31.bang for the buck 货真价实

buck在美国俚语中是“美元”的意思。有这样一个短语，bigger bang for a buck，它的意思是“花钱取得更大效果”。Bang原是表示巨大声响的拟声词，这里引申为“效果”。

A: Listen! It’s mid-summer now. What do we need them for? 嘿，现在已经是仲夏了，我们要这些东西干什么？

B: They may come in handy. Besides, these items can be true bang for the buck. 会有用得着它们的时候，再说这些东西是货真价实的呀。

A: True bang for the buck? They’re enough for ten years’ use. 货真价实？都够用10年的了。

B: Stop getting on my nerves! I’m not doing something for nothing! 别烦我了，我可不是没事找事。

32.be brassed off doing 厌烦干… ，对 … 满腹牢骚

brass作名词指“黄铜”，作动词指“镀黄铜于 … ”，而brassed off是俚语，意思是“厌烦，不满，牢骚满腹”。

A: I am awfully sorry that I have kept you waiting. 真是很抱歉让您久等了。

B: To tell you the truth, I am really brassed off waiting. 说实话，我最讨厌等人。

A: Sorry. I had something urgent to deal with just when I was to leave. 对不起，我正要来的时候又有急事要处理。

B: You should have told me earlier. 你应该早点告诉我。

A: It was too late to inform you. 通知你已经来不及了。

33.be catty 爱搬弄是非的；爱诽谤人的

英语中，cat给人的联想总是不太愉快，如cattish的意思是“狡猾的、恶意的、偷偷摸摸的”。cat在英语中可用来指“恶意伤人的女人，包藏祸心的女人”，因此catty就有了诽谤的含义。

A: I thought you would cooperate. 我原以为你会跟我合作呢。

B: Well, I’m too busy to be catty and poke my nose into things that do not matter much to me. 我可不愿意搬弄是非去管那些跟我没关系的闲事。

A: How do you know that he won’t do something against yourself? 你怎么知道他不会做出什么对你不利的事呢？

B: You do seem to have a glib tongue. 你真能胡搅蛮缠。

34.be down in the dumps 垂头丧气，神情沮丧

the dumps在非正规的口语表达方式中的意思是“忧郁”或“沮丧”。be down in the dumps常指“闷闷不乐”或“打不起精神”，也可引申为“垂头丧气，精神沮丧”。

A: You’re down in the dumps. What’s happened? 你看上去沮丧不堪。出什么事了？

B: I had a quarrel with our boss’s secretary. She’s been on her high horse these days. 我和老板的秘书吵了一架。这几天她总是盛气凌人。

A: Maybe she was only taking it out on you. Secretaries have a lot of pressure, too. 也许她仅仅是向你发泄。秘书的压力也很大。

B: But she jumped down my throat for no reason at all. I could not put up with her. 但她无理由地斥责我，我无法容忍。

35.be in a jam 陷入困境

jam指“拥挤，阻塞”。该习语的字母意思为“在拥挤之中”，引申为“陷入困难的处境”。例如：She is in a bit of jam about money. （她的手头有点拮据。）

A: Mike told me that his business was in a jam and he was in urgent need of money. He wanted to borrow some money from me. 迈克告诉我他的生意陷入困境，急需用钱。他想向我借钱。

B: Don’t lend money to him. He’s always lying. 别借钱给他。他总是说慌。

A: But I think he is really in difficulty this time. 但这一次我看他是真的遇上困难了。