生活英语对话 Episode 80: Skating on thin ice

本单元是关于铤而走险的对话

Alice: Are you enjoying yourself, Helen?
Helen: Do you know what? I'm having a really good time. Thanks for dragging me out, guys.
Tim: It's just nice to see you smiling, Helen.
Helen: Hey, is that Paul over there?
Tim: Hey yeah, it is him, isn't it?
Helen: It is, you know, but who's that with him? Are they his kids? Alice? Has Paul got children?
Alice: Yes, he's got two children actually.
Tim: So that means he's got a wife.
Alice: They're not together any more, and they're getting a divorce.
Tim: Are you sure about that?
Alice: Well, that's what he told me, and I believe him. He's a good man.
Helen: Ooh, Alice, you're skating on very thin ice.
Alice: Maybe I am Helen, but I can't let him go.
Helen: You really love him, don't you?
Alice: Helen, I really do.


Vocabulary 字汇

dragging me out 勉强带出去
making me go out with you even though I didn't really want to

divorce (n) 离婚
a formal, legal separation of husband and wife

skating on very thin ice (idiom) 冒险
taking a big risk

本单元的语言点是关于 ice 的习语，请看下面的解释和例句

Idioms with 'ice'

Idioms 习惯用语
Idioms use language metaphorically 1. This means that the meaning of an idiom is not the same as the meanings of the individual words in the idiom. For example, if you 'go down memory lane' it means you think about the past (the metaphorical 2 meaning), not that you walk down a street called 'memory Lane' (the literal meaning).

Idioms are fixed 3 groups of words. This means that the wording of an idiom can not be changed. For example, you can say 'go down memory lane', but you can't say 'go down memory street'. Idioms are often verb phrases, for example: 'go down memory lane' but they can also be nouns: 'memory lane' is an idiomatic 4 noun which refers to the idea of memories and nostalgia 5.


Idioms with 'ice' 和'冰'有关的习惯用语

to skate on thin ice:
To take a big risk. This verb is often used in the continuous form.

He's having a secret relationship with a married woman: I've told him that he's skating on thin ice, but he won't listen to me.

to be on thin ice:
This has the same meaning as to skate on thin ice - to take a big risk.

They knew that publishing the article meant that they were on thin ice.

to break the ice:
To make people who have not met before feel more relaxed and comfortable with each other.

Experienced teachers usually start a new class with a game to break the ice.

an ice-breaker:
An activity which helps people who have not met before to feel more relaxed and comfortable with each other.

As an ice-breaker, we wrote an interesting fact about ourselves on a piece of paper. The teacher read out all the facts, and we had to guess which person had written which fact.

to cut no ice with someone:
To fail to have an influence on someone's beliefs or actions.

She made a lot of excuses for her bad behaviour, but they cut no ice with me.

to put something on ice:
to ice something:
to be on ice:
These idioms have the same meaning: to stop doing something temporarily, with a plan to finish or complete it later.

The plans for the new building have been put on ice until next year.
The plans for the new building have been iced until next year.
The plans for the new building are on ice until next year.