令人迷糊的常用英文字眼(一)

1. Head Start ：如果这两个字开头的字母是大写，则是专有名词，系指美国政府为贫穷或弱智的儿童设立一种训练机构，帮助他们，希望孩子进小学前能赶上功课。 (U.S. government tries to give extra －  help for those underprivileged children before entering first grade.) (underprivileged 比  poor 好听，委婉些 ) 例如：  

Many poor parents send their children to Head Start.
但是  head start 小写时，就当普通名词用，是指比别人早开始做，或「领先」、「有利」的意思。 (advance start or advantage) 例如：  

In order to give his son a head start, the father decided to send him to a private kindergarten. ( 为了使他的儿子有好的开始，他决定送儿子到私立幼稚园。 )
To know more colloquial expressions is a head start in learning English. ( 了解更多的俗语对学习英语有好处 )

2. blue blood ：这是指有钱人或富家出身的人  (rich or wealthy people) 例如：  

He has blue blood. （当名词用）或  
He is blue blooded (person). ( 当形容词用 )
Mr. Lin comes from a blue blooded family. ( 林先生来自有钱的家庭 )
Some people do not want to admit that they have blue blood. ( 有些人不愿承认自己是富家出身 )
Many blue blooded children attend this private school. ( 许多有钱人的孩子进这所私立学校 )

注意：指穷人，倒不用其他的颜色形容  blood 。  
如果指红血球和白血球，只用  red cell 和  white cell ，中间可不加  blood; 例如：  
White cells and red cells are components of blood. ( 白血球和红血球是血液的成份 )

注： cell 也指牢房，例如  
The cells were painted white at the prison. ( 监狱的牢房漆成白色 )

3. bed of roses ：意思是称心如意的境遇，一切都是美好、理想的「安乐窝」。 (everything seems to be wonderful) 例如：  

Life is not always a bed of roses. ( 生活未必都是称心如意的 )
Young people think that marriage will be a bed of roses. ( 年轻人认为婚姻将是美好的 )
或者说：  
Newly-weds (=Newly-wed couples) may think marriage is a bed of roses.

4. from soup to nuts ：意思是从头到尾，自始至终；或是一应俱全，完整详尽。多半是指物品方面。 (from beginning to the end; generally refers to material) 例如：  

This store sells everything from soup to nuts. ( 这个店　出售的货品一应俱全 )
My office is supplied from soup to nuts. ( 我办公室里的用品，供应得十分齐全。 )

但是指知识方面 (knowledge) ，通常是用  from A to Z; 例如：  
Mr. Greenspan knows economics from A to Z. (Greenspan 先生在经济方面的知识非常丰富 )
(= His knowledge of economics is profound.)

5. real blast ： blast 这个字，本来是指一阵狂风。但当口语用，则指欢乐，或玩得愉快，很满足。多半是对参加派对或与亲友相聚等而言。 (have a good time; usually refers to a party or gathering.) 例如：  

Miss Su had a (real) blast at the party. ( 苏小姐参加派对时，玩得很痛快。 )
I hope our get-together will be a (real) blast. ( 我希望我们有愉快的相聚 )
注： blast 前面用  real 形容，只是老外喜欢加强语气而已，其实也可不用。）  

6. off-limits ：意思是禁止入内，限制进出或不准使用；也就是指关闭  (closed or not available) ( 多半当形容词用 ) 例如：  

The library will be off-limits to the public until re-carpeting project is completed. ( 图书馆对外不开放，一直到新地毯铺好为止。 )
The teachers have the use of a john that is off-limits to students. （老师使用的厕所，学生不准入内。 ) (john 的 j 要小写，才是指厕所 )
或  
This bathroom is off-limits to students.
注： off-limits 常被一些人译为「没有限制」，其实意义恰好相反。 limit 後面要加  s)

7. next of kin ：这是指近亲或家人 (closest relatives or anyone in the family) 在美国，所谓「最近的亲属」也是依每个人不同的情况而定，也许是夫妇、父母、儿女，或是叔叔婶婶、表兄弟姐妹。例如：  

If a person has a serious car accident, his or her next of kin will be notified. ( 假如一个人有严重的车祸，那麽他或她的近亲就会接到通知。 )
At the funeral all next of kin were in attendance. ( 在葬礼上，所有的亲人都参加。 )
The doctor should discuss the prognosis candidly with the next of kin. ( 医师应该把病症结果的预测坦诚地告知病人的近亲。 )
All his property will eventually go to his next of kin. ( 他的所有财产最终归属他的近亲。 )
如果「 kin 」单独使用时，又是家属或亲属的总称，通常後面也不加  s 。例如：  

All my kin attended the family get-together. ( 我全家人都参加家庭的团聚。 )

8. fair-weather friend ：这是指一些只能同安乐而不能共患难的「酒肉」朋友。 (being friend only during favorable time) 例如：  

A fair-weather friend will not contact you during your time of hardship. ( 当你困难时，酒肉朋友不会与你联络。 )
When she ignored him during his financial problem, he knew she was a fair-weather friend. ( 当他经济困难时，她不理他；他知道她只在顺境时，才是朋友。 )