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）
vanilla
adjective
If you describe a person or thing as vanilla, you mean that they are ordinary, with no special or extra features.
如果你把一个人或一件事描述成vanilla ，你的意思是他们是普通的，没有特殊或额外的特征。(Collins)
Graham suggested that while Clinton was briefed about “foreign influences involving her campaign,” the FBI provided only a “vanilla briefing” to Trump’s campaign outlining that “the Russians are out there, you better beware.”
— CNN Dec 11, 2019
shake out
— phrasal verb with shake verb mainly US
to change over a period of time before a final result is known
（在最后结果出现前）变化，演变 (Cambridge)
There are a lot of competing incentives at work in the Senate regarding impeachment. The way it all shakes out, however, is that the removal vote is at about 56-44 in Trump’s favor. That could, of course, change based on additional evidence emerging, public opinion shifting and Republican senators changing their minds. But right now, it’s just hard to see the Senate trial of Trump taking place with any real chance that 67 senators will support removing him from office.”
—fivethirtyeight.com Dec 11, 2019
sound off
— phrasal verb with sound verb
to express your opinions forcefully, especially without being asked for them
（尤指未经邀请）大发议论，言辞激烈地发表意见 (Cambridge)
Trump supporters at Hershey rally sound off on impeachment. One supporter said there would be a “second Civil War” if President Trump is removed from office.
— CBS Dec 11, 2019
military rabbis 军事拉比
The Military Rabbis is a unit in the Israel Defense Forces that provides religious services for military personnel, Jewish and non-Jewish, and makes decisions on issues of religion and military affairs.
Kramp-Karrenbauer said the addition of military rabbis was a clear commitment to Jewish life in Germany. The German army does not document the religious affiliations of its members. But according to estimates about 300 Jews, 1,400 Muslims and 94,000 Christians are in the Bundeswehr armed forces, German media reported.
toe the line
If you toe the line, you behave in the way that people in authority expect you to, to do what you are ordered or expected to do
服从；听从
That’s what happening when Republicans like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy spread conspiracy theories about Ukrainian interference in the US election in 2016. They are not only reflecting the strength of Trump’s hold on Republican voters and capacity to get lawmakers to toe the line. They are blurring the public record.
clarion call
noun [ C usually singular ]
a very clear message or instruction about what action is needed；a clarion call is a strong and emotional appeal to people to do something.
召唤；号召
“She has succeeded in creating a global attitudinal shift, transforming millions of vague, middle-of-the-night anxieties into a worldwide movement calling for urgent change. She has offered a moral clarion call to those who are willing to act, and hurled shame on those who are not.”
turn sth on its head
To misinterpret or misrepresent something so that it is completely incorrect or the opposite of what it should be.
曲解某物，使之完全不正确或与应有的相； 使走向对立面；颠倒
“I think our nation was turned on its head for three years, I think, based on a completely bogus narrative that was largely fanned and hyped by an irresponsible press,” Barr said Tuesday in an interview with NBC News.
post-truth
adjective
relating to a situation in which people are more likely to accept an argument based on their emotions and beliefs, rather than one based
“后真相”是指一些人为了自身利益，无视客观事实，盲目迎合受众的情绪与心理，使用断言、猜测、感觉等表达方式，强化、极化某种特定观点，攻讦抹黑对手，或博取眼球效应和支持率 （百度）
“I always call Putin (a) merchant of doubt. But now seeing what’s happening in America, it’s when just Republicans managed to turn the whole political process in this alternative reality. It’s like a post-truth world.”
— CNN Dec 11. 2019
goad
verb
ATHENS — The Greek government’s tough stance on migration doesn’t go far enough for conservatives in the ruling New Democracy party like ex-Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who is goading his successor to crack down on what he calls an “invasion by illegals” who are “colonizing” Greece. 刺激；驱使
ATHENS — The Greek government’s tough stance on migration doesn’t go far enough for conservatives in the ruling New Democracy party like ex-Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who is goading his successor to crack down on what he calls an “invasion by illegals” who are “colonizing” Greece.
rambunctious
adjective mainly US /ræmˈbʌŋk.ʃəs/ us
full of energy and difficult to control
精力过剩的；难以控制的；桀骜不驯的 (Cambridge)
It might be most useful to think about young progressives as a third party trapped in a two-party system. Radicalized by America’s political sclerosis and economic and social inequality, they are a powerful movement politically domiciled within a larger coalition of moderate older minorities and educated suburbanites, who don’t always know what to do with their rambunctious bunkmates.
