文世昌

Give and take 妥協、協調，有互相遷就的意思，fair compromise，是人與人之間平等互惠交往之道：Give and take is for the mutual benefit of both parties。A happy marriage largely depends on give and take，美滿的婚姻很大程度取决於互敬互讓。

Humorous 有幽默感的，funny and enjoyable；showing a sense of humour；指引人發笑的成功嘗試，例如：a humorous fellow，一個幽默的傢伙。Witty 妙趣橫生的、機智巧妙的，clever and amusing，指聰明的幽默，例如：a witty remark 是機智的話。

蘋果對洋人來說，健康之外，有文化、歷史、宗教的象徵特質，比喻和諺語的涵蓋面，既廣泛又多姿。The apple of discord 是希臘神話中引起爭吵之原因；the apple of one's eyes 是心肝寶貝、珍愛之物；a bad apple：對四周產生壞影響的人，不誠實、不道德、討人厭的傢伙；井井有條、齊整有序，可以用 apple-pie order 來形容。Upset the apple cart，即是帶來煩惱或破壞大計。

Frienship 友誼方面：best friend/good, old, dear friend/acquaintance，三者的程度拾級而下。書友 classmate，室友 roommate，隊友 teammate，知心友 soul-mate，都是朋友。

英國為了整頓1880年之前混亂無序的足球賽事和規則而組織了足球協會（football association）。這樣組織足球的正式名稱 association football 就誕生了，現在很多國家均取 association 中的 "soc"，稱 football 足球為 soccer。

Foot 很多時和行動有關：put one's best foot forward，全力以赴，begin to do something purposefully；put a foot wrong，行差踏錯，act unwisely and make a mistake；you are caught on the wrong foot，則表示事情發生得太突然，你感到驚愕，沒有心理準備。

日常英語中，很多比喻和修辭，來自園藝和花卉。Many metaphors and allegories have their origin in the cultivation of flowers and plants：Every thing in the garden is lovely，前景一片光明，情況令人滿意，everything is satisfactory, all things are going well, or it could not be better。例句：You say everything in the garden is lovely. Sales may look good but they're actually 10% down on last year.

Be like a fish out of water, to feel awkward because you are not familiar with a situation or because you are very different from the people around you. All the other children in the school had rich, middle-class parents, and she was beginning to feel like a fish out of water. 你感到渾身不自在，不能輕鬆自若，因你廁身陌生環境，非常不習慣。離水之魚；在陌生環境不得其所的人。

野火燒不盡，春風吹又生：spread like wild fire，謠言往往像野火般迅速傳播，things such as rumour and gossip spread very rapidly。赴湯蹈火，在所不辭：go through fire and water, you are willing to face any danger and endure hardships: Peter told his sweetheart he loved her so much that he was willing to go through fire and water for her.

電影遠勝於戲劇，它超越本國的局限，面對世界的觀眾。幽默大師林語堂說過：「今日真教育不在學校，而在電影院……熏陶青年之德性而影響其言行者，乃銀幕人物，而非學堂教師。」（《烟屑》）

全球節日，林林種種，類別繁多，各自各精釆。Kinds of festivals include celebrations, carnivals and other festivities，例如：Chinese New Year 華人的農曆新年；Cherry Blossom Festival of Japan 日本人的櫻花節；Rio Carnival—four days celebration with music, dance food and drink 巴西嘉年華式的狂歡節；Tomato Fight of Bunol in Spain lasting exactly one hour 西班牙一小時街頭大戰的番茄節。

心情大好是 in a good mood；a mood of optimism，可以說 in high spirits/full of the joys of spring/on top of the world。情緒低落是 in a bad mood：You feel angry or unhappy at a particular time 悶悶不樂；You are in a foul mood of despair。脾氣暴躁可以說：like a bear with a sore head 急性子。You get up on the wrong side of the bed 一起床就無緣無故地情緒不佳。

Like father, like son generally means people usually behave like their parents，許多兒子不僅外表像父親，性格和處世也受父親的影響，正所謂有其父，必有其子。Fathers and sons resemble each other, and sons tend to do what their fathers did before them. When we say his father's son, that means he looks like his father, he is a chip off the old block who resembles his parent in appearance, character and behaviour：好似一個模子裏出來的，相貌、性格和行為都酷似父親，it runs in the family。

Fast 通常用來描述高速運動的人或事物，泛指高速度或具有高速度的能力。Quick 較多用來描述迅速或立即完成的事。運動場上，例如奧運會，fast 和 faster 大派用場。Rapid 最常用於描述事物變化的速度，而非運動的速度。

在比賽或競爭中不分高下，難分勝負，equal or very close，可以用 neck and neck：The two computer companies are neck to neck in their competition to win over customers. This phrase is generally used to describe competitors and often with the verb "run": The athletes are running neck and neck in the race.

面部表情的動詞，林林種種，七情上面：to beam 笑逐顏開：to have a big happy smile；to frown 皺眉、蹙額：to make a serious，angry，or worried expression；to glare 怒目而視、咄咄逼人地瞪眼：to look in an angry，aggressive way；to grimace 因為痛苦、厭惡等原因而扭曲着臉：to make an ugly expression；to scowl 怒視：to look at someone in an angry or annoyed way；to smirk 儍笑，以示自鳴得意：to smile in a silly or unpleasant way；to sneer 嗤笑，翹起上唇譏笑，以示輕蔑：to show no respect。

At first sight 是眼睛初看時的第一印象；second sight 則是先見之明：the ability to foretell the future。讓人賞心悅目的景象，樂於看見的人物，a sight for sore eyes is a pleasant surprise。假如你下定決心，以某樣東西為奮鬥目標，並努力爭取，you set your sights on something。

Dressed up to the nines 穿著講究，衣飾華麗，dressed very stylishly with nothing overlooked，穿著最時髦或大方得體的衣服。If you are dressed up to the nines, you wear your best or most formal clothes。

Eat, drink and be merry. 行樂要及時，今朝有酒今朝醉。招待某人大吃大喝是 wine and dine somebody，即是 treat somebody to an expensive meal；精神食糧方面，值得思考的議題，令人再三咀嚼的談話，耐人尋味的電影等，都可以說：food for thought, an interesting speech, a thought provoking movie or something to think about。

極容易 as easy as pie，相等於唾手可得 it is a piece of cake，非常容易做得到。As easy as winking 等於 very easy indeed，簡直易如反掌，誰都辦得到。你需要用盡方法去克服的困難 a very hard job is a tough row to hoe。You sweat blood = you have to work very hard。當困難被克服，逆境過去了 when the difficulties are over，從此順風順水，it’s all plain sailing from now on。

法律講證據。慣用語 a smoking gun，是指 a piece of evidence and the indisputable sign of someone's guilt，證明某人犯罪的真憑實據，例如犯案現場留下的指紋：The fingerprints left on the door-handle was the smoking gun that enabled the police to arrest him。證據充份，可以說 in black and white 白紙黑字，to say that something is in black and white means that there is written proof of it。Give someone the benefit of doubt 表示疑中留情，縱使對某人懷疑，但仍作善意解釋，把人往好處想。

FREEZING 比 cold 程度更強，指結冰的温度。Extremely cold weather 也可以說 it’s bitterly cold。CHILLY 多用於指 cool 與 cold 之間的的氣温，LUKEWARM 和 TEPID 指不冷不熱；a cold snap 指持續一段時間的驟冷期。當你的身體感到寒冷：you shiver because of the cold; your teeth chatter; goose pimples or goose bumps appear on your skin。Stone cold 通常適用於食物的温度：I can’t eat this soup——it's stone cold.

Complain 埋怨的同義詞有 grumble 咕噥、發牢騷，表達抱怨者心情不好的感受；moan 埋怨、whine 絮絮叨叨地抱怨，抱怨使人心煩，强調聽者的心情。Compromise 妥協，和解的精髓是互諒互讓，雙方同時放棄原本想要的東西，達到皆大歡喜的收場，而不是兩敗俱傷，所謂 give and take，有得就有失。

時裝講究款式和潮流：A fashion is a style of clothing that is popular in a particular time。穿著入時的人物，文字傳媒流行叫做 fashionista。 盲目趕時髦的人，時尚的受害者稱為 a fashion victim。Clothes horse 是幽默而帶貶義的叫法，表示只懂追求時尚，過份講究衣着的人：you mean that one is fashionable but has little intelligence or other abilities。

A clever and intelligent person 聰明的人，智力發達，記憶力好，理解力強，英文的比喻有 as bright as button 以及 a bright spark；a mine of information 知識淵博的人，消息靈通人士。形容 being stupid 愚蠢的慣用語，有以下多個選擇：have nothing between your ears 愚蠢；all brawn and no brains 四肢發達，頭腦簡單；as thick as two short planks 遲鈍的；dead from the neck up《美俚》蠢笨的。

Like the cat that got the cream 貓兒舔牛奶，看起來十非滿足及快樂。Like the cat that ate the canary 洋洋得意，躊躇滿志。If you grin like a Cheshire cat 你咧着嘴巴傻笑，通常由於你對自己的表現，很心滿意足。狗忠於主人的特徵，令牠成為人類最忠實最珍愛的伴侶。但在英文成語中，狗的負面形象同時也根深蒂固：It’s a dog’s life 是潦倒落魄的日子。A dog’s dinner 亂七八糟，沒有系統。

If you buy a pig in a poke, you buy something without seeing it or knowing if it is good enough。這句流行語，表示你買入未看過又不知優劣的東西，很容易上當。A poke is a bag，買回家，打開袋子，已經太遲。便宜莫貪！Sell like hot cakes 非常受到顧客歡迎，很快賣出很多：a simile cliché meaning to be sold very quickly and in large numbers, a great commercial success.

亂紛紛蜂釀蜜，英文習用語 as busy as a bee，忙得不可開交，形象地表達了忙碌的意思：Bees are always buzzing around doing things, so it's natural to say bees are busy. Someone very busy, having many things to do and constantly working is as busy as a bee.

Borrow 與 Lend 這两個字常被混淆，借入用 borrow，借出用 lend。Borrow 還有引用、借用的意思，例如思想、言語、文字等多方面；Lend 常見說法，亦有增添的意思，或給予（give, provide, support）等生動用法。

英語學習方面，將身體（parts of the body）和某些特定的動詞（particular verbs）連成一起，可以生動準確地表達感情（emotion）和態度（attitude）。