Straight from the Horse's Mouth

from a reliable source
根据可靠的来源


A: How did you find out that Jill was engaged?

B: I got the information from a very reliable source.

A: You mean Jill told you so herself?

B: That's right. I got it straight from the horse's mouth!

[ 本帖最后由 Sylvia_scj 于 2008-4-20 01:03 AM 编辑 ]

不错

Horse Around

play around
玩一玩

A: Did you hear about Dave's back injury?
B: No. How did he get hurt?
A: Well, after the coach left the gym he decided to stay and horse around on the parallel bars. He somehow lost his grip and fell on his back.
B: That's too bad, but he shouldn't have been aimlessly playing around on the equipment without proper supervision.

parallel bars 双杠

Cat Got Your Tongue?

Can't talk?
不会说话了吗？

A: Come on! Connie! Tell us what you think about our little ride down the rapids yesterday.
B: Well, uh...
A: Wasn't it exciting?
B: I, uh...
A: What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?
B: If you must know, I'm keeping quiet because I was scared out of my wits!

Shoot Off One's Mouth

express one's opinions loudly
   信口开河；夸夸其谈

Jim doesn't play tennis very much, but he's always shooting off his mouth about how good he is. Yet he's fooling nobody. Jim is somewhat of a braggart and everyone knows that he gives opinions without knowing all the facts and talks as if he knew everything about the game.

Tongue-In-Cheek

       not serious
不是认真的，开玩笑的

A: Why were you teasing Sonia about her new hairdo? She really took offense at what you said.
B: I didn't mean to offend her. I was simply making a tongue-in-cheek remark when I said that it was too elaborate for a girl of her young, tender age.
A: Well, she thought you were serious. She had no idea that you were just saying that as a joke.
B: I'm really sorry. I suppose I owe her an apology.

take offence at
因...而生气, 见怪

Shake a Leg

Hurry!
赶快！

A: Mary, you always take such a long time to put on your makeup. Come on, shake a leg!
B: I'll be finished in a minute. Be patient.
A: You've got to hurry or else we won't arrive on time to see the last show.

Not Have a Leg to Stand On

to have no good defense for one's opinions or actions
没有好的证据支持某人的言行

Tom maintains that the firm owes him some back wages for having worked overtime.
However, he won't have a leg to stand on unless he can prove that he put in all those extra hours. He doesn't stand a chance of getting his money without a strong foundation of facts to support his position.

back wages: 拖欠的工资

String Someone Along

lead someone on dishonestly
愚弄某人，欺骗某人

Liz had high hopes of marrying Dean. When he ran off with another woman, she realized that he was just stringing her along. She had felt very strongly about him and was really hurt to see that he was deceiving her and had no intentions of ever marrying her.

Wooooool！! Sylvia_scj    your are absolutely fantastic
some of the idioms I never heared about. its good to know and keep refreshing myself.