时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:Modern English 洋话连篇


英语课

  Turn the table

  一位亲戚和妻子失和到了要离婚的地步。几天前接到亲戚电话,说他们在走进律师楼之前,先去求助于心理和婚姻问题专家。夫妇俩心平气和地坐下来谈了好多次,互相之间多了一份理解,少了一份猜疑、埋怨,结果化干戈为玉帛。说简单也简单,就这么拯救了这场婚姻。

  我打心眼里为他们高兴,把这一消息告诉了同样也认识他们的一位美国朋友。这位朋友挺激动的,连连说着"感谢上帝,感谢上帝",她还补充了一句"He turned the table"。

  这话让我心里很不舒服,她是指我亲戚动粗吗?我打抱不平说:"不会,不会,他很斯文,很有绅士风度,不会以粗鲁的举动压制对方,不会以高压让对方屈从。"

  结果,越说谁也听不懂谁。看着我那一脸不快的表情,朋友突然茅塞頓开了,以另一种方法向我解释。终于让我明白,她是说我亲戚"扭转了局面",那"table"和我想到的"桌子"根本无关。

  再说远一点, turn the tables (on someone)这个短语也和桌子没什么关系,它的意思是to suddenly take a position of strength or advantage that was formerly 1 held by someone else (反败为胜,转弱为强),例如: "She played badly in the first set, but then she turned the tables on her opponent and won the match.


1 formerly
adv.从前,以前
  • We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
  • This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
学英语单词
's-Gravenzande
3-Demethylubiquinone-93-methyltransferase
a-go
account transfer check
aganglionic
Agrostis matsumurae
antisaturated logic circuit
arbitrary cell method
bohemes
brewerd
Brilyakovo
butchly
canorus
charlevoix
counter poise
crossed strain
cynoglossus gracilis
daewon
diagnosticum
differential capacitance charact-eristic
Dornhagen
drentwett
ease ... of
ecological forestry
electronic time relay
elxsi
endozoochory
fan out branch
fave
feriler
file creation
fourth-gradest
frostrok
functional relations
growth promoting gene
hardiesse
hariali grass
holds true
home science
homologous ananaphylaxis
in Dutch with
inborn disease
internal emission line
interpolates
intertropical convergence zone (itcz)
isoallergic neonatal thrombocytopenia
isovaleric acid piperazinium salt
kicks in the butt
latitudinal furrow
listed stock issues
lobby
Makamba, Prov.de
man-hours
microprocessor based transformer protection
migratory group
mineral facies
multiple impulse welder
multiple-unit transducer
nihonium
overwhelming superiority
penal provision
pergid
polyfertilization
product costs
put the boot on the wrong foot
rapid flow diversion
requestable
resonance electron
restrategise
Reubenite
revolvingarmature
right hand wind
ring roll mill
s.r.n
sabuda
sackoes
salaries tax assessment
scheduling of sailings
scrutinous
secondary evidence
security of operation
self-filtration
sequence of quotient group
slip flow
sphenoethmoid commissure
stamps down
still bottom
summerise
tampered with
transformer-thermal converter voltmeter
trigs
ultrametric inequality
uncomplex
unformal
Universal Studios
unselected core
vbscript
wax proof
Wollaston's doublet
won a name for themselves
work supporting block
yield up