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）
stymie （Cambridge Dictionary）
verb [ T often passive ]
/ˈstaɪ.mi/
present participle stymieing or stymying
Meaning
to prevent something from happening or someone from achieving a purpose
阻止，妨碍，阻挠
Origin (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Golf was being played in Scotland as early as the 15th century, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that the sport really caught on in England and North America.
It was also in the 19th century that the word stymie entered English as a noun referring to a golfing situation in which one player’s ball lies between another ball and the hole on the putting green, thereby blocking the line of play.
Later, stymie came to be used as a verb meaning “to bring into the position of, or impede by, a stymie.” By the early 20th century, the verb was being applied in similarly vexing non-golf contexts.
Examples
Scotland’s highest appeals court has ruled that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s suspension of Parliament is illegal, saying the prorogation “was unlawful because it had the purpose of stymying Parliament” ahead of the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline.
—from Bill Chappell (NPR.ORG) Sept 11, 2019
In our search for evidence, we were stymied by the absence of any recent documents.
缺乏近期的文件为我们搜寻证据造成了障碍（Cambridge Dictionary）
The raging blizzard stymied the rescuers’ attempts to find the stranded mountain climbers.
pregnant silence
Pregnant Pause
Meaning
A long pause in speech that indicates a lot of meaning or significance ( The Free Dictionary by Farlex )
A pause/silence in which everyone is waiting or listening for something, or a moment of silence which is full of meaning.
意味深长的沉默
Examples
Bolton is unlikely to go quietly given his flair for public relations and long list of media contacts. He seems unlikely to emulate the dutiful but pregnant silence on Trump by former Defense Secretary James Mattis as he promotes his book.
— CNN Sept 11, 2019
There was a pregnant silence when the topic changed to Grandpa’s will, and everyone could tell that something shocking was about to be revealed. ( The Free Dictionary by Farlex )
The most telling part of his speech was the pregnant silence before he denied any wrongdoing. ( The Free Dictionary by Farlex )
There was a pregnant pause while everyone waited to hear what she had to say. ( The Free Dictionary by Farlex )
bust up (Cambridge Dictionary )
— phrasal verb with bust [ T ] /bʌst/
busted or UK also bust | busted or UK also bust
If a relationship busts up, or the people in a relationship bust up, the relationship ends.
（激烈争吵后）断绝关系
They busted up last year.
他们去年闹翻了。
bust-up noun [ C ] /ˈbʌst.ʌp/
a serious argument, especially one that ends a relationship
（尤指导致关系破裂的）激烈争吵
More examples
Bust-up over mooted Trump-Rouhani meeting prompted Bolton exit.
— theguardian.com
Nov. 8, 2018 · BREAKING: CNN reporter LOSES White House access after FIERY Trump bust-up. CNN sues Donald Trump over …
In Missouri, Mr. Trump busted up the left’s class-warfare model. He didn’t make tax reform about blue-collar workers fighting corporate America.
— www.wsj.com Aug 31, 2017
fight tooth and nail (Cambridge Dictionary)
Meaning
to try very hard to get something you want
竭尽全力
Examples
We fought tooth and nail to get the route of the new road changed.
我们奋力抗争，争取改变新修道路的路线。
That’s why they wouldn’t let Johnson have an election on his own terms and it’s why they are fighting tooth and nail to get Parliament back on its feet.
— theguardian.com
We witnessed the outsider Donald Trump fight tooth and nail against the Republican establishment, the Democratic establishment, and big business elitists; …
— executivetelegraph.com
