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）
opening move
the first of a series of actions; the act of starting something; any preliminary activity; the initial stage in accomplishing something (Freedictionary)
一系列动作中的第一步；开始某事的动作；任何初步的活动；完成某事的初始阶段
The House voted Thursday to prevent President Trump from taking additional military action against Iran, an opening move in a Democratic-led campaign to reassert congressional authority over the use of force abroad.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
fine-tune
verb [ T ] /ˌfaɪnˈtʃuːn/ us
to make very small changes to something in order to make it work as well as possible
对…进行微调 (Cambridge)
In the House, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a close Trump ally who has publicly defended last week’s strike on Soleimani, worked with Democrats after Wednesday’s briefings to fine-tune the resolution, ultimately crossing the aisle on Thursday to support it.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
fume
verb [ I ]/fjuːm/
to be very angry, sometimes without expressing it
发怒；生闷气 (Cambridge)
Republican Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Rand Paul (Ky.) have committed to supporting Kaine’s resolution, fuming to reporters Wednesday that administration officials had failed to specify when, if ever, they might seek Congress’s approval for military strikes.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
third-grader
Noun (plural third-graders)
Someone who is in third grade; an immature person.
三年级的人；不成熟的人。
“I think a third-grader could have believed there was an imminent threat coming from the man that we killed,” Graham said.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
clear as mud
very difficult to understand; not at all clear
极难理解，难懂
It has been nearly a week since the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, and the justification for the strike is still clear as mud.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
oscillate
verb [ I ] /ˈɒs.ɪ.leɪt/
If you oscillate between feelings or opinions, you change repeatedly from one to the other.
（感情或看法）摇摆不定
The Trump administration initially said Soleimani was planning “imminent” attacks on Americans and U.S. interests in the Middle East, but it hasn’t provided much in the way of elaboration. It has since oscillated between pointing to the imminence of such attacks and suggesting that the strike was retaliatory for what Soleimani had already done.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
pile it on
to say too much, especially giving too much emphasis
过多地谈论；（尤指）夸张，言过其实 (Cambridge)
With that as the backdrop Thursday, President Trump and Vice President Pence piled on the uncertainty. Appearing on the “Today” show, Pence said the Trump administration did not share some of the most important information because of its sensitivity.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
to top it all
UK (US and Australian English to top it all off)
If you have been describing bad things that happened, and then say that to top it all something else happened, you mean that the final thing was even worse.
更糟的是 (Cambridge)
And then, to top it all off, Trump came out around noon on Thursday and disclosed one of Soleimani’s alleged plots: to blow up a U.S. embassy.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
nothingburger
[ˈnəTHiNGˌbərɡər] NOUN informal
something that is or turns out to be insignificant or lacking in substance.
无关紧要的东西, 或结果是无关紧要的, 或缺乏实质性的东西。
Trump has the ability to declassify anything he wants to, but it was a curious sudden disclosure for an administration that had for six days resisted saying much of anything. It’s also difficult to believe that lawmakers who were told about a potential embassy attack in any real detail would say it was a nothingburger — no matter their political leanings.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
freeze sb out
— phrasal verb with freeze verb
to make someone feel that they are not part of a group by being unfriendly towards that person, or to stop someone from being included in an arrangement or activity
排挤，排斥; 对某人不友好，使某人觉得自己不属于某一群体，或阻止某人参与某项安排或活动
At the same time, the White House has already frozen out Democratic members of the “Gang of Eight” by not informing them of the attack in advance, as is normal practice. And Trump has sent signals that perhaps he doesn’t intend to be terribly forthcoming with the Democrats in the group, retweeting a claim from conservative provocateur Dinesh D’Souza that sharing such information with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) would be akin to sharing it with the Iranians.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
flare
verb (BURN BRIGHTLY) [ I ]
to burn brightly either for a short time or not regularly
（短暂地）旺烧；（摇曳着）燃烧 (Cambridge)
Concerns about the lack of specifics shared with lawmakers continued to flare Thursday after a contentious classified briefing by President Trump’s national security team the day before, leading some GOP lawmakers to join Democrats in warning that the administration is failing to recognize the constitutional role Congress plays in decisions regarding the use of military force.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
bedrock
singular noun
The bedrock of something is the principles, ideas, or facts on which it is based.
基石：事物的基础，依据的原则、思想或事实。
Like everyone else in America, I’m worried about the separation of powers. This is like a bedrock thing. I could not have been more upset about that if they were insulting a member of my family,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Thursday a day after he angrily criticized top Trump administration officials following a briefing he characterized as insulting.
— The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
put on its heels
set one back on heels
rock someone back on their heels
knock someone on their back
Astonish or disconcert someone; Essentially it describes a physical shock that almost knocks someone backward, but they manage to retain their balance while pivoting on the heels of their shoes.
使某人吃惊或不安；几乎把某人击倒，但他们设法保持平衡.
Far from provoking war, Trump’s action against Soleimani might have prevented one. Iran had been escalating for months — striking allied oil tankers, U.S. drones and Saudi oil facilities — with no significant U.S. response. This failure to respond emboldened Tehran. Had Trump allowed Iran to get away crossing his red line and killing an American, they would have been further emboldened. Instead, by taking out Soleimani, Trump put the regime on its heels. — The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
pell-mell
adverb old-fashioned /ˌpelˈmel/
very fast and not organized
忙乱地，匆忙地 (Cambridge)
A second step toward a coherent strategy would be a plan to stabilize Iraq without a perpetual U.S. troop presence, which Iraqis and Americans don’t want. A pell-mell U.S. withdrawal would be a big mistake, because it would destabilize Iraq and give Iran a prize it doesn’t deserve (and couldn’t manage). — The Washington Post Jan 09, 2020
