今天给大家介绍的是:To twist someone's arm。Twist是拧,用力扭转的意思。一个人要是给别人把手臂拧到身后去那是很难受的。To twist someone's arm这个习惯用语的意思也正是如此,它是指给某人施加压力,迫使他做你要他做的事。下面这个例子是一个学生说的话:
"I didn't want see that movie about Mozart, but my roomate twisted my arm. I'm glad he did -- it was a great show."
他说:“我本来不想去看那个有关莫扎特的电影的。可是,我同房间的同学硬逼着要我去。不过,看了电影后我倒很高兴,因为那个电影太好了。”
这个学生还算运气,尽管他本来不愿意,可是结果还不错。但是,被迫做的事往往会产生不愉快的结局。请听下面这位爸爸说的话:
"My son has been twisting my arm to let him take my car out on a date ever since he got his driver's license. This weekend, I finally let him take it. And now it's in the body shop for a thousand dallars of repairs: he had an accident on the way to pick up his girlfriend."
他说:“自从我儿子拿到驾驶执照以来,他一直闹着要开我的车去赴约会。这个周末,我终于答应了。可是,他在去接女朋友的路上出了车祸,现在我的车正在车库里修,要花一千美元呢。”
下面这个习语曾经在“每日一句”中介绍过,也和“arm”“leg”有关,大家就算是复习一下吧.
to cost/charge one's an arm and a leg 要价太高,不值得
例:
"Don't go to that fancy new restaurant. The food isn't very good and they charge you an arm and a leg for it!"
这个人说:“别上那个新开的高级饭馆去。他们的菜并不好,而价钱倒贵得要命。”