学习英语其实也不像说起来那么容易。(学英语很难)首先，语法就使水变得浑浊(使事情不明朗)，而习惯用语只会火上加油(使事情更糟糕)。

　　如果你在准备托福或托业考试，或者只是想认识更多的常见习语，就可以在考试之前看看这份常见习语的列表。它们会使你的英语有大大的收获(变得更好)。

　　常见英语习语

　　1.24/7: 一天二十四小时;一周七天;一直;持续地。

　　My little sister irritates me 24/7!

　　我的小妹妹整天都在惹我生气!

　　2.A short fuse:急性子。

　　Jamie is known for his short fuse; just a few days ago he screamed at his coach for not letting him play.

　　杰米真是个急性子;几天前他就跟教练嚷嚷着说不要让他上场了。

　　3.A taste of your own medicine:如果对别人坏，那么自己理所当然地也要尝尝相同的滋味。

　　After constantly being prank-called, Julian decided to give Juan a taste of his own medicine and ordered twenty-seven pizzas to be delivered to Juan’s house.

　　在多次被捉弄后，朱利安决定也要让胡安尝尝同样的滋味，就订了27块披萨送到胡安的家里。

　　4.Butterflies in my stomach: 紧张的。

　　Liam had butterflies in his stomach before he went on stage to play the violin.

　　利亚姆在上台演奏小提琴时非常紧张。

　　5.By the skin of your teeth: 勉强做成某事。

　　Lester made the dance team by the skin of his teeth; you can tell he hasn't been dancing jazz for very long.

　　莱斯特勉强组成了舞蹈队;你可以看出来他已经好久没跳爵士了。

　　6.Cat got your tongue?: 怎么不说话了?(通常说出来是为了让对方难堪)

　　I just saw you kissing my boyfriend. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?

　　我刚才看见你亲了我男朋友。怎么回事?你怎么不吭声了?

　　7. Crying wolf: 假意求救。

　　You have cried wolf so many times that no one believes you when you're really hurt.

　　你已经玩了这么多次“狼来了”的把戏，没人会相信你是真的受伤了。

　　8.Cut someone some slack: 放某人一马。

　　Hey. Cut me some slack. I was really busy with my frog hunting business last week and forgot to call. I'm sorry!

　　嘿，放我一马吧。上个星期我真的是忙着捉青蛙了，忘了给你打电话。对不起嘛!

　　9.Down for the count:疲劳的;放弃;不能活不愿再参与。

　　No, you can’t take my dog for a walk – she’s down for the count after chasing cats all day.

　　不，你不能溜我的狗。——她追了那几只猫一天，已经累坏了。

　　10.In the fast lane:繁忙刺激的人生。

　　When Curtis turned forty, he decided he needed to live life in the fast lane, so he quit his job as a dentist and decided to tour Europe by motorcycle.

　　当柯蒂斯四十岁的时候，他决心过刺激的人生，所以他辞去了牙医的工作，决定骑摩托车环游欧洲。

　　11.Draw the line: 停止;判定好坏的分界线。

　　Now I draw the line at speaking in front of 34,000 people.

　　现在我结束了在34000人前的讲话。

　　12.Easier said than done: 说起来容易做起来难。

　　You want me to come to work at 6:00 AM? Easier said than done!

　　想让我6点就开工?说得容易!

　　13.Every cloud has a silver lining: 困境中总会发现转机。

　　Even though you just got fired, remember that every cloud has a silver lining – at least you don’t have to work for that grouchy boss anymore!

　　即使你被解雇了，你也要记住，柳暗花明又一村。至少你再也不用为那个坏脾气的老板工作了!

　　14.Finding a needle in a haystack: 根本找不到。

　　Trying to get a new job these days is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

　　这些天找份新工作真是不可能的事。

　　15.Fish out of water:不得其所，格格不入。

　　Tom felt like a fish out of water at the Star Trek convention his new girlfriend begged him to attend.

　　汤姆的新女友央求他去《星际迷航》的影迷会，这让他感到浑身不自在。

　　16.Get something off your chest: 说出困扰了你很久的事;承认你做错了某事。

　　I have to get this off my chest – I copied your answers on the Redesigned SAT. Thanks for the 15th percentile score, by the way.

　　我得承认，在入学考试时我抄了你的答案。顺便感谢你让我进了前15%。

　　17.Give it a whirl:尝试做某事。

　　I’ve never gone kite-boarding, but I’m prepared to give it a whirl!

　　我从没玩过风筝冲浪，但我准备尝试一下!

　　18.Go down in flames: 在众人面前失败。

　　The football player's career went down in flames after the media learned he'd been losing on purpose to settle gambling debts.

　　在被媒体爆出身负赌债后，这名足球选手的事业一落千丈。

　　19.Go the extra mile: 加倍努力。

　　My dentist always goes the extra mile, offering free back massages at the end of a stressful tooth extraction.

　　我的牙医总是非常尽心，会在令人紧张的拔牙后给病人按摩。

　　20.Hang in there: 有耐心，坚持下去。

　　I know you're struggling right now in school, but just hang in there. It'll get easier. I promise.

　　我知道你现在在学校里的日子不好过，但你要坚持下去。我保证事情会变得容易的。

　　These are just a few of the thousands of idioms in the English language. Get your feet wet (start) with these, and then move on to the idioms that will knock your socks off. (astound you).

　　这些习语只是英语习语中的一小部分。你可以从这些内容开始着手，然后再学习那些让你吃惊的习语。

（编辑：何莹莹）