Lesson 22 - TWIST ONE'S ARM / CHARGE SOMEONE AN ARM AND A LE
时间：2019-01-11 作者：英语课 分类：美国习惯用语
To twist someone's arm
To charge someone an arm and a leg
今天我们要讲的两个习惯用语是由 arm，也就是手臂和leg，也就是腿这两个字组成的。我们要介绍的第一个词汇是：To twist someone's arm。Twist是拧，用力扭转的意思。一个人要是给别人把手臂拧到身后去那是很难受的。To twist someone's arm这个习惯用语的意思也正是如此，它是指给某人施加压力，迫使他做你要他做的事。下面这个例子是一个学生说的话：
例句-1: "I didn't want see that movie about Mozart, but my roomate twisted my arm. I'm glad he did -- it was a great show."
他说："我本来不想去看那个有关莫扎特的电影的。可是，我同房间的同学硬逼着要我去。不过，看了电影后我倒很高兴，因为那个电影太好了。"
这个学生还算运气，尽管他本来不愿意，可是结果还不错。但是，被迫做的事往往会产生不愉快的结局。请听下面这位爸爸说的话：
例句-2:"My son has been twisting my arm to let him take my car out on a date ever since he got his driver's license 1. This weekend, I finally let him take it. And now it's in the body shop for a thousand dallars of repairs: he had an accident on the way to pick up his girlfriend."
他说："自从我儿子拿到驾驶执照以来，他一直闹着要开我的车去赴约会。这个周末，我终于答应了。可是，他在去接女朋友的路上出了车祸，现在我的车正在车库里修，要花一千美元呢。"
下面我们要讲的一个俗语里既有 arm 也有 leg：To charge someone an arm and a leg。Charge就是要多少价钱的意思。任何东西要你付出一只手臂，还加上一条腿恐怕要价也太高了一点，很不值得。很明显，to charge someone an arm and a leg的意思就是要价太高。下面这句话就是一个例子：
例句-3: "Don't go to that fancy 2 new restaurant. The food isn't very good and they charge you an arm and a leg for it!"
这个人说："别上那个新开的高级饭馆去。他们的菜并不好，而价钱倒贵得要命。"
在美国，一般人都很怕去看牙大夫。这不仅是为了怕痛，而是他们要价都很高，动一点小手术就是好几百美元，有的甚至要几千美元。下面这句话就反应了这个情况：
例句-4: "Say, if you need a dentist, you might want to try my brother. He's fresh out of dental 3 school and trying to set up a practice. But he does good work, and he won't charge you an arm and a leg for it like most other dentists."
这个人说："喂，要是你想找牙大夫，你可以上我弟弟那里去试一下。他刚毕业，正在设法开业。可是，他技术很好，也不会像其他许多牙大夫那样收费很高。"
现在我们来复习一下今天讲的两个习惯用语。
第一个是 to twist someone's arm，那是强迫某人做你要他做的事。
第二个是 to charge someone an arm and a leg，这是指要价太高。
「美国习惯用语」第二十二讲就到里。欢迎下次再一起来学习美国习惯用语。再见。
- The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
- The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
- He seemed to have taken quite a fancy to her.他似乎相当喜欢她。
- I have a fancy that it's going to rain.我想大概要下雨。