儒琴英语词汇选自欧美报刊文章以及英语原文小说。坚持学习英语今日词汇，有助于阅读和理解当今欧美主流媒体的新闻时事报道和英语文学作品。
儒琴英语词汇（English Words and Phrases of the Day）
a spent force 强弩之末；过了气的人物
If you refer to someone who used to be powerful as a spent force, you mean that they no longer have any power or influence. As a political leader he was something of a spent force.
If there was a casualty of Obama’s comments, it might have been Elizabeth Warren, who lost her lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire (to Pete Buttigieg) that same week and never regained it. Obama’s warning about the electoral consequences of leftism may have been the most important moment of the 2019 pre-primary season. At the time of those comments, several of Obama’s closest advisers, who all opposed Sanders, told me in interviews that Sanders was a spent force, a mistake that many observers made at the time. Obama was publicly silent for the remainder of the campaign. But one of his closest advisers issued a warning: “If Bernie were running away with it, I think maybe we would all have to say something.” （Politico）
put your thumb on the scales
If you put your thumb on the scales, you try to influence the result of something in your favour.
指手画脚；插手影响结果
A person with knowledge of Obama’s conversation with Buttigieg after the former Indiana mayor exited the race explained it this way: “Obama talked to Pete the night that Pete dropped out. When Pete told Obama that he was 99.9 percent of the way there in terms of endorsing Biden, I would say that Obama was encouraging. But I would also say that Obama was very careful not to be seen as putting a thumb on the scale. (Politico)
husband
verb [ T ]
formal / /ˈhʌz.bənd/
to use something carefully so that you do not use all of it
节约地使用 （Cambridge）
That’s a little unfair, but it plays into a popular stereotype of Obama during the Trump era as too detached from the political fray. But Obama has had a fairly consistent strategy of husbanding his political capital and only speaking publicly when he was sure it would have some impact (as it seemed to in November) and laying back from pure electoral politics until the final stretch of the campaign (as in 2018). （politico）
coalesce
in American English (ˌkoʊəˈlɛs )
verb intransitive Word forms: ˌcoaˈlesced or ˌcoaˈlescing
1) to grow together, as the halves of a broken bone
2) to unite or merge into a single body, group, or mass
团结；联合；合并
But some of his aides now concede that behind the scenes Obama played a role in nudging things in Biden’s direction at the crucial moment when the Biden team was organizing former candidates to coalesce around Biden. (Politico)
scrupulous / scrupulously
Someone who is scrupulous takes great care to do what is fair, honest, or morally right. 仔细的; 细致的; 一丝不苟的; 审慎正直的; 恪守道德规范的
As the race narrowed to Biden and Sanders, interest among pro-Biden Democrats for Obama to speak up spiked and the political press was on the hunt for any indications of Obama choosing sides. Obama had a delicate task. Everyone knew whom he preferred, and yet he could not be seen as helping organize the massive party-wide show of force in favor of Biden that emerged from South Carolina through Super Tuesday. Obama’s aides forcefully reiterated that he was scrupulously not intervening.(Politico)
discreet
adjective /dɪˈskriːt/
careful not to cause embarrassment or attract too much attention, especially by keeping something secret
审慎的，谨慎的，小心的
The family made discreet enquiries about his background. 那家人小心翼翼地打听他的背景。
They are very good assistants, very discreet – they wouldn’t go talking to the press. 他们都是很好的助手，非常谨慎——不会向新闻界透露什么的。（Cambridge）
He and the people close to him are very careful about the optics — the 2016-style optics. Sanders and his supporters had reason to believe the party put the thumb on the scale for Hillary in 2016 and he wanted to avoid that. Obama wasn’t the driving force, but he was encouraging of people who had those instincts to rally around Biden. But he was very cautious and discreet in how he operated.” (Politico)
route
verb [ T usually + adv/prep ] /ruːt/ /raʊt/
to send something somewhere using a particular way or direction
发送；运送；寄发
Deliveries are routed via/by way of London. 货物经由伦敦运送。（Cambridge）
Officials have begun drafting a letter that — if the decision is made — will announce a suspension of U.S. funding to the WHO and a related body, the Pan American Health Organization, according to a person familiar with the issue. The draft document also tells officials at the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other institutions to try to route the money to existing alternative organizations. （politico）
