生活英语对话 Episode 11: Phoning the landlord

本单元是关于给房东打电话的对话。

Helen: Hi, dad it's Helen
Dad: Hello my dear, how are you?
Helen: Studying hard as ever, dad. Can I ask you something as our landlord? Our lease says that we're not allowed animals in the flat. Well, is there a way that we could get around that? You see, Alice found this kitten and everyone really wants to keep her.
Dad: You have a cat in my flat? Oh Helen, why can't you ever obey the rules?
Helen: Oh dad! Please, won't you bend them for me?
Dad: Well...
Helen: Please!
Dad: Just this once.
Tim: Kitty, did you hear what I just heard? She called the landlord "dad". What a dark horse Helen is!


Vocabulary :词汇

To bend the rules (idiom):改变规则（惯用语） To do (or be permitted to do) something that's not normally allowed

本单元的语言点是关于隐私和秘密的说法，惯用语使用隐喻性的语言，而不是字面上的意思。举例来说， 'dark horse'是指有神秘过去的人（隐喻的意思），而不是指有黑色皮肤的马（字面上的意思）。

Idioms use language metaphorically² rather than literally³. If you are a 'dark horse', it means you have a mysterious or unknown past (the metaphorical¹ meaning) not that you are a horse with dark coloured skin (the literal meaning).


Idioms are also fixed⁴ groups of words so you can't change the wording of an idiom. For example, you can say 'He let the cat out of the bag' to say that someone revealed a secret, but you can't say 'He let the cat out of the suitcase'.


Here are some idioms related to keeping secrets.

When someone has a secret: 某人隐藏了秘密

To be a dark horse: This means that someone has a mysterious past or hidden talent. It comes from horse racing⁵, when a successful horse was disguised by changing its colour.
To have a skeleton in the cupboard (US closet): This means that someone has a bad or shameful⁶ secret in their past, perhaps they were once a criminal. A closet is a small cupboard that people keep their clothes in, so it is a personal space.
To have a trick up your sleeve: This means that you have a secret plan or strategy that you will use at the right time in order to be successful. This hidden trick will surprise your opponent. The idiom probably comes from the world of performing magic.
It is written all over your face: This means that you can easily realise that someone has a secret, simply by looking at that person's face.
A little bird told me: We use this phrase when we want to keep a source of information secret, when we don't want to say who told us something.

When you try to find out a secret : 想要挖掘秘密

Curiosity killed the cat: We use this to stop someone from trying to find out a secret. It is a warning that looking for the secret might be dangerous
Keep your nose out of it: We use this to tell someone to stop asking about a secret or about business that is private.
Mind your own business: We use this to tell someone to stop asking about a secret or about business that is private.
Keep your ear to the ground: We use this to tell someone to try to find out a secret or private information. If you keep your ear to the ground, you listen carefully for advance warning of something.
Keep it under your hat: We use this to tell someone to keep something secret
To spill the beans: This means to tell someone a secret.

1 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

2 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

6 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。