英语讲义【174】与"生""死"有关的惯用语

　　生老病死是人生必经之路，是迟早的事。

　　看看英语惯用语里有些什么反映。

　　（1） A chip off the old block：与父亲一模一样的儿子　Ben is as obstinate as his father; he is really a chip off the old block.

　　（2） For old times sake：为了缅怀过去　I am sure older people would like to revisit old places, simply for old times sake.

　　（3） An old fogey：思想狭窄的过时人　Dont act like an old fogey, but dont be misguided by young people, either.

　　（4） An old hand at：的老手　I want to write a letter of apology. Can you help me, Bob?

　　Why not ask John, who is an old hand at letter-writing.

　　（5） Look like your old self：恢复原来的你　Glad to see you looking like your old self after a period of illness.

　　（6） Settle an old score：报旧仇　Is it often necessary to settle an old score? Why cant one be magnanimous so as to forgive and forget and let bygones be bygones?

　　（7） Dead against：极力反对　Mr Goh is dead against travelling abroad; he can never sleep well in an unfamiliar place.

　　（8） Cutdead：完全不理睬　Whats wrong with Christine, who cut her boss dead at a restaurant?

　　（9） Dead ahead/in front （of） ：就在前头　They arrived at the Changi Airport and found the taxi-stand dead ahead of them.

　　（10） Dead and buried：成为过去的　Dont raise that unpleasant issue again. Its all dead and buried now.

　　（11） A dead end：死胡同　Dont enter there! Its a dead end leading to nowhere.

　　（12） A dead silence：沉寂无声　When the guest of honour arrived, there was a dead silence in the auditorium.

　　（13） Flog a dead horse：白费气力　The computer programmer is teaching some old people how to use the computers, but it is like flogging the dead horse, as no one can follow the instructions properly.

　　（14） Make a dead set at：猛烈攻击　What problem exists between the two colleagues, who have just made a dead set at each other?

　　（15） Reach a dead end：完全停止　Quarrels arose from the closed-door meeting, which was forced to reach a dead end.

　　（16） More dead than alive：身体情况非常疲弱　When the fishermen were rescued from the stormy sea, they looked more dead than alive.

　　（17） A dead loss：完全无用的　The free gift looked good, but it turned out to be a dead loss.

　　（18） Dead wood：无用之人或物　The problem with some companies is that they have kept too much dead wood there.

　　There is quite a lot of dead wood in your thesis; you had better remove it.