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）
sickout (also sick-out) 泡病号、混病假
noun
an occasion when a group of workers organize to show their anger with a company by saying they are sick and not coming to work
一群工人组织起来对公司表示不满，说他们生病了，不来上班;
Meanwhile, trash is piling up in city parks, the city’s EMS union chief says that “people will die” if first responders are cut, and New York’s teachers have threatened a sickout to protest De Blasio’s plan to open schools on Sept. 10. (Axios)
talk to the hand
“Talk to the hand” is a slang phrase associated with the 1990s. It originated as a sarcastic way of saying one does not want to hear what the person who is speaking is saying
“talk to the hand”是20世纪90年代的一个俚语。它最初是一种讽刺的说法，用来表示不想听说话的人在说什么； 我不想理你, 不想和你说；我懒得理你
De Blasio has appealed to Albany and Washington for relief, but so far is hearing, “Talk to the hand.” He’s threatened to fire 22,000 city employees unless unions agree to trim $1 billion in labor costs. （Axio）
dry run
noun [ C ] (UK also dummy run) (Cambridge)
a practice of a particular activity or performance
试运行；演习；排练
The day before the trial, the lawyers tried a dry run of the closing arguments. 审判的前一天，律师们排练了一次最后陈词。
The Republican National Committee plans to hold more than 7,500 events across the country — the majority of them in person — as part of a “dry run” of their get-out-the-vote efforts. The party is putting its hope in its 2,000 field staffers and 1.9 million volunteers as it seeks to help Trump recover from a coronavirus-induced polling slump and edge out Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Nov. 3. (AP)
edge sb/sth out
— phrasal verb with edge verb [ I or T ]
to do better than another person or company when you are competing against them
险胜; 勉强击败
The Republican National Committee plans to hold more than 7,500 events across the country — the majority of them in person — as part of a “dry run” of their get-out-the-vote efforts. The party is putting its hope in its 2,000 field staffers and 1.9 million volunteers as it seeks to help Trump recover from a coronavirus-induced polling slump and edge out Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Nov. 3. (AP)
on the breadline
the level of income someone has when they are very poor, with only just enough money to buy food, pay their rent, etc.
挣扎在生活线上 (生活)仅够糊口, 勉强过饿不死的日子
The hashtag #MarieAntoinette was trending Saturday, as several compared the First Lady to the French ruler by citing her ill timing in throwing money at a garden while millions of Americans have lost their jobs and found themselves on the breadline amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Daily Mail)
magic bullet
a quick and simple solution to a difficult problem
(针对某种疾病的) 灵丹妙药，神奇疗法; (解决某一问题的) 灵丹妙药
A confirmed reinfection would mean that immunity to the virus can be short-lived. As a result, we shouldn’t expect any sort of back-to-work magic bullet from any potential source or indicator of immunity — whether that’s antibody testing, the use of blood plasma as a treatment, or perhaps even a vaccine. (Axios)
nebulous
adjective /ˈneb.jə.ləs/ （Cambridge）
(especially of ideas) not clear and having no form
（尤指想法）模糊不清的，含糊的
She has a few nebulous ideas about what she might want to do in the future, but nothing definite. 她对自己将来要做什么有些模糊的想法，但都不确定。
President Donald Trump’s ties to the Evangelical community have always been somewhat nebulous. A thrice-married New Yorker with no previous record as a church-goer who once declared himself “very pro-choice,” he wasn’t the first choice for many in 2016 and worked hard to convince conservative Christians he was on their side — including by selecting Mike Pence as his running mate. （CNN）
