by the book 完全按照规章制度办事，按照规定，照章办事 go by the book 依章办事play by the book按规定来do something by the book按规定做某事run something by the book 按规定管理、运营The manager does everything by the book, hewon’t approve this exception.经理办事很死板，他不会破例批准的。He suggestedthat we go by the book and not accept the proposal. 他建议我们照章办事，不要接受这个提议。
a closed book完全不了解，搞不懂closed adj. 关闭的；合上的与an open book意思相反He issuch a closed book, he never talks about himself.他这人很封闭，从来不谈论他自己。I don’t know much about Economics,it is a closed book to me. 我不太懂经济学，对我来说就像天书一样。
An open book （某物）容易理解；（某人）坦诚，没有秘密open adj. 打开的My life is an open book.我的生活很简单。There’s no secret between us, she’s an open book to me.我们之间没有秘密，我对她是了如指掌。I wish these legal contracts were an open book.我真希望我能读懂这些法律合同。Adam says he's an open book, but I've seen him sneaking out of his house late at night. Adam说他没什么秘密，但是我看到过他大半夜偷偷溜出他的房间。
In the flesh 本人；亲自；（见到）真人flesh 肉；肉体You wouldn’t believe this, I met my idol Liu Dehua in the flesh the other day, he even hugged me.你肯定不会相信，前几天我见到了我的偶像刘德华本人了，他甚至还拥抱我了。I have heard a lot about you, I can’t believe now you’re standing in front of me in the flesh, I’m thrilled. 我听说过很多关于你的事，真不敢相信你现在就站在我面前，我好激动。Inperson 本人，亲自，当面I’ve heard that Liu Dehua is coming here in person, is that true? 我听说刘德华本人要来这，是真的吗？I wanna talk to him in person.我想跟他当面谈。
A third wheel/ a fifth wheel 多余；电灯泡third 第三个fifth 第五个wheel 车轮I don’t think I’ll join you this time. Whenever I go out with you guys, I just feel like a third wheel.我这次就不跟你一块了，每次跟你们一块出去，我都感觉我像个电灯泡。I just wanted to feel like part of the team instead of a fifth wheel.我只是想让自己感觉是这个团队的一员，而不是多余的。I didn't realize that the party was for couples only, so when I showed up alone, I felt like a fifth wheel.我不知道这个聚会是只针对情侣的，所以当我一个人出现在那的时候，我感觉自己很多余。
Why the long face? 干嘛拉着个脸啊？怎么闷闷不乐的？long face 长脸；闷闷不乐；不悦的脸色What’s wrong? Why the long face? 怎么了？怎么闷闷不乐的？Hey, Jack, why the long face? Is something bothering you?Jack,干嘛拉着个脸啊？有什么烦心事吗？He came to me with a very long face and said that he had failed the exam.他拉长个脸来找我，说他考试没及格。
Go easy on someone/ something 手下留情；温和对待；节约使用Go easy on him, he is my friend. 对他手下留情啊，他是我朋友。The doctor told me to go easy on the chilies, but I just can’t.医生要我少吃辣椒，但是我做不到啊。Hey, go easy on the ketchup, there's not much left.番茄酱你悠着点用，剩的没多少了。
Be like looking/searching for a needle in a haystack 如同大海捞针like 像look for/search for 寻找needle 针haystack 干草堆There’re like, thousands of files piled up,it’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.有成千上万份文件堆在一起，这将如同大海捞针。The police told her that searching for the dog was like looking for a needle in a haystack.警察告诉她寻找这条狗就像大海捞针。It soon became clear that we were looking for a needle in a haystack. 很快我们发现，我们就是在大海捞针。
roll up one’s sleeves 撸起袖子，准备开始干活；准备大干一场roll 卷sleeve 袖子We have a long day ahead, so let's roll up our sleeves and start! 今天将会是漫长的一天，所以让我们撸起袖子，开始干活吧。I know you're disappointed, but you need to roll up your sleeves and redouble your efforts.我知道你很失望，但你需要卷起袖子加倍努力。
jump to conclusions 过早下结论，贸然断定jump 跳conclusion 结论Let’s not jump to conclusions.咱们先别这么快就下结论。I know you saw her with a man, but don't jump to conclusions, talk to her first. 我知道你看到她和一个男人在一起，但不要妄下结论，你先跟她谈一下。
blow one’s mind 令某人极度震惊，感到意外；令人刮目相看blow 爆炸mind 思想，头脑That was my first time to watch the show,it really blew my mind.那是我第一次看着个节目，太让我震惊了。Prepare to have your mind blown.准备好大开眼界吧。It blew my mind that she had her hair dyed green.她把头发染成了绿色，真是让我大吃一惊。mind-blowing adj. 令人感到震惊的；给人印象极深的It absolutely would be mind-blowing news to him if you tell him.如果你告诉他的话，这绝对会是一个让他震惊的消息。The special effects in this movie are pretty mind-blowing.这部电影里的特效真的很震撼。mindblower n. 令人感到震撼的事物This technology is a real mindblower.这真是一项令人震撼的技术。
Havea say/voice in something在某件事上有发言权 You don’t have a say in this.这件事上，你没有发音权；这没你说话的份。They want to have a voice in how this would be handled.在如何处理这件事上，他们想有个发言权。Have one’s say 说出/表达出某人的观点、看法Just calm down, you’ll have your say. 别着急，你会有机会说的。As soon as I've had my say I'll sit down.只要让我说出我的看法，我就坐下。Have the say 某人说了算，有决定权We all have a say in this, but only the boss himself has the say.这事我们都有发言权，但最终只有老板自己说了算。
pass gas 放屁It must be something I ate at lunch that made me pass gas all afternoon.肯定是我中午吃的什么东西，弄得我一下午都在放屁。fart 放屁；屁He farted in front of everyone, and he acted like nothing had happened.他在大家面前放了个屁，然后表现的跟什么事都没发生一样。fart around 瞎折腾；闲荡；浪费时间Stop farting around and get a job! 别瞎混了，找份工作吧！break wind 放屁Someone in the elevator broke wind. It smelled terrible. 有人在电梯里放了屁，臭死啦。
Have one’s eyes glued to something 一直盯着看；全神贯注地看glue 胶水；沾上I hate it when people talk to me and have their eyes glued to their phones all the time.我很讨厌有的人一边跟我说话，一边还不停地盯着手机看。I came back two hours later to find the kids still had their eyes glued to the television.我两个小时以后回来，发现孩子们还在盯着电视看。Many children would have their eyes glued to the cell phone once they got access to it.很多孩子一旦有机会拿到手机，眼睛就不会从手机上移开了。
Get/have cold feet （做某事前，因为紧张或害怕）临阵退缩If you get cold feet or have cold feet about something you have planned to do, you become nervous about it and not sure that you want to do it. She had been looking forward to the bungee jumping, but she got cold feet right before the jump. 她一直盼望着去蹦极，但在跳之前却退缩了。Tomorrow is your big day. You are not having cold feet, are you? 明天就是你大喜的日子了，你不会是想临阵退缩吧？
big talk 大话，吹牛He is always full of big talk, but he rarely follows through on it. 他总是说大话，却很少去做并坚持到底。talk big 说大话，吹牛The President talks big, but he doesn’t do anything.总统老说大话，但是什么都不做。brag about/of 吹嘘；炫耀boast about/of 吹牛，自夸He bragged to everyone he met about how smart his son was.他向他见到的每一人吹嘘他儿子有多聪明。Is he boasting about his car again? 他又在吹嘘他的车了吗？
Have bigger fish to fry 有更重要的事情要办Don't waste time on this. We've got bigger fish to fry.别在这上面浪费时间了，我们还有更重要的事情要办。Every time I ask him for help, he claims that he has bigger fish to fry.每次我要他帮我的时候，他都说他有更重要的事情要做。Have other fish to fry 还有其他事情要办I don't have time for this. I have other fish to fry.我没时间干这个，我还有其他事要办。
Burst out laughing 突然大笑起来burst 爆发；突发laugh 笑1. The baby burst out laughing when he saw the cat slip. 这个婴儿看到猫滑倒了，突然大笑起来。2. The kids burst out laughing when the clown fell down on stage.孩子们看到小丑在台上摔倒以后，大笑了起来。Burst into laughterLaughter n.笑；笑声3. He burst into laughter when he turned around and saw his “bride” .他转身看到他的“新娘”以后，大笑了起来。
burst into tears 突然大哭起来，眼泪夺眶而出burst 爆发；突发tear 眼泪过去式、过去分词形式不变，仍是burst1. He burst into tears when he found out that his father had cancer. 当他发现他父亲得了癌症后，哭了起来。2. She burst into tears when she saw her terrible grades. 当她看到自己糟糕的成绩时，突然大哭了起来。3. I was so happy to see my family that I burst into tears.我看到我的家人太高兴了，就哭了起来。burst out crying4.The children burst out crying on hearing of the death of their dog. 孩子们听到他们的狗死了，哭了起来。
Better half 夫妻中的丈夫或妻子；另一半，爱人Have you seen my better-half? 你见我爱人了吗？I had known him for almost three years before I met his better half. 在见到他的另一半之前，我已经认识他近3年了。Please come to our party,and your better half is invited, too! 来参加我们的派对吧，你的爱人也被邀请了。
It’s a bummer.bummer令人不愉快/失望的人、事、经历1. Getting stranded at the airport was a real bummer.被滞留在机场真的是很恶心。2. It’s a bummer that my best friend can’t make it to my wedding.我最好的朋友参加不了我的婚礼了，很烦人。3. It was a real bummer that it rained the whole weekend. I had to stay indoors and did nothing. 整个周末都在下雨，很烦人，我只能呆在室内，啥都没做不了。
better off 达到/处于更好的状况You would be better off without me.没有我你会过得更好。I think you guys would be better off taking the train than driving.我觉得你们坐火车比开车更好Your health will be better off if you choose the fruit salad rather than the chocolate cake. 如果你选择水果沙拉而不是巧克力蛋糕，你的健康状况会更好。
Window-shop 橱窗购物，只看不买shop 购物window 商店的玻璃橱窗A: Do you want to go shopping this weekend? 周末咱去逛街吧？B: I think I’ll just window-shop because I don’t have much money.我可能只看不买，因为我没多少钱。I’m not looking for anything particular, just window-shopping.我没有什么特别想买的，只是看看。
tag along 跟着，跟随tag 标签；紧随along 一起；伴随着When I was a kid, I used to tag along with my brother when he went out with his friends.小时候，我哥跟他的朋友出去玩的时候，我经常会跟着他。If you are going to the mall, do you mind if I tag along? 你如果是去商场的话，介不介意我跟着啊？
up in the air悬而未决；（计划、安排）不确定I didn’t get into college, so my future is kind of up in the air.我没考上大学，所以我何去何从现在有点不确定。Becky and I were supposed to go shopping this weekend, but things are up in the air now, because she’s not feeling well. Becky 和我本来这周末要去逛街的，但是现在不确定了，因为她现在身体不太舒服。
Why did you stand me up last night? 你昨天晚上为什么放我鸽子？1 stand sb up 失约，爽约，放某人鸽子Pronunciationdid you 连读时会发生音变 /d/+/j/=/dʒ/stand me up 连读 stand d失去爆破me up 元音+元音连读，连读时中间加半元音 /j/last night last t 失去爆破这些连读技巧，在我录制的【美式英语发音秘诀第二期】中都有讲到。stand up 其他的义项2 stand up 站起来3 stand up for sb/sth 拥护，维护，为…辩护；支持Nobody stood up for him while they were questioning his loyalty.他们质疑他的忠诚的时候，没有人站出来维护他。Xiao Cui always stands up for what he believes in.小崔总是会认定并坚决支持自己相信的东西。4 stand up to sb/sth直面，勇敢面对；经受住Xiao Cui stood up to those who threatened to kill him.小崔直面哪些威胁说要杀他的人。Will this building stand up to the coming typhoon? 这栋建筑能经受住即将到来的台风吗？5 stand up with sb 做…的伴郎或伴娘（best man伴郎/ maid of honor伴娘）Why don’t you come and stand up with me.要不你来做我的伴郎吧。6 Stand-up 站立的，直立的（重音在第一个单词）stand-up collar 竖领stand-up comedy单人表演的喜剧（类似咱们的相声）stand-up comedian一位单口喜剧演员a stand-up guy 忠诚，可靠；可靠的好男人
bare one’s heart / soul 倾吐心声，袒露心声bare 露出，使裸露heart 心soul 心灵，灵魂We didn’t know each other that well, so I was surprised that he bared his heart to me. 我们不是很熟，所以我很惊讶他对我袒露心声。Billy couldn't keep things to himself any longer. He decided to bare his soul to his best friend.Billy再也憋不住心里的事情了，他决定向他最好的朋友倾吐心声。There’re very few people I would bare my heart to.能让我倾吐心声的人不多。
nail it 完美办成某事；搞定/完成nail 指甲；钉（钉子）Good luck on your performance today, I hope you nail it! 今天的表演，祝你好运，我希望你表演成功。A: How was your interview today? 你今天的面试怎么样？B: Nailed it. 完美。
add fuel to the fire/flames 火上浇油，使情况更糟add添加fuel 燃料fire 火flame 火焰He forgot their wedding anniversary, and his apologies only added fuel to the fire.他忘记了他们的结婚纪念日，而他的道歉只是在火上浇油。fuel the fire/flamesfuel v.添加燃料I don’t wanna fuel the fire here, so I’m just gonna keep my mouth shut.我不想在这火上浇油，所以我就闭嘴好了。She is already furious and his excuses will only fuel the flames.她已经很生气了，他的借口只会火上浇油。
a big deal 大事，重要的事；重要的人物Buying a house is a big deal.买房子是件大事。He is a big deal around here.他在这一片是个大人物。这个短语常见的日常用法还有：What’s the big deal? 有什么大不了的？It’s not a big deal. /No big deal. 没什么大不了的。类似的更口语化的用法：No biggie.没事，不要紧。可以用于回答别人的感谢最后再来强调一下读音big i发短音或叫松元音/ɪ/deal ea发长音或叫紧元音/i/
