-
MOUTH
1.
be all mouth
(BrE also)
be all mouth and (no) trousers
(informal) if you say someone is all
mouth, you mean that they talk a lot about doing
something, but are, in
fact,
not brave enough to do it
说说而已；雷声大，雨点小；口说一大套，没有勇气去做到
1.1
De be scared
of her. She won
’
t hurt you
—
she
’
s all mouth.
不要怕她。她不会伤害你
—
他只是说说而已。
1.2
He said that
anyone caught trespassing on his land would be
taken to police, but he was all mouth to scare
away the trespassers.
他说任何人闯入他的土地被抓住要
被送往警察，但他只是说说而已目的是要吓走那些私闯者们。
2.
be
born with a silver spoon in
one
’
s mouth
be born into a very rich family
生在富贵人家；生来富贵
2.1
He
is a perfectly well bred man whose
conduct is deserving of highest praise and he was
born with a silver
spoon in his mouth.
他是个
有完好教养的人，他的品行应受到高度称颂，而他是生在富贵人家。
2.2
They had both
been born with silver spoons in their mouths, and
never had to worry about money.
他们俩都是生来富贵，从不为钱发愁。
3.
butter wouldn
’
t
melt in one
’
s mouth
(spoken) a person looks very innocent,
but probably is not; a person is very nice to
people, but is not sincere;
acts very
polite and friendly, but does not really care
虚情假意；花言巧语；看来老实；其实安然
3.1
She looks as
if butter wouldn
’
t melt in
her mouth, but don
’
t be
fooled by first impression.
她看来好像很老实而其实不然，不要被她给你第一印象所愚弄。
3.2
He was always
marked his anger with a cheerful smile and
pretended to be polite and respectful to people
without sincerity
—
the looked as
if butter wouldn
’
t melt in
his mouth.
他总是以动人的微笑掩盖他的愤怒，他装着以礼待人和尊纵别人
而毫无诚意
—
都是虚情假意。
4.
be
word of mouth
in spoken, not written
words
Note:
A
humorous way to refer to communication through
modern methods, such as e-mail or chat rooms, is
“
by word of
mouse
”
(= a computer mouse)
口头（并非书面）通知
1
一种幽默的方式指通过现代化方法通讯，
< br>例如电子邮件或聊天室等，
是
“鼠标文字”
“
by word of
mouse
”
4.1 The
news spread by word of mouth.
这一消息由口头传播开了。
4.2
The news got around by word of mouse.
这一消息由网上传播开了。
4.3
It
’
s often a secret way to
pass down the instruction of a higher leading body
to grass
—
root
units by word of
mouth.
常见的秘密方式把上级的指示口头传达到各个基层。
4.4
?
after
attempting several letters, and failing in them
all, he resolved to do it by word of mouth.
(Charles Dickens,
“
Flard
Times
”
,
Book
Ⅰ
,
Chapter
ⅩⅤⅠ
)
?他一连写了几封信，都不成功，于是决定亲自口头通知他。
5.
down in the mouth
(informal)
unhappy and depressed
垂头丧气；沮丧；气馁
5.1
Why is she
looking so down in the mouth?
为什么她看来那么垂头丧气？
5.2
All the
players were down in mouths when their team had
lost the final.
当她们的队输了决赛时，所有队员都很沮丧。
6.
foam at the mouth
(informal)
be extremely angry
Note:
If
an
animal
foams
at
the
mouth,
it
has
a
mass
of
small
bubbles
in
an
around
its
mouth,
especially
because it is
very ill or angry.
极其愤怒；恼怒至极；口吐泡沫
6.1 He stood there foaming at the
mouth. I
’
ve never seen
anybody so angry.
6.2 He was
highly incensed at such a smear, foaming at mouth.
他被如此侮辱完全激怒了，简直愤怒到了极点。
6.3 He was really foaming at the mouth
when he has a flat tire again.
当轮胎又爆了时，他真是恼怒极了。
7.
(straight) from the
horse
’
s mouth / out of the
horse
’
s mouth
(of
information, etc) directly from the person who
really knows because they are closely connected
with its
source; from the source of
original statement
最直接的信息源；来自原始的信息源；据最可靠的消息
7.1
“
How do you know
he
’
s leaving?
2
“
I got it
straight from the horse
’
s
mouth. He told me himself.
”
“你怎么知道他要走了？”
“我从最
原始的信息源获悉的，是他本人告诉我的。
”
7.2
It’
s the first-hand tips
straight from the horse
’
s
mouth that the Chairman will soon resign.
据第一首最可靠的信息董事长很快就会辞职了。
8.
have (got) a plum in
one
’
s mouth
(BrE
disapproving) speak in a way that is thought to be
typical of the English upper classes.
言谈高雅；被认为上流阶段的典型言谈方式；言语趾高气扬
8.1
Speaks as if
she
’
s got a plum in her
mouth.
她讲起话来好像趾高气扬。
9.
heart in / into
one
’
s mouth
one
feels very anxious or afraid
深为惊恐；深感忧虑；焦虑万分；诚惶诚恐
9.1
My heart was
in my mouth as I waited to hear whether the jury
would find me guilty or not guilty.
我等待陪审团宣布我是否有罪时，真是诚惶诚恐。
9.2
A
sound brought my heart into mouth.
(Robert Stevenson,
“
Treasure
Island
”
, Chapter
Ⅳ
)
这一声响使我吓得要命。
9.3
When I was
going into the vacant haunted house where a
profound silence that prevailed over all brought
my
heart into my mouth.
当我走进那空无一人的凶宅时，那里万籁俱寂时我害怕极了。
9.4
As being
conscience he went to see the Right Reverend with
his heart in his mouth.
由于受到良心谴责，他们诚惶诚恐的心情去见主教。
9.5
She was
telling a story of a ghost to the children whose
hearts were in their mouth and their hair stood on
end
as the ghost made its appearance at
night.
她对那些恐惧万分的孩子们讲鬼故事，她将到鬼在晚上出现时孩子们毛发悚然。
10.
keep one
’
s mouth
shut / shut your mouth / trap / face / gob
(informal) a rude way of telling
someone to be quite, stop talking or stay silent
Note: trap and gab are slang words for
“
human
mouth
”
.
闭嘴
10.1
“
Shut your
mouth,
”
Roger said,
“
or
I
’
ll kick you
out.
”
“闭嘴，
”罗杰说，
“否则我把你踢出门外。
”
10.2 Why can
’
t
you learn to keep your big mouth shut?
你怎么学不会闭上你的臭嘴？
3
10.3 If
you
’
ll just shut your trap /
gob / mouth long enough
I’
ll
explain what
’
s wrong.
如果只要你把你的嘴闭上相当时间，我就解释出了什么差错。
11.
laugh on the wrong side of
one
’
s mouth / laugh on the
other side of one
’
s mouth /
laugh out of the other
side of
one
’
s mouth
(informal) get the worst of something
that had seemed to be an advantage; have
a joke turned against one;
change from joy to sorrow; be severely
disappointed in one
’
s hope
(often continuous tenses)
变优势为劣势；变胜局为败局
；把笑话转而取消某人；转喜为悲；变希望为失望
11.1
Once he hears the results and finds that he
hasn
’
t won as he expected,
he
’
ll be laughing out of the
wrong
wide of his mouth.
一旦他
听到了这样的结果并发现他并没像他预料的会赢，他将会转喜为悲。
11.2
He
boasted
that
he was
a
good
skater,
but
after
he
fell,
he would
be
laughing
out
of
the
other side
of
his
mouth.
他吹嘘他是一个溜冰能手，但他摔倒后，他将会转喜为悲。
11.3 Tom used to be the top one in the
examination of many subjects. He fails to pass
some this time, he will be
laughing out
of the other side of his mouth.
汤姆过去许多门
学科考试都拔尖。这一回他却有些学科不及格，却转忧为劣。
12.
leave a bad / nasty taste in the /
one
’
s mouth
(of
an experience) make you feel angry, bitter or
disgusted
使人愤怒，痛苦或厌恶
12.1 The idea that the money had been
stolen from her sick mother left a nasty taste in
the mouth.
她的脑中深印着从他的有病的母亲那里那笔钱被偷走了，真是
她感到气愤。
12.2 When you see
someone being treated so unkindly, it leaves a bad
taste in your mouth.
当你看到有人被如此虐待，你感到厌恶。
12.3 In order to be promoted, he made
the best of his way to grease his
chief
’
s palm. What he had
done left a
nasty taste in my mouth.
为了获得提升他想方设法去贿赂头头。他的所做所为真令人恶心。
13.
live from hand to mouth
spend all money you earn on basic needs
such as food, without being able to save any
money; live poorly; adj.
hand-to-mouth
仅足糊口；生活得穷困潦倒
13.1
The unemployed worker tired hard to get a job, as
he was worried about his family living from hand
to mouth,
borrowing money and never
being sure where their next meal was coming from.
那个失
业的工人想尽一切办法去找工作，因为他担心他的家人生活在穷困潦倒之中借钱度日，从来没
有保证他们的下一顿饭不知来自何处。
4