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）
the icing on the cake
If you describe something as the icing on the cake, you mean that it makes a good thing even better, but it is not essential. ( Collins)
锦上添花之物
The nomination of former German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen in July was seen by many in the EU capital as the icing on the cake for a country long accustomed to having its voice well-represented in European policymaking.
— Politico EU Dec 02, 2019
trot sth out
— phrasal verb with trot verb
If you say that a person trots out old ideas or information, you are criticizing him or her for repeating them in a way that is not new or interesting.
动不动就提出，重复说（老一套的东西）
You trot out that argument whenever I try to discuss this with you.
每次我想与你讨论这件事的时候，你总是重复那一套说辞。(Cambridge)
India is frequently trotted out by the West as “the world’s largest democracy,” a capitalist success story and a good ally for Americans.
drip feed （ also drip-feed）
/ˈdrip ˌfēd/ verb & noun
past tense: drip-fed; past participle: drip-fed
to supply (information) constantly but in small amounts
不断地一点一点提供信息； 提供含糊其辞的信息
Authorities have drip-fed details of the incident to the public. But Monday, Vyacheslav Solovyov, scientific director of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, confirmed that at the time of the blast, nuclear scientists at the Nyonoksa military range were working on “small-sized energy sources using radioactive fissile materials.”
they basically want to drip-feed the truth about human cloning to us as if it’s “soon to come” … but it’s been here
be coy about
reluctant to give details, especially about something regarded as sensitive.
遮遮掩掩；含糊其辞；故作神秘
During his visits to the four nations earlier this week, Johnson was confronted by a number of protesters who took issue with his “do or die” approach to Brexit. Johnson has not been coy about his commitment to leaving the EU on October 31. And he’s made it perfectly clear he would do so without a deal.
come out of left field
1. Out of left field describes something that takes one by surprise, something that is unexpected or perhaps incongruous.
出人意料
2. The phrase out of left field may refer to something that is odd or does not fit；crazy
怪异，疯狂，不合时宜
Paul Ryan tries to distance himself from Trump’s ‘out of left field‘ comment about a Latino judge.
Hill’s ethics inquiry came out of left field when Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno), a long-standing critic of the project, filed an ethics complaint with the FPPC. (The Los Angeles Times)
Bite off more than you can chew
If you “bite off more than you can chew”, you have taken on a project or task that is beyond what you are capable of.
承担力所不及的事；不自量力
“I bit off more than I could chew by taking on that extra class.”
Donald Trump has finally bitten off more than he can chew in this trade war with China.
navel-gazing
noun [ U ] humorous disapproving /ˈneɪ.vəlˌɡeɪ.zɪŋ/
the activity of spending too much time considering your own thoughts, feelings, or problems
凝视肚脐； 过度自我专注；顾影自怜；狭隘自溺
The progressive Dong-A Ilbo compared Trump’s navel-gazing “America first” politics with Clinton’s hopeful “enthusiasm effect”, while the conservative Chosun Ilbo’s New York correspondent Gim Deok-han bluntly wrote that Trump needs to resign.
Trump is the navel-gazing president for our navel-gazing society.
psych sb out
— phrasal verb with psych verb
to behave in a very confident or forceful way in order to make a competitor, especially in a sports event, feel less confident
（尤指在体育比赛中）吓住，镇住（对手）（Cambridge）
Both athletes were trying to psych each other out before the race.
两个运动员都试图在赛前把对方镇住。
Horton’s 2016 comments went viral in China, where many believed he had deliberately tried to psych out Sun. Horton’s Instagram page was bombarded with derogatory messages, and op-ed published by the nationalistic tabloid Global Times described Australia as a country “at the fringes of civilization” and referred to its history as “Britain’s offshore prison.”
sock puppet
adj, noun and verbA fake persona used to discuss or comment on oneself or one’s work, particularly in an online discussion group or the comments section of a blog；
a false online identity, typically created by a person or group in order to promote their own opinions or views.
马甲：处于欺骗目的而使用网络假身份
I have been investigating (and have been deeply disturbed by) an incredibly insidious new aspect of the social media and political landscape: “sock puppets.” While there is much vague discussion of “fake news”, the issue of sockpuppeting is both underreported, underdiscussed and, I fear, not well understood.
Sock puppets are actually malicious tools used to advertise and spam (at their most benign) and to spread political propaganda, “fake news” and white nationalist memes at their worst.
smoke and mirrors
noun [ plural ]
irrelevant or misleading information serving to obscure the truth of a situation
烟幕，障眼物； 不相关的或误导性的信息，用来掩盖情况的真相
The new budget isn’t smoke and mirrors; it’s an honest attempt to reduce the deficit.
新预算不是在搞障眼法，是真的试图削减开支。
“Trump comes here in 2006 promising he’ll spend $1.5 billion on a golf resort with a luxury hotel and a spa and an equestrian center and tennis courts and holiday houses and it’s all ooooooooooo, big money, 6,000 jobs for Aberdeen, that’s how he got away with it, that’s how he convinced the politicians it was worth destroying a rare and pristine nature preserve, but it was all smoke and mirrors! A decade later we’ve got one golf course, a clubhouse and a measly one hundred jobs. The mirror fell over and the smoke’s cleared.”
a ringside seat
a seat immediately adjacent to a boxing ring.
an advantageous position from which to observe or monitor something; to be in a position where you can see or observe something very well.
处于一个有利于观察的位置
It’s no secret that ending up in high office was always Johnson’s aim. Mount says “it was always clear that he saw journalism as a ringside seat for the main contest, which he wanted to star in.”
I had a ringside seat at the Senate in the late 1970s while writing my book “Friend and Foe in the U.S. Senate.” I can assure Sen. Harris that had she been serving at that time, she would have been as ingratiating and collegial with Southern segregationists from her own party as she accuses Biden of being back then.
clear the air
To remove doubt from a situation; to get rid of doubts or hard feelings.
消除误会(或猜疑)
Some groups in our community seem to suffer from discrimination. An independent inquiry could clear the air and sort out the problem.
G-20 Osaka summit: Modi, Trump clear the air on trade, set stage for more talks.
