LH: 快五点了，我们赶紧去租车。
LL: Thanks a lot, Lihua. I"m really taken aback by your kindness!
LH: (Laughing) 你是说我平时对你不好吗？
LL: (Laughing) No, it"s just that you have gone to a lot of trouble today to help me get out of this horrible situation!
LH: 别客气。那我在车里等，你快进去租车吧！
LL: (Out of breath) Ok. It looks like I"m off the hook for the weekend - I got the last rental car available.
LH: 太棒了，周末开车出去要注意安全噢！
LL: You have a safe weekend too. And don"t go over the speed limit. I"d be taken aback if the same officer caught you speeding again. He"d be so taken aback that you may get TWO tickets!
天李华学到了两个常用语。一个是off the hook,指摆脱困境和责任。另一个是taken aback,指感到吃惊
美国习惯用语第395讲
这个节目已经持续了很长时间了，在不断学习习惯用法的同时我们偶而也不妨停下来思索一下这个问题：为什么习惯用语时常让外国学生感到困惑难解呢？原因之一是习惯用语的含义跟它所包括的各个单词的意思往往是风马牛不相干的。
我们今天就特意要谈这样两个典型例子。第一个习惯用语是： lock, stock and barrel。 Stock在这儿解释枪托，而barrel则是枪管。这儿的lock意思是枪的扳机。这个习惯用语起源于两百年前。当时枪支是由枪管、枪托和扳机三部分组成的。换句话说，lock, stock and barrel就是整个一支枪了。那么这个习惯用语意思究竟是什么呢？我们听个例子来琢磨吧：
例句-1：In the old days the bell Telephone Company became the biggest in the world by buying up a lot of local phone companies, lock, stock and barrel and merging them into one giant corporation.
他说：Bell电话公司当初收购了许多地方电话公司，把这些小公司统统合并成一家庞大的企业，Bell公司这才跃居世界首位。
Bell公司一古脑儿地网罗了那些小公司，以成为规模巨大的企业，所以这里的 lock, stock and barrel 显然解释“统统地、一古脑儿地。”
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Lock, stock and barrel用途比较广泛。我们再来听个例子。这回它用在完全不同的场合，是说一栋房子着火了。
例句-2：The firemen did their best, but the house burned right down to the ground, lock, stock and barrel -- nothing left but ashes.
他说：消防队员尽了一切努力，但是那房子还是彻底化为灰烬了。
这里的lock, stock and barrel仍解释“完全彻底地。”
******
我们要学的第二个习惯用语是： hook, line and sinker。 Sinker这里是指钓鱼的钓丝上铅做的坠子。它使钓丝深深下垂到水里。依此类推，hook一定是挂鱼饵的钩子，而line就是钓丝了。
这个习惯用语的出典是一条愚蠢上钩的鱼饿得吞吃鱼饵时把挂鱼饵的钩子、钓丝和坠子都一并吞进肚里了。这个习惯用语跟刚才学的习惯用语lock, stock and barrel意思相近，都解释“统统地、一古脑儿地，” 但是它们的用途不同。Hook, line and sinker特别用来指象鱼那样愿者上勾的受骗上当的傻瓜，听了骗人的假话全盘接受信以为真。
下面的例子是一个复员回乡的军人Joe在老朋友面前吹嘘自己如何骁勇善战，屡建战功而赢得勋章。我们来听听实际上是怎么回事：
例句-3：When Joe came back we swallowed hook, line and sinker his stories of all the overseas battles he"d been in. Later we found he"d spent the whole time as an army cook at a base here in America.
他说：当初Joe复员回乡时我们听了他在海外作战的故事全都信以为真。后来我们才发现原来Joe一直在美国本土的一个基地当部队炊事员。
既然Joe是在美国的军事基地炊事员，所以他根本没去海外，也没上前线打仗。他说的那些英勇战斗故事全是胡编的，而他的朋友们起初都信以为真，可见这里的hook, line and sinker用来说全盘听信旁人的谎言。
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Joe胡编那些炫耀自己战功的故事尽管虚假倒也不至于害人。但有时误信谎话就情况严重了。下面就是这样一个例子。说的是二十年代的一宗大诈骗案使成千上万人一生的积蓄付诸东流。当时有个叫Ponzi的人声称只要投资他所谓国际邮汇票证规划，就能在三个月内把原有的钱翻一倍。结果是他把收到的两千万美元投资款项中的一部分来偿还首批投资人，取得广大民众信任，却把大部分款项中饱私囊：
例句-4：When people heard the early investors were getting money back, they believed Ponzi hook, line and sinker. But when Ponzi was exposed as a fraud they learned their money was gone.
他说：人们听说捷足先登的投资人已经赚到钱了，他们就死心塌地地相信Ponzi 。直到Ponzi的骗局被揭穿，他们才发现自己的钱全泡汤了。
这里hook, line and sinker也用来说彻底上当。
流行美语第275课
李华和Larry一起去骑马。李华今天要学两个常用语，mean streak和soft spot.
LL: If this is your first time riding a horse, Li Hua, I think you shouldn"t ride that black one over there. That horse looks like he"s got a mean streak.
LH: A mean streak? 你说那匹黑马吗？如果我没理解错， mean streak就是mean, 坏脾气的意思吧。
LL: That"s exactly what I am saying, Li Hua. A mean streak is the potential for meanness.
LH: 那如果马的脾气太烈，会伤害骑手吗？
LL: A horse with a mean streak might refuse to let a rider get on - or even worse might try to throw a rider off their back.
LH: 我在电影里看过，有的马性情暴躁，会把骑手从马背上摔下来，看来真得小心。那匹灰色的小马看着挺随和的。那我就骑它吧。It can"t possibly have a mean streak.
LL: You know, Li Hua, it isn"t only horses that can have mean streaks. People can, too.
LH: Mean streak也能用在人身上？
LL: Do you remember the super model Naomi Campbell? She was in the news for throwing her cell phone at her housekeeper.
LH: 我记得，那个英国名模，我们叫他黑珍珠，她还有一次因为行李丢了，大发雷霆，还动手打了丨警丨察呢！
LL: That super model reminds me of a famous basketball coach in the U.S. who also had a mean streak.
LH: 篮球教练？你说谁？
LL: The former coach of the Indiana University basketball team Bobby Knight was famous for his mean streak.
LH: 我知道印第安纳大学校队很厉害，可是没听说过他们教练的故事。那你赶快告诉我！
LL: There was one time he got so mad, Li Hua, he threw a chair out on the basketball court during a game!
LH: 他竟然在比赛的时候把椅子扔到赛场上？太暴躁了！Boy, that coach really did have a mean streak.
LL: Well, it is time to get on our horses, Li Hua. You can take the nice gray horse, and I"ll try the black one with the mean streak.
LH: 小心点，Larry.
LL: Don"t worry, Li Hua. I"ll show that horse who is boss! I have a mean streak, too!
******
LL: So, now that we have been riding for a while, Li Hua, I don"t think this black horse is so bad. I am actually developing a soft spot for him.
LH: A soft spot? 什么是soft spot啊？
LL: A soft spot is a feeling of tenderness or affection for a person or thing.
LH: 你不会是喜欢上这匹黑马了吧？你忘了，刚才它还对你又踢又咬呢！
LL: I know it may seem funny, but, yes, even though this horse tried to bite me and throw me off his back, I do have a soft spot for him.
LH: 这么烈的马，你怎么会喜欢呢？真搞不清楚！
LL: Well, ever since I showed him I was in control, he"s been very good. And he"s a handsome horse, too. It"s hard to explain, but sometimes you end up having a soft spot for a thing or a person that isn"t perfect.
LH: 我有点儿明白了。像是我中文班里有几个特别好的学生，可是不知道为什么，反而是一个学得不怎么样的孩子最让我挂心。
LL: So, why do you have a soft spot for this particular student, Li Hua?
LH: 人跟人不一样，有人就是不擅长学语言，那个学生发音不够标准，而且总也记不住中文方块字的模样。
LL: This person doesn"t sound like the kind of person I"d have a soft spot for if I were a teacher, Li Hua.
LH: 他虽然不是个天才型的学生，可是每天上课都特别努力。我想喜欢他，大概是因为希望他能学好吧。
LL: You are such a dedicated teacher, Li Hua. I know there are students who have a soft spot for you.
LH: 那可不一定，我那些学生肯定觉得我很厉害。