f488w48ce的部落格

A
A big fish in a small pond,
A breath of fresh air,
A case in point,
A drop in the bucket,
A friend in need is a friend indeed,
A given,
A handful of,
A last-ditch effort,
A pat on the back,
A penny saved is a penny earned,
A picture is worth a thousand words,
A piece of cake,
A piece of the action,
A rule of thumb,
Above and beyond,
Acronym,
Across the board,
Add fuel to the fire,
Afford,
Against the clock,
All bets are off,
All Greek,
All in the same boat,
Anonymous,
Around the corner,
Articulate,
As a whole,
As sick as a dog,
As soon as,
As usual,
At length,
At one's fingertips,
At risk,
At stake,
At the end of the day,
(At) times,
At one' s disposal,

B
Back and forth,
Back to square one,
Bang through,
Bark up the wrong tree,
Beat a dead horse,
Beat around the bush,
Before you know it,
Behind one' s back,
Bells and whistles,
Better late than never,
Better off,
Between a rock and a hard place,
Between you and me,
Birds of a feather flock together,
Bite off more than one can chew,
Bite the bullet,
Bite one' s tongue,
Black Friday,
Bless you, or God bless you,
Blow one' s own trumpet ; Toot one' s own horn,
Bog down,
Bounce something off someone,
Break even,
Break the ice,
Break new ground,
Breakout session,
Brush up on,
Build up,
Burn one' s bridge,
Burn out,
Burn the candle at both ends,
Buzz,
By and large,
By no means,
By the same token,
By the way,

C
Cadence,
Call,
Call it a day,
Call it quits,
Call off,
Call the shots,
Can' t judge a book by its cover,
Can' t teach an old dog new trick,
Card,
Carried away,
Carrying it a bit too far,
Catch,
Catch a cold,
Caveat,
Change one' s mind,
Change one' s tune,
Cherry-pick,
Chitchat,
Clean up,
Collaborate,
Come a long way,
Come across,
Come in handy,
Come out with,
Come to an end,
Come up with,
Coming out of one's ears,
Come out with,
Comparing apples to apples,
Comparing apples to oranges,
Convey,
Count on,
Cross one' s fingers,
Crying over spilled milk,
Crying wolf,
Cut corners,

D
Day and night,
Dig one' s own grave,
Direct,
Disseminate,
Distribute,
Do the trick,
Do one' s homework,
Don' t cross that bridge until you come to it,
Done deal,
Don' t belong here,
Down the street,
Drastic times call for drastic measures,
Drop-in,

E
Easier said than done,
Elaborate,
Encroach on or upon,
Entertain,
Entitled to,
Error-prone,
Everything being equal,
Everything but the kitchen sink,

F
Fall short; come short,
Fall through the cracks,
Feel like,
Fiddle with,
Fifty-fifty Figure out,
Flesh out,
From scratch,
Flush out something; flush something out,
Fly by the seat of my pants,
For good,
Freak out,

G
Get cold feet,
Get hands dirty,
Get in touch with,
Get off on the right foot,
Get one' s act together,
Get over it,
Get stuck,
Give someone a heads up,
Go all the way,
Go the extra mile,
Go to any lengths,
Goes out of the window,
Grapple with,
Great minds think alike,

H
Handed down,
Hands-on,
Hash out,
Haste makes waste,
Have no idea,
Have nothing to do with,
Have something to do with,
Highlight,
Hold someone accountable,
Holdup,
Household name,

I
If it' s not one thing, it' s another,
If you can' t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,
Impinge on,
In a hurry,
In addition,
In and out,
In good hands,
In good shape,
In light of,
In place,
In question,
In retrospect,
In someone' s shoes,
In store,
In the ballpark,
In the dark,
In the driver' s seat,
In the long run,
In the meantime,
In the works,
Independent of,
Initiative,
It goes without saying,
It is raining cats and dogs,
It takes two to tango,
It' s a small world,
It' s not one thing, it' s another,
It' s not rocket science,

J
Jack of all trades, master of none,
Jargon,
Jet lag,
Jump on the bandwagon,
Jump the gun,

K
Keep an eye on,
Keep in mind; Bear in mind,
Keep on one' s toes,
Keep someone at arm' s length,
Keep something at bay,
Keep something intact,
Keep track of,
Keep up with,
Kill two birds with one stone,

L
Learn the ropes,
Leave someone alone,
Lend me your ear,
Let someone down,
Let Mother Nature take care of itself,
Line of thought,
Line up your ducks; have your ducks in a row,
Little by little,
Live up to,
Lo and behold,
Look over,
Lose one' s head,
Low-hanging fruits,
Low man on the totem pole,

M
Make a long story short,
Make (both) ends meet,
Make concessions,
Make ends meet,
Make headway,
Make it,
Make it through,
Make out,
Make room for,
Make sense,
Make someone' s life easier,
Make the most of,
Make up one' s mind,
Money is no object,
Moonlight,
Moving target,
Music to someone' s ears,

N
Needle in a haystack,
Nitty-gritty,
No big deal,
No pain, no gain,
Nomenclature,
Not a chance,

O
Off the hook,
Off the record,
Off-line,
On alert,
On hand,
On hold,
On the fly,
On the safe side,
On the same page,
On top of,
Once and for all,
One' s back up against the wall,
One-on-one,
One-to-one,
Orchestrate,
Other than,
Out of control,
Out of options,
Out of order,
Out of service,
Out of the blue,
Out of the question,
Out of the woods,
Out of touch,
Out on a limb,
Over one' s head,
Oversight,

P
Pass away,
Pay the price,
Pennywise and poundfoolish,
Pick up the tab,
Pissed off,
Plan Of Record (POR),
Play catch-up,
Play (it) by ear,
Poach,
Polished,
Populate,
Potluck,
Practice makes perfect,
Proactive,
Pros and cons,
Pull someone' s leg,
Pull the trigger,
Put all one' s eggs in one basket,
Put away,
Put on,
Put one' s best foot forward,

Q
R
Rack up,
Rain check,
Raise the bar,
Refresh,
Resume,
Ring,
Ring up,
Roll up sleeves,
Roller coaster,
Rub salt in a wound,
Run an errand,

S
Second nature,
See light at the end of the tunnel,
Sense,
Set someone apart,
Set aside,
Settle down,
Sharpen your pencil,
Shed some light on something,
Short-handed,
Shot in the arm,
Silver lining,
Slate,
Smoke and mirrors,
Speak highly of someone,
Speak of the devil,
Spin one' s wheels,
Stand a chance,
Stay put,
Step on someone' s toes,
Subject to,
Sweet tooth,

T
Tag,
Tail wagging the dog,
Take a stab at,
Take a walk,
Take advantage of,
Take care of,
Take into account,
Take over,
Take part in,
Take place,
Take something for granted,
Takeaway,
The ball is in your court,
The bottom line,
The devil is in the details,
The first step is always the hardest,
The grass is always greener on the other side,
The numbers do not add up,
The other way around,
The sky is the limit,
The squeaky wheel gets the oil,
The straw that broke the camel's back,
The writing on the wall,
There is no place like home,
Things are looking good,
Throw darts in the dark,
Throw in the towel,
Throw someone off,
Time is of the essence,
Tongue in cheek,
Touch base with someone,
Train of thought,
Turn out,
Two cents,
Two heads are better than one,

U
Unanimous,
Under control,
Under the gun,
Up for grabs,
Up to,
Up to it,
Up to par,

V
W
Walk through,
What goes around comes around,
What' s your sense,
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
When it rains, it pours,
Where' s the beef?,
Wind down,
Wishy-washy,
Without a doubt,
Without a second thought,
Word of mouth,
Workaround,
Workout,
Wouldn' t touch something with a ten-foot pole,
Wrestle with,
X

Y
You can lead a horse to water, but you can' t
make it drink,
You get what you pay for,
You got me,
You made my day,
Your guess is as good as mine,

Z
Zero in on,

自序

　　在美國唸書，工作，和生活了20多年之後，我有幸到世界不同國家旅遊，工作。過去的14年，在不同的國家和地區，我一再發現了相同的事實。

　　對於母語不是英語的人來說，他們講英語不像地道的美國人。雖然他們接受過當地正式的英語教育，或是專業英語學校及培訓班的培訓，但是，他們說英語的方式和地道的美國人不同。我初步的結論是他們多半從未在美國唸書，工作，或生活過，不瞭解美國文化，更別說語言了。我試著幫他們理解如何像地道的美國人思考，講英語。過去的兩年半?，略有小成。

　　大約在2010年十一月，我開始與我的同事分享美國客戶日常對話中常用的英語表達方式，並且得到了他們的肯定。這種肯定鼓舞我將與他們分享的英語收集成冊，這本書也就因而誕生。

　　謝謝我的女兒傑寧，在閱讀手稿時給我很多建設性的建議。特別感謝我的助理胡靜，花了很多私人時間將原稿譯成中文。最後感謝好友吳俊德，於百忙之中，在找到商訊文化事業股份有限公司以及與他們合作上，扮演關鍵性的角色，使本書順利出版。

施哲人
2013年4月