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).
學習英語并不是人們所說的一切（學習英語很困難）。首先，語法使一切都變得模糊不清（使事情變得模糊不清），慣用的表達方式只會火上澆油（使事情變得更糟）。

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).
如果你正在參加托福或托業(yè)考試，或者只是想了解更多的常用習語，那么在考試前，請閱讀這40個常用習語表達的列表。他們可能只是幫助你的英語學習飆升（變得更好）。

Common English Idioms
常見的英文習語

24/7: Twenty-four hours a day; seven days a week; all the time; constantly. My little sister irritates me 24/7!
24/7：一天二十四小時；一周七天；時時刻刻；時時刻刻。我妹妹24小時不停地惹我生氣！

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.
導火索：急躁的脾氣。杰米以他的短發(fā)聞名；就在幾天前，他因為教練不讓他上場而大喊大叫。

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：對別人不好，理應受到不好的待遇。朱利安不斷地被人惡作劇，他決定讓胡安自食其果，并點了二十七個比薩餅送到胡安家。

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：緊張。利亞姆上臺拉小提琴前，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.
僥幸成功：勉強通過或完成它。萊斯特生硬地組成了這支舞蹈隊；你可以看出他已經很久沒有跳爵士樂了。

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?
一言不發(fā)？你不能說話嗎？（通常是說讓對方難堪）。我剛看見你在吻我男朋友。怎么了？你怎么一句話也不說？

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.
虛張聲勢的人：在你不需要的時候尋求幫助。你虛張聲勢了很多次，當你真的受傷的時候，沒有人相信你。

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!
讓某人松懈：不要過于嚴厲地評判某人。嘿。讓我放松一下。上周我真的很忙我的獵蛙生意，忘了打電話。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.
倒數(shù)：累了；放棄了；不能或不愿再參加。不，你不能帶我的狗去散步。她整天追貓，現(xiàn)在要被數(shù)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.
劃清界限：停下來；知道某物從好到不好的位置。現(xiàn)在我在3.4萬人面前發(fā)言時劃清界限。

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!
說起來容易做起來難：不像看上去那么容易。你要我早上6點來上班嗎？說起來容易做起來難！

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!
烏云背后就是陽光：你可以在每一個糟糕的情況下找到好的一面。即使你剛被炒魷魚，記住烏云背后就是陽光，至少你不必再為那個脾氣暴躁的老板工作了！

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.
大海撈針：幾乎找不到。這些天想找一份新工作就像大海撈針。

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。湯姆在《星際迷航》大會上感到格格不入，他的新女友求他參加。

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.
敞開心扉，發(fā)泄情緒：談論困擾你很久的事情；承認你做錯了什么。我得對你坦白——我在SAT上抄了你的答案。順便說一下，謝謝你的15%的分數(shù)。

Give it a whirl: To try something. I’ve never gone kite-boarding, but I’m prepared to give it a whirl!
試一試：嘗試一些東西。我從來沒有上過風箏，但我準備試試看！

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.
毀于一旦：突然而壯觀地失敗。這名足球運動員的職業(yè)生涯在媒體得知他故意輸?shù)糍€債后毀于一旦。

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.
加把勁兒：做點額外的努力。我的牙醫(yī)總是額外的工作，在緊張的拔牙結束后提供免費的背部按摩。

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.
堅持?。耗托狞c。等等。我知道你現(xiàn)在在學校里很掙扎，但堅持住。會更容易的。我保證。

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.
有挑戰(zhàn)性的：充滿興奮的生活。當柯蒂斯四十歲的時候，他決定要在過有挑戰(zhàn)性的生活，于是他辭去了牙醫(yī)的工作，決定騎摩托車去歐洲旅行。

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!
在關鍵時刻：幾乎太晚了。你在我的老師剛剛給我們一個關于閱讀技巧的測驗的時候給了我這個主要的幫助，我通過了！

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.
泄露一個秘密：告訴你一個秘密。Brady的驚喜派對會很偉大如果你不把貓放在袋子里

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.
不計后果：讓事情發(fā)生，不管是好是壞?？础Ｎ抑幌?yún)⒓永牭倪x拔，無論后果怎樣。

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!
發(fā)瘋：瘋狂；瘋狂。媽媽真的瘋了，她讓我這個星期練習寫七次動作短文！

Once in a blue moon: Rarely. In Florida, the temperature drops below freezing only once in a blue moon.
千載難逢：很少。在佛羅里達州，藍月的氣溫只有一次降到冰點以下。

Plain as day: Obvious; clear. It’s plain as day that you’re in love with her, so just admit it.
顯而易見的：明顯的；清晰的。很明顯你愛上了她，所以承認吧。

Play second fiddle: To be less important. I hate playing second fiddle to my sister; she always does things better than I do!
處于次要位置：不那么重要。我討厭給我妹妹當陪襯；她總是比我做得更好！

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.
亂說錯話：說一些你不該說的話。當杰西卡在約翰失業(yè)后問起他的工作時，她真的很生氣。

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.
振作起來：冷靜下來，舉止正常。振作起來，伙計！當然，你女朋友剛剛甩了你，然后你被一輛車撞了，但你不能讓這些事情讓你失望。

Sick and tired: To be bothered or annoyed by. She is sick and tired of her dog chewing up her shoes every day.
完全厭倦的：被打擾或煩惱。她厭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：在做決定之前先想一想。別告訴我你今天是否會和我一起搬到德克薩斯州。好好考慮，明天再來找我。

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.
溫暖舒適；滿足。那個嬰兒看起來像背上的蟲子一樣舒適，蜷縮在他媽媽旁邊。

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!
有更好的表現(xiàn)：開始表現(xiàn)更好。聽著，珍。如果你想在芬奇小姐的物理課上獲得所有的A，你最好加把勁。她不容易！

Stick your nose into something: To interfere. Sharon always sticks her nose into everyone else’s business.
對周圍事物感興趣：干涉。莎倫總是對別人的事不聞不問。

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!
直截了當：直接從參與的人。直截了當?shù)芈犘侣?；我們這周都有獎金！

Take it easy: Relax. I know you’re not feeling well, so try to take it easy today.
放輕松：放松。我知道你不舒服，所以今天盡量放松。

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：一個大問題中很容易看到的小部分。嘉莉和黑手黨成員約會的事實只是冰山一角；她也在向這個國家走私違禁品。

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.
一葉障目，不見泰山：對細節(jié)如此投入，以至于你得不到最重要的事實。她總是爭論最愚蠢的事情；就像她看不見樹木的樹木。

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.
有麻煩：處于不幸/糟糕的情況下。如果你沒有錢來支付我們剛剛對你的車所做的修理，我想你是在一個沒有槳的小河上，因為你不能把車還回來。

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。伙計。你太棒了。感謝你照顧我的寵物鬣蜥一周。

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).
這些只是英語成語中成千上萬個成語中的一小部分。把你的腳弄濕（從這些開始），然后繼續(xù)學習那些會讓你大吃一驚的習語。（令你吃驚）。