习语可以是一个词或短语，要理解习语的意思不能脱离其文化背景。习语一词的含义甚广，其蕴含的意义往往不能从词或词组的字面意思推测而得。习语在所有语言中都很常见。英语习语是日常英语的重要组成部分。在英语的书面语和口语中，存在海量的习语。
儒琴今日习语（Idiom of the Day）
stick-in-the-mud
noun
英文解释
A stick-in-the-mud is someone who is unwilling to try something new, take risks or have fun; a person who is dull and unadventurous and who resists change; someone who is old-fashioned and too serious and avoids enjoyable activities. The idiom suggests someone whose feet are stuck and cannot move forward.
中文解释
stick-in-the-mud （守旧的人）这个表达起源于18世纪早期。背后的想法很清楚，暗指车轮陷在泥里(当时是马车)。stick in the mud 引申意思：墨守成规的人，不想尝试新事物的人；不愿意尝试新事物、冒险或享受乐趣的人; 一个沉闷、不喜欢冒险、拒绝改变的人; 守旧、太严肃、避免享受活动的人。
原文举例
Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke also spoke at the event, promising his agency would no longer be a “stick in the mud” preventing projects from getting off the ground. Interior, he said, is “about to embark on one of the largest reorganizations” in the department’s history.
美国内政部部长津克(Ryan Zinke)也在活动上发表了讲话，他承诺内政部将不再成为阻碍项目启动的”墨守成规的人“。他说，内政部“即将展开内政部历史上规模最大的重组之一”。
Nevertheless, it’s hard to take seriously any poll showing that we all share a desire for change. Imagine that your phone rings and it’s some guy from the Gallup Organization or the Pew Research Center wanting to know whether you favor everything being fresh and new, or everything staying exactly the way it is. Are you really going to admit that you’re a stick-in-the-mud who is more or less content with things the way they are?
然而，很难认真对待任何显示我们都渴望改变的民意调查。想象一下，你的电话响了，是盖洛普公司或皮尤研究中心的人打来的，想知道你是喜欢一切都是新鲜的，还是一切都保持原来的样子。你真的要承认你是一个墨守成规的人，或多或少地满足于现状吗?
