学几个好玩有用的英文表达（下）
接上篇「学10个一定用得上的英文表达（上）」，今天从《剑桥高级英语词汇》后50章中，挑出10个我觉得有意思的表达分享给大家。
1⃣️ My teenage daughter prefers magazines, especially the agony columns. I jsut can't imagine writing to an agony aunt. It amazes me how people are prepared to discuss their most intimate problems publicly.（p126新闻）
agony这个词很有意思，它的发音像“爱过你”，意思是“肉体或精神的极度痛苦”。agony column，“痛苦的专栏”是什么鬼
在英式表达中，agnoy colum表示“读者问答专栏”，一般读者会问一些比较私密的话题。在美式表达中用advice column。
agnony aunt是在这个专栏答疑解惑的作家，和我们常说的“知心姐姐”👩差不多。美式表达中用advice columnist。
2⃣️ The company became a lame duck 🦆 and collapsed after five years.(p136工业化）
lame本身的意思是“瘸的”，口语中常用来表示 “没劲的” “无聊的”，例如That joke/excuse/party was lame.
lame duck字面意思是“瘸鸭子🦆”，它表示“不中用的人/物”，这里The company became a lame duck时说这个公司的前景黯淡，不景气。lame duck也常用来表示“因任期将满而没有实权的官员或政府”。
3⃣️ There isn't enough room to swing a cat in his flat.（p142空间）
There isn't enough room to swing a cat字面意思是“连甩猫🐱的空间都没有”，这个表达可以用来形容空间很小。类似的常见表达还有packed in like sardines。
明天我去北京，朋友发来一张图片说“开会闹得都不敢出了”，用这个表达我觉得很恰当：
4⃣️ She was a child film star but was already a has-been by the age of twenty. （p144时间）
has-been是现在完成时的形式，这个词可以用来表达“过气的人物”。若是复出，“东山再起”的话，我们可以用make/stage a comeback。《老友记》Phoebe的扮演者Lisa Kudrow之前就拍了一个叫The Comeback的电视剧，其中是这样介绍的：
The series initially follows Valerie Cherish (Kudrow), a veteran sitcom actress who has been out of the spotlight for more than a decade, as she attempts in 2005 to return to the industry that made her famous. Valerie lands a role on a new network sitcom called Room and Bored, but struggles with the matter of being an aging, non-influential performer in an increasingly youthful Hollywood, while her every move on and off the set is being documented for a companion reality show.
5⃣️ When I was a child, gentlemen used to raise their hats to female acquaintances on the street and I was taught to mind my P's and Q's and to give up my seat for my elders and betters on the bus. (p148礼仪举止）
mind one's P's and Q's，“注意你的p和q”
实际意思是“注意言行”。
6⃣️ I think I'm off the hook / in the clear / out of the wood(s) now. (p162困难/困境/障碍）
off the hook, in the clear, out of the woods这三个表达在《小屁孩日记》中都出现过，本期读书会书目Born a Crime中也出现了。读到这个表达的时候想到Troy在微博上发的旅行图片：
7⃣️ A few months ago hardly anyone had heard of her but now she's the toast of Hollywood. (p174称赞与表扬）
toast本身是“吐司”🍞的意思，它还可以表示“祝酒”。be the toast of something指的是“深受敬慕的人” -- 太优秀了，所有人都会为你举杯敬酒。