Learning English isn’t all it’s cracked up to be (learning English is difficult). First, grammar muddies the waters (makes things unclear), and idiomatic expressions only add fuel to the fire (make things worse).
学习英语并不是人们所说的一切（学习英语很困难）。首先，语法使一切都变得模糊不清（使事情变得模糊不清），惯用的表达方式只会火上浇油（使事情变得更糟）。
If you’re taking the TOEFL or the TOEIC, or just want to know more common idioms, read this list of 40 common idiomatic expressions before you take the test. They may just help your English language acquisition soar (get much better).
如果你正在参加托福或托业考试，或者只是想了解更多的常用习语，那么在考试前，请阅读这40个常用习语表达的列表。他们可能只是帮助你的英语学习飙升（变得更好）。
Common English Idioms
常见的英文习语
24/7: Twenty-four hours a day; seven days a week; all the time; constantly. My little sister irritates me 24/7!
24/7：一天二十四小时；一周七天；时时刻刻；时时刻刻。我妹妹24小时不停地惹我生气！
A short fuse: A quick temper. Jamie is known for his short fuse; just a few days ago he screamed at his coach for not letting him play.
导火索：急躁的脾气。杰米以他的短发闻名；就在几天前，他因为教练不让他上场而大喊大叫。
A taste of your own medicine: Bad treatment deservedly received for treating other people badly. 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.
自食其果：对别人不好，理应受到不好的待遇。朱利安不断地被人恶作剧，他决定让胡安自食其果，并点了二十七个比萨饼送到胡安家。
Butterflies in my stomach: To be nervous. Liam had butterflies in his stomach before he went on stage to play the violin.
我心里七上八下：紧张。利亚姆上台拉小提琴前，心里七上八下。
By the skin of your teeth: To just barely get by or make it. Lester made the dance team by the skin of his teeth; you can tell he hasn't been dancing jazz for very long.
侥幸成功：勉强通过或完成它。莱斯特生硬地组成了这支舞蹈队；你可以看出他已经很久没有跳爵士乐了。
Cat got your tongue?: Can’t you speak? (Usually said to embarrass the other person). I just saw you kissing my boyfriend. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?
一言不发？你不能说话吗？（通常是说让对方难堪）。我刚看见你在吻我男朋友。怎么了？你怎么一句话也不说？
Crying wolf: To ask for help when you don't need it. You have cried wolf so many times that no one believes you when you're really hurt.
虚张声势的人：在你不需要的时候寻求帮助。你虚张声势了很多次，当你真的受伤的时候，没有人相信你。
Cut someone some slack: To not judge someone too harshly. Hey. Cut me some slack. I was really busy with my frog hunting business last week and forgot to call. I'm sorry!
让某人松懈：不要过于严厉地评判某人。嘿。让我放松一下。上周我真的很忙我的猎蛙生意，忘了打电话。我很抱歉！
Down for the count: Tired; giving up; unable or unwilling to participate any longer. No, you can’t take my dog for a walk—she’s down for the count after chasing cats all day.
倒数：累了；放弃了；不能或不愿再参加。不，你不能带我的狗去散步。她整天追猫，现在要被数到。
Draw the line: To stop; to know the point where something goes from okay to not okay. Now I draw the line at speaking in front of 34,000 people.
划清界限：停下来；知道某物从好到不好的位置。现在我在3.4万人面前发言时划清界限。
Easier said than done: Not as easy as it appears to be. You want me to come to work at 6:00 AM? Easier said than done!
说起来容易做起来难：不像看上去那么容易。你要我早上6点来上班吗？说起来容易做起来难！
Every cloud has a silver lining: You can find good in every bad situation. 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!
乌云背后就是阳光：你可以在每一个糟糕的情况下找到好的一面。即使你刚被炒鱿鱼，记住乌云背后就是阳光，至少你不必再为那个脾气暴躁的老板工作了！
Finding a needle in a haystack: Virtually impossible to find. Trying to get a new job these days is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
大海捞针：几乎找不到。这些天想找一份新工作就像大海捞针。
Fish out of water: To be out of place. Tom felt like a fish out of water at the Star Trek convention his new girlfriend begged him to attend.
格格不入：出其不意。汤姆在《星际迷航》大会上感到格格不入，他的新女友求他参加。
Get something off your chest: To talk about something that has been bothering you for a long time; to admit something you have done wrong. I have to get this off my chest—I copied your answers on the SAT. Thanks for the 15th percentile score, by the way.
敞开心扉，发泄情绪：谈论困扰你很久的事情；承认你做错了什么。我得对你坦白——我在SAT上抄了你的答案。顺便说一下，谢谢你的15%的分数。
Give it a whirl: To try something. I’ve never gone kite-boarding, but I’m prepared to give it a whirl!
试一试：尝试一些东西。我从来没有上过风筝，但我准备试试看！
Go down in flames: To fail suddenly and spectacularly. The football player's career went down in flames after the media learned he'd been losing on purpose to settle gambling debts.
毁于一旦：突然而壮观地失败。这名足球运动员的职业生涯在媒体得知他故意输掉赌债后毁于一旦。
Go the extra mile: To make an extra effort. My dentist always goes the extra mile, offering free back massages at the end of a stressful tooth extraction.
加把劲儿：做点额外的努力。我的牙医总是额外的工作，在紧张的拔牙结束后提供免费的背部按摩。
Hang in there: Be patient. Wait it out. I know you're struggling right now in school but just hang in there. It'll get easier. I promise.
坚持住：耐心点。等等。我知道你现在在学校里很挣扎，但坚持住。会更容易的。我保证。
In the fast lane: A life filled with excitement. 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.
有挑战性的：充满兴奋的生活。当柯蒂斯四十岁的时候，他决定要在过有挑战性的生活，于是他辞去了牙医的工作，决定骑摩托车去欧洲旅行。
In the nick of time: Almost too late. You gave me that main idea help in the nick of time—my teacher just gave us a quiz on that reading skill and I passed it!
在关键时刻：几乎太晚了。你在我的老师刚刚给我们一个关于阅读技巧的测验的时候给了我这个主要的帮助，我通过了！
Let the cat out of the bag: Tell a secret. Brady’s surprise party is going to be great if you don’t let the cat out of the bag.
泄露一个秘密：告诉你一个秘密。Brady的惊喜派对会很伟大如果你不把猫放在袋子里
Let the chips fall where they may: To let something happen, no matter if it's good or bad. Look. I'm going to just try out for the cheerleading squad and let the chips fall where they may.
不计后果：让事情发生，不管是好是坏。看。我只想参加拉拉队的选拔，无论后果怎样。
Lose your marbles: To go crazy; insane. Mom has really lost her marbles; she's making me practice writing the ACT Essay seven times this week!
发疯：疯狂；疯狂。妈妈真的疯了，她让我这个星期练习写七次动作短文！
Once in a blue moon: Rarely. In Florida, the temperature drops below freezing only once in a blue moon.
千载难逢：很少。在佛罗里达州，蓝月的气温只有一次降到冰点以下。
Plain as day: Obvious; clear. It’s plain as day that you’re in love with her, so just admit it.
显而易见的：明显的；清晰的。很明显你爱上了她，所以承认吧。
Play second fiddle: To be less important. I hate playing second fiddle to my sister; she always does things better than I do!
处于次要位置：不那么重要。我讨厌给我妹妹当陪衬；她总是比我做得更好！
Put your foot in your mouth: Saying something you shouldn’t have. Jessica really put her foot in her mouth when she asked about John’s job right after he lost it.
乱说错话：说一些你不该说的话。当杰西卡在约翰失业后问起他的工作时，她真的很生气。
Pull yourself together: Calm down and behave normally. Pull yourself together, man! Sure, your girlfriend just dumped you and then you got hit by a car, but you can't let those things get you down.
振作起来：冷静下来，举止正常。振作起来，伙计！当然，你女朋友刚刚甩了你，然后你被一辆车撞了，但你不能让这些事情让你失望。
Sick and tired: To be bothered or annoyed by. She is sick and tired of her dog chewing up her shoes every day.
完全厌倦的：被打扰或烦恼。她厌倦了她的狗每天咬她的鞋子。
Sleep on it: To think about something for a while before making a decision. Don’t tell me whether you’ll move to Texas with me or not today. Sleep on it, and get back to me tomorrow.
好好想想：在做决定之前先想一想。别告诉我你今天是否会和我一起搬到德克萨斯州。好好考虑，明天再来找我。
Snug as a bug in a rug: Warm and cozy; content. That baby looks as snug as a bug in a rug cuddled up next to his mother.
温暖舒适；满足。那个婴儿看起来像背上的虫子一样舒适，蜷缩在他妈妈旁边。
Step up your game: To start performing better. Listen, Jen. You'd better step up your game if you want to get all A's in Miss Finch's Physics class. She isn't easy!
有更好的表现：开始表现更好。听着，珍。如果你想在芬奇小姐的物理课上获得所有的A，你最好加把劲。她不容易！
Stick your nose into something: To interfere. Sharon always sticks her nose into everyone else’s business.
对周围事物感兴趣：干涉。莎伦总是对别人的事不闻不问。
Straight from the horse’s mouth: Directly from the person involved. Listen to the news straight from the horse’s mouth; we’re all getting bonuses this week!
直截了当：直接从参与的人。直截了当地听新闻；我们这周都有奖金！
Take it easy: Relax. I know you’re not feeling well, so try to take it easy today.
放轻松：放松。我知道你不舒服，所以今天尽量放松。
Tip of the iceberg: The small easily visible part of a larger problem. The fact that Carrie is dating a member of the mafia is just the tip of the iceberg; she’s also smuggling contraband into the country.
冰山一角：一个大问题中很容易看到的小部分。嘉莉和黑手党成员约会的事实只是冰山一角；她也在向这个国家走私违禁品。
To not see the wood for the trees: To be so involved with the details that you don’t get the most important facts. She always argues about the silliest things; it’s like she can’t see the wood for the trees.
一叶障目，不见泰山：对细节如此投入，以至于你得不到最重要的事实。她总是争论最愚蠢的事情；就像她看不见树木的树木。
Up a creek without a paddle: In an unlucky/bad situation. If you don’t have any money to pay for the repairs we just made to your car, I guess you’re up a creek without a paddle because you can’t have your car back.
有麻烦：处于不幸/糟糕的情况下。如果你没有钱来支付我们刚刚对你的车所做的修理，我想你是在一个没有桨的小河上，因为你不能把车还回来。
You rock!: You are great. Dude. You rock. Thanks for offering to watch my pet iguana all week.
你太棒了！你太棒了。伙计。你太棒了。感谢你照顾我的宠物鬣蜥一周。
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).
这些只是英语成语中成千上万个成语中的一小部分。把你的脚弄湿（从这些开始），然后继续学习那些会让你大吃一惊的习语。（令你吃惊）。
