11. Butter [someone] up

取悦某人

To butter someone up is to please or flatter someone in order to win his or her favor. This separable phrase may be used in the format butter [someone] up or butter up [someone].

Butter someone up意为取悦或奉承某人以赢得他/她的欢心。这个可分短语可以以两种形式出现即butter [someone] up或者butter up [someone]。

Everyone seems to be trying to butter up the new boss hoping to become her favorite.

似乎每个人都想要取悦新老板以成为她最喜欢的人。

12. Food for thought

引人深思的事情

Food for thought refers to something that’s worth thinking carefully about.

Food for thought指值得仔细思考的事情。

Moving to another state is food for thought for many of those affected by the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

在德克萨斯州和佛罗里达州，许多受飓风影响的人都认为搬到另一个城市是一件值得思考的事情。

13. A smart cookie

聪明人

Here’s an easy one. A smart cookie is an intelligent person.

这个习语很简单，a smart cookie指聪明的人。

It shouldn’t be hard too hard for a smart cookie like you to learn Spanish.

学习西班牙语对于你这样聪明的人并不难。

14. Packed like sardines

过于拥挤的

What do you see when you open up a can of sardines? Yes, the fish crammed inside the can. So packed like sardines describes a place or situation that’s very crowded with people (or animals).

打开一罐沙丁鱼罐头的时候，你看到的是什么？是的，里面塞满了鱼。所以packed like sardines用来形容非常拥挤的地方。

Were you at the football game last night? The stadium was packed like sardines.

你昨晚去看球赛了嘛？体育场挤地像沙丁鱼一样。

15. Spill the beans

泄密，说漏嘴

You accidentally knock over a bowl of beans and they all spill out. Think of this image and you’ll remember that spill the beans means to accidentally or prematurely give out information that’s supposed to be kept secret.

你不小心撞翻了一碗豆子，它们都被洒出来了。想想这幅画面，你就会明白spill the beans意为泄露了本该保密的消息。

We were planning a surprise birthday party for Joyce this weekend. But this morning, Owen spilled the beans and now it’s no longer a surprise.

我们计划这个周末为乔伊斯举办一个惊喜的生日聚会。但是今天早上，欧文说漏了嘴，这现在已经不再是一个秘密了。

16. A bad apple

坏蛋，惹麻烦

Imagine a basket of apples with one rotten apple inside. This picture will help you remember that a bad apple is someone who creates problems or trouble, or is a bad influence on the other people in a group.

想象一幅画面，一篮子苹果里面有一个坏苹果。这幅画面会帮助你理解a bad apple是指制造问题惹麻烦的人，或者是对小组内其他人产生不好影响的人。

Instead of focusing on college, he spends his time hanging out with bad apples.

在大学里，他没有把精力集中在学习上，他把时间都花在和一群坏蛋鬼混上。

17. Bread and butter

生计，基本生活资料

Bread and butter is a basic food that many of us eat. So the idiom bread and butter refers to a job that makes the money you need to live and afford basic necessities like food, housing, etc.

面包和黄油是一种基本食物。因此习语bread and butter就是指一份可以赚钱的工作，可以用来提供基本的生活资料，比如食物，房子等。

Fishing is the bread and butter of the friendly people who I met on the island last summer.

我去年夏天在小岛上遇到了几个非常友好的人，他们以钓鱼为生计。

18. Buy a lemon

买无用的东西

To buy a lemon means to buy something (usually a motor vehicle) that doesn’t work well and is therefore worthless.

Buy a lemon以为买没有用处的东西，因此毫无价值。

The car looked so new and shiny I had no way of knowing I was buying a lemon.

这辆车看起来很新，闪闪发光，但是我怎么也想不到我买了个这么个没有价值的东西。

19. A hard nut to crack

棘手的问题，难对付的人

Is it easy to crack open a nut? Not always. Well, a hard nut to crack refers to a person who’s difficult to deal with or to get to know.

把坚果打开容易吗？不是很容易吧。A hard nut to crack是指难对付或者难了解的人。

I tried to be friendly with her but I was told she’s a hard nut to crack.

我试着和她友好相处，但是我却被告知她是个很难对付的人。

20. Have a sweet tooth

喜欢吃甜食

Do you like eating cakes, candy and other sweet-tasting food? If you do, then you can say you have a sweet tooth.

你喜欢吃蛋糕，糖果和其他甜甜的食物吗？如果你喜欢你就可以用have a sweet tooth来形容自己。

Yes, I definitely have a sweet tooth. I can never walk past a bakery and not stop to buy myself a slice of chocolate cake.

是的，我确实喜欢吃甜食。我每次路过面包店都会停下来给自己买一块巧克力蛋糕。

现在这20个习语你都知道了，你可以用他们来润色你的对话。对于你这样聪明的人，学习这20个习语简直就是小菜一碟，对吧？只需要记住上述提示并且进行大量练习就好了。祝你好运，学习愉快！