health. Using coconut oil for oil pulling is becoming increasingly popular. Many people swear by this remedy, and many say it also improves their health in other ways. An oral irrigator (also called a dental water jet, water flosser or, by the brand name of the best-known such device, Waterpik) is a home dental care device which uses a stream of high-pressure pulsating water intended to remove dental plaque and food debris between teeth and below the gum line. Regular use of an oral irrigator is believed to improve gingival health. The devices may also provide easier cleaning for braces and dental implants. However, more research is needed to confirm plaque biofilm removal and effectiveness when used by patients with special oral or systemic health needs. bits and bobs = bits and pieces 零碎的小东西, 小零碎, 七零八碎的东西, 零工 I. small things or jobs of different types: There's a handy compartment for keys and gloves and bits and bobs. We've done a few bits and bobs around the house since we've been here. I've got some bits and bobs to get done before lunch. I need to pick up one or two bits and bobs in town. We were just shopping for a few bits and bobs for the kitchen. II. Bits and bobs are small objects or parts of something. The microscope contains a few hundred dollars-worth of electronic bits and bobs. tongue scraping 刮舌头 Tongue scraping is an oral hygiene practice using a tool to remove bacteria, food debris, and dead cells from the tongue's surface to improve breath and oral health. To do it, place the scraper at the back of your tongue, pull it forward gently, rinse it, and repeat several times until the tongue is clean.
The BBC has gone full Pravda in its war of lies against Trump: The BBC loves to pose as a warrior 斗士 against 'fake news'. Yet it now stands accused of pushing an entirely fake account of President Trump's behaviour on 6 January 2021. That's the day the Capitol building in Washington, DC was stormed by a rag-tag ( 一伙人. 各色人等, 各式各样的, 凌乱的, 杂乱无章的, 零乱的 untidy and not similar or organized. consisting of parts or pieces that are in no particular order or system. If you want to say that a group of people or an organization is badly organized and not very respectable, you can describe it as a ragtag group or organization. We started out with a little rag-tag team of 30 people. They put together a ragtag team for a third of the cost of the Yankees and they won it all. The village was guarded by a ragtag group of soldiers. He arrived with a ragtag collection of friends. ragtag and bobtail all types of person or thing, including those that are ordinary and not special in any way: a ragtag and bobtail bunch of amateurs. ) army of angry right-wingers convinced the election had been stolen from Trump. And last year the BBC showed footage of Trump telling the mob he would march with them to the Capitol and 'fight like hell'. Only that never happened. The BBC made it up. It doctored the footage. This is beyond serious. These are Pravda levels of manipulation. The accusation against the BBC comes from an internal document. A 19-page dossier on BBC bias was compiled by a one-time member of the Beeb's standards committee. The document's findings are chilling. It singles out an episode of Panorama, the BBC flagship current-affairs show, for special opprobrium (opprobrium [əˈprəʊ.bri.əm] 严厉批评, 批判, 狠批 severe criticism and blame. Opprobrium is open criticism or disapproval of something that someone has done. His political opinions have attracted the opprobrium of the Left. ...public opprobrium. International opprobrium has been heaped on the country following its attack on its neighbours. roundly savaged by critics 严厉的 severely. If you are roundly condemned or criticized, you are condemned or criticized forcefully or by many people. If you are roundly defeated, you are defeated completely. Political leaders have roundly condemned the shooting. Liz Davies took the issue to the party but was roundly defeated. The government is being roundly criticized for its education policy. The home team was roundly defeated. slated I. If something is slated to happen, it is planned to happen at a particular time or on a particular occasion. He was slated 按计划做事, 按约定做事 to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Controversial energy measures are slated for Senate debate within days. II. If something is slated 严厉批评, 狠批, it is criticized very severely. His new restaurant has been slated by a top food critic. Slated by critics at the time, the film has since become a cult classic.). Broadcast just a week before the presidential election in November 2024, it shows Trump in January 2021 saying: 'We're going to walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you and we fight. We fight like hell. [If] you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore.' There was only one problem: Trump didn't say that. The BBC spliced together ( splice [splaɪs] 串联, 串接, 捻接, 粘接, 拼接 (concatenate 字符或数组连接, string together, piece together, stitch together, cut together, mash together) to join two pieces of rope, film, etc. together at their ends in order to form one long piece. to join the ends of something so that they become one piece: Scientists splice genes to produce the protein. Scientists have discovered how to splice pieces of DNA. get spliced to get married. ) two entirely different remarks from Trump, made 54 minutes apart, in order to make it look like he was recklessly stirring up the mob and endangering the sanctity ( sanctity [ˈsaŋ(k)tɪti] 神圣不可侵犯 (sacred, sacrosanct) I. the state or quality of being holy, sacred, or saintly. "the site of the tomb was a place of sanctity for the ancient Egyptians". the sanctity of a cemetery/tomb. II. ultimate importance and inviolability 不可侵犯. If you talk about the sanctity of something, you mean that it is very important and must be treated with respect. ...the sanctity of human life. "the sanctity of human life". the sanctity of human life, marriage, etc. the quality of being very important and deserving respect: Our studies show that there is overwhelming support among the people of this country for protecting the sanctity of marriage. sanctuary [sæŋktʃuəri] 避难所, 庇佑所, 庇护所 I. A sanctuary is a place where people who are in danger from other people can go to be safe. His church became a sanctuary for thousands of people who fled the civil war. II. Sanctuary is the safety provided in a sanctuary. Some of them have sought sanctuary in the church. III. A sanctuary is a place where birds or animals are protected and allowed to live freely. ...a bird sanctuary. sacrosanct [ˈsakrə(ʊ)saŋ(k)t] (especially of a principle, place, or routine) regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with. "the individual's right to work has been upheld as sacrosanct". ) of American democracy. What Trump actually said was: 'We're gonna walk down to the Capitol… peacefully and patriotically to make your voices heard.' Then, almost an hour later, once more sharing his view that the election was 'corrupt', he thanked the people who voted for him and said: 'We fight.' 'We fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not gonna have a country anymore.' It matters not one iota what you think about Trump's complaining in 2021 that the election was nicked from him – I thought it was a load of post-truth ( post-truth 后真相时代的 adj. relating to a situation in which people are more likely to accept an argument based on their emotions and beliefs, rather than one based on facts: The referendum was the first major vote in the era of post-truth politics. He dubs the current administration a " post-truth" White House. A post-truth situation is one in which people are less influenced by factual information than by their emotions or by beliefs they already hold. We live in a world of post-truth politics.) bluster ( bluster [ˈblʌs.tər] 虚张声势, 色厉内荏, 破口大骂, 骂大街, 泼妇骂街 verb. I. to speak in a loud, angry, or offended way, usually with little effect. If you say that someone is blustering, you mean that they are speaking aggressively but without authority, often because they are angry or offended. 'That's lunacy,' he blustered. He was still blustering, but there was panic in his eyes. ...the bluster of the party's campaign. "You had no right to do it, no right at all," he blustered. II. If the wind blusters, it blows strongly: A gale was blustering around the house. noun. loud, angry, or offended talk, usually with little effect. talk intended to seem important or threatening but which is not taken seriously and has little effect: For all his bluster about his military adventures, McLaughlin was enormously likable. I knew that it was all bluster and he wasn't really angry with me. His tough talk amounts to no more than macho bluster.) that annoyingly brought to mind the whinging of Hillary Clinton in 2017 when she continually questioned the 'legitimacy' of Trump's win in 2016. The important point is that in cutting together two entirely separate remarks in order to make it appear as if Trump were inciting violence – all of it accompanied by sinister-sounding music – the BBC flat-out hoodwinked its viewers. It lied to them. It 'completely misled' them, in the words of the internal dossier. It's impossible to overstate the seriousness of this. Think about the sheer deception involved in this Orwellian mashing together of a politician's comments in order to paint him in the grimmest light possible. The BBC completely erased what Trump actually said to his supporters on 6 January, which is that they should march peacefully. In memory-holing ( memory hole noun. an imaginary place where inconvenient or unpleasant information is put and quickly forgotten. The figurative receptacle for information that a person or group seeks to remove from the public consciousness. A reference to the novel 1984, in which information to be destroyed (as due to conflicting with the Party's agenda) is placed into "memory holes." The administration is already trying to distance itself from the scandal, as various articles, social media posts, and other sundry 各式各样的 pieces connected to the party disappear down the memory hole. The company is obviously trying to sweep their product into the memory hole after it proved to be one its worst failures of all time. In light of the public outcry over the book's racist imagery, the publishing house has removed it from circulation, effectively sending it down the memory hole. "now that the trial's been postponed the whole case has dropped into the memory hole". sundry [ˈsʌn.dri] several different; various. several and different types of; various. of different types, and not important enough to list: Interest and other sundry income decreased by $3,750 from last year's comparable period. The hotel sent a bill for food, drinks, room service, newspapers and other sundry items. Diaz is surrounded by sundry laboratory equipment. Sundry distant relatives, most of whom I hardly recognized, turned up for my brother's wedding. memory hole verb. To remove or hide something in this manner. In this usage, the phrase is often hyphenated. The actor has tried to memory hole his past sexual indiscretions, but in the Internet Age, nothing stays hidden for long. In light of the public outcry over the book's racist imagery, the publishing house has memory-holed it by removing it from circulation.) his plea that people make their voices heard 'peacefully and patriotically', and adding in something he said 54 minutes later about the need to 'fight' against 'corruption', the Beeb engaged in open misinformation. It distorted the truth in the service of ideology – in this case, the Trump Derangement Syndrome that's rife among the media elites. It is hard to see this as anything other than an intentional twisting of reality to bruise 重创, 创伤 a candidate's reputation ahead of an election. The BBC showed contempt not only for Donald Trump (he's big enough to look after himself), but also for its own viewers. It infantilised 当做婴儿对待 them by feeding them a dystopic fairytale about Trump that it must have known was weaved from half-truths and conscious distortions 故意的歪曲. It broke the first rule of journalism, which is to be truthful. And it crapped all over the first rule of public broadcasting, which is to be neutral. This incident shatters the BBC's claim to be the implacable ( implacable [ɪmˈplæk.ə.bəl] 宁折不弯的 unable to be changed, satisfied, or stopped. used to describe (someone who has) strong opinions or feelings that are impossible to change. unable to be changed, satisfied, or stopped. If you say that someone is implacable, you mean that they have very strong feelings of hostility or disapproval which nobody can change. ...the threat of invasion by a ruthless and implacable enemy. The move has won the implacable opposition of many economists. His union was implacably opposed to the privatization of the company. an implacable enemy. an implacable enemy. implacable hostility. ) moral foe ( an enemy: The two countries have united against their common foe. bitter foe They were bitter foes for many years. foe of Foes of the government will be delighting in its current difficulties. friend or foe a phrase used to ask or talk about whether or not someone is your enemy or whether or not someone or something will harm you: He was still uncertain whether the soldiers were friend or foe as they led him to a hilltop village. ) of misinformation. For some time, the Beeb has been positioning itself as an island of reason in what it views as the swirling seas of populism and lies. It has put out adverts bigging itself up as one of the last guardians of truth. 'The fight for truth is on', said one, smugly contrasting the Beeb with Alex Jones and other digital hotheads who pump BS all over the digital highways of the internet. But then Panorama blatantly doctors a politician's comments. That's as dishonest and sinister, as motored by bitter ideology, as anything you'll see on the internet. So far, the BBC has been silent about this scandal. BBC Verify – its 'anti-misinformation' wing – has said nothing. I trust the Verify hacks are at this very minute working on an exposé of their own corporation's dishonesty (sarcasm). It should be clear to everyone now that the BBC has badly lost its way. The internal dossier also raises concerns about BBC Arabic's staggering bias in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas War and the Beeb's 'effective censorship' on the issue of transgenderism, when it would often sideline the voices of gender-critical ( Gender-critical feminism, also known as trans-exclusionary radical feminism or TERFism, is an ideology or movement that opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology". Gender-critical feminists believe that sex is biological, immutable, and binary, and consider the concepts of gender identity and gender self-identification to be inherently oppressive constructs tied to gender roles. They reject transgender and non-binary identities, and view trans women as men and trans men as women.) women. Think about this: we have a public broadcaster that made stuff up about Donald Trump, which fully went along with the lie that someone with a cock can be a woman, and whose coverage of Gaza has been obsessive, one-eyed and at times outright Israelophobic. One is forced to ask: who does the BBC serve? It increasingly feels like it doesn't serve the truth. Or us. Rather, it has made itself into the media wing of that influential section of society that is drunk on Trump hate(drunk on/with something 醉心于, 沉醉于 so excited by a feeling that you behave in a strange way drunk with happiness.) and mad ideas like trans. An overhaul is needed, and quick.
