Chapter 4 The Twenty Habits (3)
PART 1 Expressions
1. "Let me explain why that won't work." That, in my experience, is the telltale phrase of negativity.
telltale signs/ marks/ phrases: sign ets that clearly show something has happened or exists, often sth that is a secret 泄露秘密的
They examined the child carefully, looking for telltale signs of abuse.
2. Two or three times a year she would book me to speak to a corporate group.
book: (v.) to arrange for sb such as a singer to perform on a particular date
The band was booked for a benefit show in Los Angeles.
in my book: spoken, said when giving your opinion 有点类似中文里说的“在我的词典里”
In my book, nothing is more important than football.
3. Here I was throwing easy money at her.
easy money/ soft money: 轻而易举就能赚到的钱
Some people think that playing stocks is easy money.
Take the job for a few months. It's soft money.
heavy money: 许多钱
Tom will bring heavy money to the company if he agrees to invest.
throw money at sth: informal, to try to solve a problem by spending a lot of money but without really thinking about the problem (例句中的throw money at her 不是这个意思,仅是扔钱给她)
The problem cannot be solved by throwing money at it.
4. How often do they knock on your door and sit down to shoot the breeze or give you a heads-up about a development that may affect you?
shoot the breeze/ shoot the bull: informal, to have an informal conversation about unimportant things
Cal and I were sitting on the porch, shooting the breeze.
heads-up: a warning that sth may happen
Here's a heads-up for investors in real-estate stocks.
5. They weren't meshing as a team.
mesh: (v.) 1.(机器齿轮的)啮合;2. if two ideas or things mesh, they fit together very well
His won ideas did not mesh with the views of the party.
mesh: (n.) 1. 网眼;网状物; 2. literary, a complicated or difficult situation or system 困境
She had felt trapped by the old mesh of loyalty and shame.
mesh6. I was helping him pro bono.
something as pro forma as saying, "You're welcome" when someone else says, "Thank you."
pro bono: (a. /ad.) [ˌprəʊ ˈbəʊnəʊ] used to describe work that sb, especially a lawyer, does without getting paid 无偿(专业性)服务的
pro forma:(a./ ad.) [ˌprəʊ ˈfɔ:mə] 形式上的 as a formality
a one-candidate pro forma election
pro forma invoice: 形式发票 -- 是一种非正式发票,是卖方对潜在的买方报价的一种形式。买房常常需要形式发票,以作为申请进口和批准外汇之用。
7. He never had time to sit down with his assistant for a daily debriefing.
He scheduled time to debrief his assistant on what he was up to.
debrief: (v.) [ˌdi:ˈbri:f] to ask sb questions about a job they have just done or an experience they have just had, in order to gather information 通常是比较正式的场合,如询问(士兵、外交官、宇航员等)执行任务的情况
The returning bomber crews were debriefed.
debriefing: (n.) eg. a debriefing session
8. They cannot revel in the success or accept congratulations -- because you have choked off that option.
revel: 1. 狂欢(例如在carnival中); 2. revel in sth to enjoy sth very much
He reveled in his new-found fame.
reveler: (n.) 狂欢者
choke: (v.) 窒息
choke off sth: to prevent sth from happening
It is feared that higher interest rates might choke off economic recovery.
9. You have the success but none of the afterglow.
afterglow: 1. 余晖;夕照; 2. a pleasant feeling that remains after a good experience
the afterglow of victory
10. Of all the interpersonal slights we make in our professional or private lives, not providing recognition may be the one that endures most deeply in the minds of the slighted.
slight: (v.) to offend sb by treating them rudely or without respect
Dereck felt slighted when no one phone him back.
(n.) She may take it as a slight on her ability as a mother
not in the slightest: spoken, not at all
"Did he mind lending you the car?" "Not in the slightest."
11. But even the most highly evolved human being would have a tough time grinning and bearing when neglect turns to larceny.
grin and bear it: 笑着承受,to accept an unpleasant or difficult situation without complaining, usually because you realize there is nothing you can do to make it better
larceny: [ˈlɑ:səni] 盗窃罪
12. If it's happened to you, you know how hard it is to shed that bitter taste.
shed 有get rid of; drop, fall的意思
The company is planning to shed about a quarter of its workforce.
shed weight/ pounds 减重
shed tears: to cry
shed light: 照亮; to make sth easier to understand by providing new or better information
Recent research has shed light on the causes of the disease.
13. Now turn the tables, Imagine you're the perpetrator rather than the victim.
turn the tables (on sb): to change a situation completely, so that sb loses an advantage and you gain one 转败为胜;转弱为强
The only question is whether the President can use his extraordinary political skills to turn the tables on his opponents.
14. But when it comes to determining exactly who came up with the winning phrase in a meeting or who held together an important client relationship during a rocky phase, the evident gets fuzzy.
winning phrase: the winning thing is the one that makes you win a competition or game
The winning design came form an architect Glasgow.
a winning quality or way of doing sth is one that makes other people like you SYN attractive
a winning smile
fuzzy: 1. 毛绒绒的; 2. unclear or confused
There's a fuzzy line between parents' and schools' responsibilities
15. We fall into the success trap and give ourselves the benefit of the doubt.
give sb the benefit of the doubt: 法律中的“疑点利于被告人”原则,日常生活中指 to accept what sb tells you, even though you think they may be wrong or lying but cannot be sure
The referee gave him the benefit of the doubt.
16. In the meantime, the victims of our injustice are seething.
seethe: (注意末尾的e!) to feel an emotion, especially anger, so strongly that you are almost shaking SYN fume
He was seething with anger.
be seething with sth: if a place is seething with people, insects etc, there are a lot of them all moving quickly in different directions 充满
The cellar was seething with spiders.
PART 2 Sentences
I also suspect that's a big reason why so many of us withhold information. It's not that we want to keep people in the dark, It's simply that we're too busy. We mean well. We have good intentions. But we fail to get around to it. As a result we become bad at sharing information -- whether it comes in the form of a news bulletin, or a heads-up or instruction that teaches people how to do something that we don't have time to do ourselves. Over time it begins to look as if we are withholding information.