常见的20个英语生活习语
1. A Chip on Your Shoulder
你肩上的一片薯片（耿耿于怀）
No, this doesn’t mean that you’ve dropped part of your snack. To have a chip on one’s shoulder implies that the person is carrying around some grudge or bad feelings about something that happened in the past…like having walked through the wreckage of a building, and ended up with a chip of that building stuck to them for years afterward.
不，这并不是指你零食掉了一片。一个人肩上有片薯片暗指那个人对过去发生的事情还怀着怨恨或者不良情绪。就像从一处建筑残骸旁走过，而多年后身上仍有那时留下的灰一样。
2. Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
一口吃成大胖子
Like taking a HUGE bite of a sandwich that will fill your mouth up so much that you can’t move your jaw, this idiom implies that you’ve taken on more than you can handle successfully. An example would be agreeing to build ten websites in a week when normally you can only handle five.
这就好似你咬了一大口三明治，嘴巴被塞得满满的，以至于下巴也动弹不得，这个习语暗指你所接收的东西超出了你的掌控。举个例子，你在一周内建立了十个网站，事实上你只能管理其中的五个。
3. You Can’t Take It With You
赤条条地走
You can’t take anything with you when you die, so don’t bother hoarding your stuff . Live now, because all your stuff is going to be around long after you’re gone.
当你死后你无法带走任何东西，所以不要对你的身外之物恋恋不舍了。活在当下，因为你的一切身家在你走后很长时间里都会安然无恙。
4. Everything But the Kitchen Sink
除了水槽外的一切（无所不包；一应俱全）
This implies that nearly everything has been packed/taken/removed. For instance, if someone said: “The thieves stole everything but the kitchen sink!” it meant that they took everything they could carry; it’s damned hard to remove a sink and carry it around.
这句是暗指所有的东西都被打包/带走/移动了。比如，若有人说：“小偷除了水槽，其他都偷走了！”意思就是说他们把能偷的都偷了；但要搬走水槽就难如登天了。
5. “Over My Dead Body”
“除非我死了”（想都别想）
When the only way you’ll allow something to happen is if you’re no longer alive to stop it.
你唯一能允许此事发生的情况就是你已与世长辞了。
6. Tie the Knot
喜结良缘
To get married. This is left over from the old tradition of handfasting, wherein the hands of the bride and groom would be tied together with a length of ribbon to symbolize that their lives were fastened together permanently.
就是指结婚。这是流传下来的旧式传统婚约，行礼时新娘和新郎的手会被一条丝带绑在一起，这象征着彼此将永远生活在一起。
7. Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover
不要从书的封面来评断（不要以貌取人）
Things aren’t always what they appear to be at first glance, so it’s a good idea to give something a chance, even if its outward appearance isn’t immediately attractive.
万事并非总是如第一眼看到的那样，所以不妨给某些事物一次机会，即使其表面不够抓人眼球。
8. When Pigs Fly
当猪会飞的时候
This means “never”. Pigs aren’t about to sprout wings and take flight anytime soon, so if someone says to their kid that they can get a forehead tattoo when pigs fly, it’s not gonna happen.
这是暗指“永无可能”。因为猪是不会长出翅膀飞上天的，所以有人会这样对小孩说，当猪会飞了就可以纹头纹，意思就是不可能。
9. A Leopard Can’t Change His Spots
豹子改变不了它的斑点（江山易改，本性难移）
Basically: you are who you are. Just like a leopard can’t concentrate really hard and change the pattern on its skin, people can’t change who they really are at heart.
基本就是说：你就是你。正如豹子无论怎么折腾也改变不了它皮肤上的图案一样，人们也无法改变其本性。
10. Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve
把心放在袖管上（表露感情）
To freely show and express all of your emotions, as though your heart were on the outside of your body.
尽情地表达出你所有的情感，想象成你的心是在身体外面一样。
11. Bite Your Tongue!
咬住你的舌头！（安静）
Stick your tongue between your teeth (gently), and then try to speak. You can’t say a word, can you? To bite one’s tongue means to stay quiet: literally to hold the tongue still so it can’t make a sound. This goes along with:
把你的舌头放在双齿之间（轻轻地），然后试着讲话。你一个字也说不出来，是吧？让某人咬住牙齿就是指“保持安静”：字面意思就是咬住舌头，不让它发出声音。这有点像：
12. Put a Sock In It
闭上你的乌鸦嘴
The idea behind this is that if you stuffed a sock in your mouth, you’d be quiet… so if you tell someone to “put a sock in it”, you’re telling them to shut up.
意思是如果你的嘴里塞了一只袜子，你就能安静了...所以如果你告诉某人“闭上你的乌鸦嘴”，你就是在让他闭嘴。
13. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
不要哪壶不开提哪壶
If a couple of dogs had been fighting and are now sleeping peacefully, it’s best to just leave them alone. The idea behind this one is to avoid bringing up old arguments so they’ll just be argued about again.
如果两只狗打完架，此时正安静地休息，最好是让它们自个儿呆着。意思就是不要提先前的矛盾了，免得争论再次爆发。
14. Foam at the Mouth
嘴上冒泡（怒火中烧）
To hiss and snarl in anger like a rabid dog (whose mouth would be foamy as he jumps around like crazy and tries to bite people.）
像疯狗一样发出嘘声和咆哮（它的嘴上全是泡沫，气急败坏地跳起来咬人。）
15. A Slap on the Wrist
轻拍手腕（轻微惩罚）
A very, very mild punishment. To be slapped on the wrist doesn’t hurt much, and isn’t a deterrent from misbehaving again.
非常，非常温和的惩罚。因为拍一下手腕不会造成任何伤痛，并且对不当的行为也无威慑力。
16. You Are What You Eat
你即所食
This is the idea that everything you eat influences your health and well-being. If you eat nothing but junk food, you’ll end up unhealthy and malnourished, so be sure to eat a well-balanced diet.
这句习语的意思就是你吃的食物会影响你的健康和幸福。如果你只吃垃圾食品，最终只会变得不健康和营养不良，所以一定要均衡饮食。
17. “It’s a Piece of Cake!”
“一小块蛋糕而已！”（小菜一碟）
…meaning that it’s incredibly easy. No-one has a difficult time eating a piece of cake, do they?
...意思就是超级简单。任何人吃一小块蛋糕都没问题，是吧？
18. It Takes Two to Tango
探戈是双人舞（一个巴掌拍不响）
A person can’t dance the tango alone, nor can they fight by themselves either. If an argument has occurred, there were two people involved, so two were responsible.
没有人可以独自跳探戈，也没有人可以一个人打起架来。若有争吵发生，事出两人身上，所以都应负责。
19. Head Over Heels
欣喜若狂
To be incredibly excited and joyful, particularly with regard to being in love. Imagine someone so happy that they do cartwheels down the street: like that.
难以置信地激动与喜悦，尤其是指陷入爱河的人。想象某人高兴地在街上翻跟斗：说的就是那种情形。
20. An Arm and a Leg
代价惨烈
When something is so ridiculously expensive that you might have to sell your own body parts in order to afford it, it’s said to cost “an arm and a leg”.
有些东西贵得离谱时，可能你只有卖掉身上的器官才买得起，那就可以说“an arm and a leg”.
（编辑:满文敏）
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