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）
maelstrom
noun [ˈmeɪl.strɒm]
Meaning [ C usually singular ] (Cambridge)
1. a whirlpool, an area of water that moves with a very strong circular movement and sucks in anything that goes past
大漩涡
2. a situation in which there is great confusion, violence, and destruction
大动乱；骚乱；极度混乱
Origin (Merriam-Webster)
Maelstrom comes from an early Dutch proper noun that literally meant “turning stream.” The original Maelstrom is a channel that has dangerous tidal currents located off the northwest coast of Norway.
The word became popularized in the general vocabulary of English in reference to a powerful whirlpool, or something akin to one, in the 19th century. This was partly due to its use by writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne (whose writing was widely translated from French) in stories exaggerating the tempestuousness of the Norwegian current and transforming it into a whirling vortex.
Examples
Like a furious maelstrom, roiled by opposing currents, the crisis in the Gulf gains in intensity and destructive power almost by the day. On Sunday, Donald Trump said the US was “locked and loaded”, ready to respond to attacks on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia, in which it believes Iran was involved.
(theguardian) Sep 16, 2019
Trump picks new national security advisor, but no clear path on Iran. Trump’s announcement thrusts the little-known Los Angeles lawyer into a maelstrom of foreign policy challenges, none more pressing than the crisis with Iran, where the president has wavered between his desire to project toughness and his reluctance to risk a new Middle East war as he seeks reelection.
(Los Angeles Time) Sep 18, 2019
Boris Johnson faces an economic maelstrom even in the unlikely event that he can sort Brexit.
(Independent) July 21, 2019
tease sth out
— phrasal verb with tease [ I or T ]
Meaning (Cambridge)
to try to get information or understand a meaning that is hidden or not clear
套取（信息、隐含的意思等）；套出（真相）
Examples
After hours of frustrating cross-examination that one of their number, Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, compared to “a fish being cleaned with a spoon,” Democrats were left with a conundrum: how to use televised hearings to tease out damning passages of the Mueller report when Trump and his gang are determined to turn them into a circus. （CNN）Sep 17, 2019
Trump officials are zeroing in on New Mexico, Nevada and New Hampshire, where they insist there’s an opening despite heavy losses Republicans suffered there in the midterms. They’ve deployed around a half-dozen staffers to New Hampshire and several to Nevada, an unusually early investment in places that favor Democrats. And the campaign is doing polling to tease out Trump’s level of support in New Mexico, a focal point for campaign manager Brad Parscale, and they have discussed dispatching aides to the blue state. (politico.com) June 04, 2019
今日俚语 Slang of the Day
cojones
noun [kɔˈhɔnɛs]
Meaning (Oxford)
a man’s testicles 睾丸
courage; guts 勇气，胆量
Origin
“courage,” literally “balls,” 1932, from Spanish cojon; “testicle,” from Latin coleus, culleus (source of Italian coglione), literally “a leather sack,” related to Greek koleos “sheath, scabbard. In English, first attested in Hemingway.
Examples
The only attribute Vice-President Mike Pence has displayed so far is sycophancy: most recent illustration, overnighting at Trump’s golf resort in Ireland. But with rumors flying that Trump might exchange him for another lapdog, who knows? Maybe Pence will discover some cojones.
(theguardian) Sept 16, 2019
Despite his infinitely malleable politics – remember the two essays he wrote with one backing Leave and the other Remain before opting for the former? – I doubt Boris Johnson has the cojones to actually join his brother Jo in the push for a Final Say vote.
Dec. 15, 2017 · As with so many things, Trump wants to flip-flop and have it both ways; while Putin keeps a firm grip on those Trump cojones and a smile on his face. (City-data. Com)
echo chamber
noun
Meaning
a situation in which people only hear opinions of one type, or opinions that are similar to their own. (Cambridge)
回音室 , 回声室效应： 比喻人们处在只听到一种，或者只听到与自己相同意见的局面，从而他们更坚定自己原来的观念，排斥其他意见； 人际交流过程中，只承认或接受与自己的观点相近的回应 。
Echo chamber 回声室效应”形象地体现了如今社交媒体上的一种普遍现象 — 由于相同的观点被人不断地重复、夸大，因此很难听到质疑的声音。
In politics, ideas and beliefs are reinforced and amplified in a repetitive way inside some type of enclosed system. Things are repeated and repeated once more and other ideas or opposing views are simply ignored or disallowed.
To put it simply, if something is repeated enough times to like-minded people then those people will believe it to be true.
（medium.com）
Examples
We don’t always agree on everything; we’re not mutual echo chambers for each other’s policies. (Cambridge )
Jan 10, 2019 – Trump is afraid of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Matt Drudge, Laura Ingraham and the rest of the far-right echo chamber.
(Washington Post)
Pompeo is a Trump echo chamber, not a diplomat. As such, he is not likely to improve the Trump administration’s negotiation skills. (theglobalist.com) March 14, 2018
