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）
half a loaf
(half a loaf is better than none)
英文解释
said about a situation in which you must accept less than you wanted; it is better to accept less than one wants or expects than to have nothing at all; a compromise, which may be necessary or beneficial.
not as much as you want but better than nothing. This phrase alludes to the proverb half a loaf is better than no bread , which has been in use since the mid 16th century.
中文解释
half a loaf 引申意思是：”虽然没有你想要的那么多，但总比没有好”。这个习语来自16世纪中期以来一直在使用的谚语“half a loaf is better than none”（字面意思：半条面包总比没有好）。有比没有好；聊胜于无。
也指：一种妥协，可能是必要的或有益的。
原文举例
Many adjuncts and full-timers believe that this contract is half-a-loaf, better than none. I disagree. This deal is not even half-a-loaf. It’s not even a slice of bread. —Huffington Post (7/ 19/ 2016)
许多兼职教授和全职员工认为，这份合同只是”半条面包”，但总比没有好。我不同意。这笔份合同根本不是”半条面包”。这甚至连一片面包都不是。——《赫芬顿邮报》(2016年7/ 19)
And so, with the Trump administration and its closest allies still unwilling to undertake a broader initiative, a Kushner-inspired prison reform bill — a half-loaf at best in the eyes of most criminal-justice reformers — was just approved by the House (by a 360–59 margin).
因此，在特朗普政府及其最亲密的盟友仍然不愿采取更广泛的行动的情况下，一项由库什纳启发的监狱改革法案——在大多数刑事司法改革者眼中至多是聊胜于无——刚刚在众议院获得通过(以360比59的优势)。
