时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:美国习惯用语


英语课

 


半年前,我加入了一个读书俱乐部,每个月聚会一次,讨论读书心得。上星期聚会,俱乐部成员们没完没了地聊经济、聊物价、聊孩子上学,本来应该讨论的书根本没有涉及到。我非常失望,所以决定退出。不过,这倒让我想起了今天要学的习惯用语,叫,lost in the shuffle 1.


如果你喜欢玩牌的话,肯定知道,shuffle,是洗牌的意思。Lost in the shuffle意思是在混乱之中把某件事情遗漏或是忽略了。比如说我们那个读书俱乐部。俱乐部的成员们东拉西扯,可就是忽略了俱乐部的真正目的,交流读书心得,The discussion of our book got lost in the shuffle.


读书俱乐部的“走题事件”虽然让我很不满,但是跟下面这个人比,我简直可以说是“小题大做”。让我们一起听听他干吗那么气愤。


例句-1:There's been so much controversy 2 over the collapse 3 of the bridge. The mayor's office blames the engineers for poor design while they fault the city for not keeping up with routine repairs. But no one is showing much concern for commuters like me who desperately 4 need the bridge to be fixed 5. We're getting lost in the shuffle.


这个人说:大桥倒塌引起了极大的争议。市长办公室责怪工程师设计失误。工程设计人员则指责市政府没有定期维修。可就是没有人关心象我这样每天开车上班,希望大桥能早日修复的人。我们完全被忽略了。


我以前一直痛恨开会,因为很多时候,开来开去,讨论的都是一些并不重要的话题。最近我们刚换了主管,每次开会都按照轻重缓急,列出会议日程,so that the most important issues won't be lost in the shuffle. 保证重要问题不会被忽略掉。


******


大家都希望得到重视,孩子也不例外。让我们听听下面这个人对自己童年的回忆。


例句-2:Growing up as a middle kid in my family could be tough. Sometimes my folks seemed to spend a lot of time looking after my younger brother and sister or worrying about my older siblings 6. Is it any surprise I felt lost in the shuffle? I wanted mom and dad to notice me more often.


这个人说:我上面有哥哥姐姐,下面有弟弟妹妹。小时候,父母不是在照顾弟弟妹妹,就是在关心哥哥姐姐。我觉得自己简直被遗忘了。这不奇怪吧?我真希望妈妈爸爸能更多地注意到我。


我表妹就是这种情况。小时候,她大部分时间都是在跟院子里的孩子玩,经常在邻居家吃饭,甚至过夜。这倒培养了她跟人打交道的能力,如今,她已经成了一个成功的公关总裁。


对了!In the shuffle这个习惯用语源于二十世纪,毫无疑问,是从扑克牌来的。今天尽顾着解释这个习惯用语的用法,The explanation of its original nearly got lost in the shuffle! 差点就忘了解释它的来源。



1 shuffle
n.拖著脚走,洗纸牌;v.拖曳,慢吞吞地走
  • I wish you'd remember to shuffle before you deal.我希望在你发牌前记得洗牌。
  • Don't shuffle your feet along.别拖着脚步走。
2 controversy
n.争论,辩论,争吵
  • That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
  • We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。
3 collapse
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
4 desperately
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
5 fixed
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
  • 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。
6 siblings
n.兄弟,姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )
  • A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分
学英语单词
agricultral climatic regionalization
agroclimatic analogy
agrostemma githago
air-hostess
alti
ambulaeral foot
analytic inertial navigation
Appalachian Plateau
arith
ateji
bake-in-bag
bald-coot
Befana
Brilliant Orange G
casting couch
cataract mixed
Chernyshevsk-Zabaykal'skiy
cholanic acid
churchers
composition shunting current hydrome-chanical torque converter
connigree
conteur
corneoscleral trephining
cost based budgeting
driving examiner
dry-cleanse
epicuruss
explosion proof light
extinguish agent
extra packing
fibromatous myxosarcoma
fissocantharis minor
fluoform
front sectional elevation
fuelers
gauge pin
germanium tetraiodide
goal life cycle status
Granulationes arachnoideae
guillotine factor
haematocryal
harfleurs
hole hand
hole shape
hollow rails
hyperbolical zone
hysteroneurosis
ibook
intercalators
intravolution
isoalchornine
knock the habit
La Pallice
lengthenment
make good work with sth
Mengerskirchen
method of direction finding
misspecification
mongaup
myeline
nonpartitionable
Old Style
orientation of related features
overlap load
pantiless
patulous follicle orifice
perpend stone
personal space
petromyzoniformess
piggledies
posterior talar articular surface
predictably computable function
pruny
pseudonodular
psilotataes
Pucciniaceae
put sb on the rack
put sb. in mind of sth.
quicksort
Rimpar
scummed
secreta
sex cords
Sharg'un
Sipsa-dong
skin microbiology
speech difficulty
spheroidal bowl mixer
stargazing
storable
synodus jaculum
tactual sensation
Tax-neutrality
tepidariums
threshing mill
time cost
tormas
transmission-case drain plug
venae intercostales posteriores
wing arrangement
Yushania chungii
zone price