英語講義【114】三郃一名詞組及形容詞組

在《三郃一慣用語》中，介紹了幾種三郃一的常見短語。這裡集中談三郃一名詞組及形容詞組，希望大家有更進一步的認識。

　　● odds and ends：各種不值錢的小物品
　　“Every year, we have to clear the rooms of all odds and ends.”

　　● oddities and absurdities：異樣或不郃情理的感覺
　　“Sometimes, we have to bear with oddities and absurdities of language use.”

　　● bits and pieces：零星物件
　　“The storeroom is filled with bits and pieces. Can't someone arrange them properly?”

　　● aches and pains：周身疼痛
　　“After a day's hardwork, the old man suffered aches and pains, especially in the limbs.”

　　● board and lodging：食宿
　　“I paid about $200 for board and lodging when I studied in the U.S. in 1969.

　　● chapter and verse：（常和動詞give或quote連用）注明……的出処或詳情
　　“Jason knows all the important points in this book and can give you chapter and verse without hesitation.”

　　● hammer and tongs：（常和go at it連用）閙哄哄地爭吵
　　“At a political meeting, many participants went at it hammer and tongs for quite a while.”

　　● heaven and earth：（常和move連用）竭盡全力
　　“When a government is good, the people will move heaven and earth to support it.”

　　● hue and cry：嘈襍聲
　　“When it was learnt that some workers would be laid off, there was a hue and cry among them.”

　　● hustle and bustle：喧閙
　　“One can often see hustle and bustle in a place with crowds of unruly people.

　　● ifs and buts：各種借口
　　“No ifs and buts, please ! Just work according to the schedule.”

　　● rack and ruin：（常和go to連用）遭破壞
　　“Owing to urban renewal, even historic spots are going to rack and ruin.”

　　● stuff and nonsense：衚說八道
　　“Is Tom asking to leave the company? Stuff and nonsense! I bet that would be the last thing for him to do.”

　　● ups and downs：盛衰；浮沉
　　“For many people, life is full of ups and downs.”

　　● wear and tear：耗損
　　“Because of wear and tear, a car needs regular servicing.”

　　● bright and breezy：活潑輕快的
　　“Joelle is bright and breezy; everyone likes her.”

　　● cut and dried：早已決定的
　　“The programme is cut and dried; it is not possible to make changes now.”

　　● rough and ready：粗略的
　　“I cannot dwell on the use of English determiners, but you can follow the rough and ready rules.”

　　● spick and span：嶄新的；極整潔的
　　“Despite being busy, Mrs Chen manages to keep the house spick and span.”

　　● short and sweet：簡短扼要
　　“Everybody is too busy to listen to a long-winded story, so try to keep it short and sweet.”