ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

裝聾做啞:  假裝耳聾口啞。形容故意不理睬；裝做不知或不懂；或故意置身事外。

Pretend to be deaf and dumb; pretend to be deaf and mute; play ignorant; play dumb; remain aloof; turn a deaf ear

Knock on wood   = 老天保佑

When we don't want something bad to happen, we knock on wood to ward off impending bad luck and to assure that good luck will continue. 

Almost another 2 years have passed from my last entry.  Sorry, I am getting lazier and lazier as I get older.  

By the way, I was watching a korean movie:  The Con Artist, with English subtitles and came across this idiom “by the skin of one’s teeth”, which means barely, by a narrow margin, just in time, 差一點點就不成 , 險勝

For Example:

填鴨式教育

Spoon-feeding education

I was just talking to a friend about the difference between Eastern and Western education.  Eastern education system tends to provide a more passive way of learning where students are hand

2 1/2 years have passed since my last entry on this blog.  I am sorry to keep you waiting.  It has been hard without much motivation to write.  Anyway, since I like to whine, I will talk about whining.

發牢騷 -  Whine

Is it good to whine?  Sometimes, it is good to whine to get things off your chest, so you can be done with it and not get bogged down.  However, constant whining gets you nowhere and is unconstructive.  Instead of fixing issues, you are wasting your time whining. 

過河拆橋 - 每日一辭(英)

Better print out this news. Just in case you have the need in the future.

I don't know why "Dismantle the bridge after crossing it" (過河拆橋) came to my mind.  Maybe because I don't trust that Ministry of Foreign Affair would really honor this for civilians. 

玩弄於股掌之中- 每日一辭(英)

玩弄於股掌之中

Twist around one's finger / Turn around one’s finger / Wind around one’s finger / Wrap around one’s finger

Don’t patronize me! 别把我當傻瓜 - 每日一辭(英) 

鑽牛角尖 - 每日一辭(英)  

鑽牛角尖

敷衍, 草率, 馬虎 , 掛在嘴上說說 - 每日一辭(英)  

敷衍了事,草率做事