"A feast for the eyes" nghĩa là gì?

Photo courtesy Mark Strobl.

'A feast for the eyes' có từ feast là bữa tiệc/yến tiệc -> cụm từ này nghĩa là cảnh đẹp đặc biệt/nổi bật hay trải nghiệm thị giác (xem phim, lễ hội ánh sáng v.v...) rất hấp dẫn, vui thích, dễ chịu.

Ví dụ

A feast for the eyes: Will visually creative food be a new trend?

From casual to elegant, Thanksgiving table settings can be a feast for the eyes when entertaining guests this holiday with a few easy ideas.

Every frame is a feast for the eyes, with almost otherworldly versions of London, New York and Paris. These are dreamlike even when shrouded (bao phủ, che khuất) in dark grey mists (sương mù, màn che), including the majestic buildings that house the respective Ministries of Magic and the exquisite costume design.

Visual social network Instagram is a feast for the eyes – particularly for those who love traveling. The platform now has more than 1 billion active monthly users, who post more than 100 million photos each day. And a large percentage of those photos are travel-related.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Give him the stink eye" nghĩa là gì?

"Give him the stink eye" nghĩa là gì?

Photo courtesy zaps06.

'Give (someone) the stink eye' có từ stink là mùi hôi thối, khó chịu -> cụm từ này nghĩa là nhăn mặt vì khó chịu, kinh tởm, không tin tưởng... ai đó.

Ví dụ

Brooke gave her the stink eyes and sat back down.

I quickly hide it with my hands and give him the stink eyes.

Though this year Professor Binns kept nervously glancing at Nico who gave him the stink eyes every time.

He realized next to him in her open roof convertible is a girl speaking extremely obnoxiously into her phone. She gives him the stink eyes.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "One in the eye" nghĩa là gì?

"Turn a blind eye" nghĩa là gì?

"Box the compass" nghĩa là gì?

"Box the compass" nghĩa là gì?

Don't lose yourself. Photo courtesy Calsidyrose.

'Box the compass' nghĩa là thay đổi hoàn toàn lập trường/quan điểm của mình về vấn đề gì.

Ví dụ

Easterns do not ”box the compass” after our fashion: with them each point has its own name, generally derived from some prominent star on the horizon.

Because we believe that the new economy continues to unleash (tháo dây, gỡ ràng buộc) remarkable innovations and dramatic changes in business strategy, economic competition, work, and life, we dispatched four of our most talented writers to collect answers to the four essential questions that box the compass of the new economy today.

Because nuclear power was included in the Bill, probably against the advice of some of my right hon. 265 Friend's advisers, clauses 30 and 31 had to be introduced. They are hardly in line with market conditions, but one must attempt to reconcile (hòa giải, điều hòa, làm cho nhất trí/tương thích,) the irreconcilable. Perhaps the Secretary of State has done that. Perhaps he has been able to box the compass in every way and achieve his purpose.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Be a box of birds" nghĩa là gì?

"Be a box of birds" nghĩa là gì?

Photo courtesy Don McCullough.

'Be a box of birds' nghĩa là tinh thần/sức khỏe tốt (to be in good spirits or health. Primarily heard in Australia, New Zealand. The origin is almost certainly a play on chirpy (vui tính, hoạt bát), meaning cheerful (vui mừng, phấn khởi, hớn hở) or lively (hoạt bát, hăng hái, năng nổ), and it's linked to chirpy as a bird, an expression of carefree happiness common in the nineteenth century.).

Ví dụ

Colin Feisst says he's feeling like a "box of birds" two months on from his cardiac arrest (tình trạng tim ngừng đập, cần có sự can thiệp kịp thời tránh làm tổn hại đến não gây tử vong; ngưng tim).

Many clients come in to his shop with scraggly (thô, xộc xệch, không đều, lởm chởm) beards, and walk out "like a box of birds", with a few products too.

Russell police constable Mike Gorrie said despite the unfortunate circumstances, it was good to see a boatie (người đi du thuyền) take responsibility by making sure he had a lifejacket (áo phao, áo cứu hộ). He had suffered no ill effects and was "a box of birds".

Played loud, The Cure's 1982 album Pornography makes me feel physically ill. There's Bob on the first track, wailing "It doesn't matter if we all die" over some horrid (khó chịu, bực mình; gây kinh hoàng/khiếp sợ) guitar noises and a rhythm section that plods along like Frankenstein's monster in heavy lead boots. He sounds like terminally damaged goods on that record, but today, he's a box of birds.

Phạm Hạnh

"Open Pandora's box" nghĩa là gì?

"A little bird told me" nghĩa là gì?

"Open Pandora's box" nghĩa là gì?

Photo courtesy ketrin1407.

'Open Pandora's box' nghĩa là bắt đầu một việc gì mà mang lại nhiều phiền phức không lường trước được (To begin or introduce something that leads to many other problems. A reference to the story from Greek mythology in which Pandora opens a box containing all the possible things that can affect humanity negatively).

Ví dụ

US withdrawal (rút khỏi, thu hồi) from nuclear (hạt nhân) arms treaty (hiệp ước vũ khí) will open Pandora's box.

A Trump Executive Order On Birthright Citizenship (quốc tịch ngay khi sinh) Would Open Pandora’s Box.

He said granting Britain any special exceptions could “open Pandora’s Box” and embolden (làm cho bạo dạn/bạo gan) disgruntled (bực mình, bất mãn) member states like Hungary and Poland to make similar demands.

If the EU capitulates and makes a special exception for the UK, it could well open Pandora’s Box, and lead to an escalation (leo thang) of dissent (bất đồng quan điểm, bất đồng ý kiến) within the EU, with all and sundry (mọi người) demanding their own special deals. Within this context, it becomes clear that the EU is not acting out of spite (sự giận, không bằng lòng, hận thù) or pettiness (tính nhỏ nhen, vụn vặt, đê tiện) – to them it is a matter of sheer survival.

The President is likely to open up a Pandora’s box of executive power – further transforming the U.S. into almost an elected monarchy. Congress would be turned into mere advisers, with the occasional ability to pass budgets to keep the government funded. The judiciary would have a say should the executive order be signed – but there’s no guarantee they’ll side with limiting presidential power on the issue.

Phạm Hạnh

"In the box seat" nghĩa là gì?

"Open a can of worms" nghĩa là gì?

"In the box seat" nghĩa là gì?

Photo courtesy kowarski.

'In the box seat' = (thế kỷ 19) ở ghế sau xe ngựa -> nghĩa là ở vị trí/vị thế thuận lợi ('Barouche' is the name of a carriage with such a seat - "A four-wheeled carriage having a seat in front for the driver, and seats inside for two couples to sit facing each other". ( see also Vis-à-vis) The use of 'in the box-seat' to describe someone in a favourable situation began in the mid 19th century).

Ví dụ

Euro Garages owner (ông chủ) EG Group appears to be in the box seat to buy Woolworths' $1.8 billion petrol station operations.

Le Brocq is in the box seat to finish 2018 as the top rookie, currently 179 points clear of next-best Anton De Pasquale, despite a poor run in recent events.

Trucking magnate (ông trùm) Lindsay Fox’s family property group has swooped on a small South Melbourne office for $5.2 million in a deal that puts it in the box seat for future development.

At a time when financial markets were in complete disarray, and most international banks struggled to raise finance, Macquarie was in the box seat. It could raise money cheaply thanks to the Australian government's Triple-A guarantee, and it used these borrowings to buy tens of billions of high-quality assets – most of them senior secured loans – at rock-bottom prices.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Go home in a box" nghĩa là gì?

"Go home in a box" nghĩa là gì?

...sau một lần đã rong chơi trong cuộc đời này. Photo courtesy AMISOM Public Information.

'Go home in a box' = trở về trong chiếc quan tài -> nghĩa là chết ở nơi xa xôi, và được đưa quan tài về quê (to be shipped home dead); như người nói câu "Tau khỏe mà có chi mô" đó các bạn.

Ví dụ

I see so many of the people that I care for in prison have died, they go home in a box and it scares me.

"Simply give us room. We all have a family," said Allemen, "I am a mother of three boys and I want to go home to my kids alive, I don't want to go home in a box like that. They don't deserve that."

If you are a criminal… heading out on a day’s robbery and thievery, that person has to get it into their head that maybe one day they’ll go home in a box. And if that happens, I wouldn’t be sorry.

He said he warned them that to be safe the route would need to be cleared first, adding: "That was when I said 'if you want Ginger to go home in a box we'll just crack on, because that is what will happen if we don't go through the correct procedures first."

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "A box on the ear" nghĩa là gì?

"Go down a treat" nghĩa là gì?

"Go through the roof" nghĩa là gì?

"A box on the ear" nghĩa là gì?

làm sao mà để mất hạ viện? Photo courtesy: Marco Verch.

'A box on the ear' nghĩa là cú bạt tai (trừng phạt, cảnh cáo) (a physical blow struck on or around the ear, usually as a punishment or reprimand for some behavior).

Ví dụ

Martin Luther wrote that he gave his wife a box on the ear whenever she was “saucy.” (láo xược, hỗn xược)

I will give them a box on the ear which will make them…relinquish (từ bỏ) their revolutionary ambitions.

The French horn seems to enter prematurely in the recapitulation (bản tóm tắt lại), an effect that Beethoven’s contemporaries initially thought to be a mistake. Ries recounts that "At the first rehearsal of the Symphony, which was terrible—but at which the horn player made his entry correctly—I stood beside Beethoven and, thinking that a blunder had been made I said: 'Can't the damned hornist count?—it sounds horribly false!' I think I came pretty close to getting a box on the ear. Beethoven did not forgive that little slip (điều lầm lỗi, sự lỡ lời, sơ suất) for a long time."

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "In the wrong box" nghĩa là gì?

"In the wrong box" nghĩa là gì?

BT marked 25th anniversary of ChildLine with launch of open-air art exhibition in London, summer 2012. Photo courtesy Dave Catchpole.

'In the wrong box' nghĩa là nhầm chỗ/ko đúng tình huống; lâm vào tình thế khó xử (in the wrong place or situation; out of one's normal environment or natural element).

Ví dụ

Mistakes as small as putting information in the wrong box can affect your student's eligibility.

India is, alas, in the wrong box. What is the damage to our economy? To start with the most basic of basics we import more than we export.

Murder-accused Glenn Agliotti’s defence on Thursday maintained that the “wrong man was in the wrong box” for the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.

An Irish woman texted her daughter in a panic after accidentally drinking dog medicine instead of cough medicine, and all because it was in the wrong box.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "In a tight box" nghĩa là gì?

"Catch me on the wrong foot" nghĩa là gì?

"On the wrong side of the blanket" nghĩa là gì?

"In a tight box" nghĩa là gì?

Iconic red phone box, Studland Dorset. Photo courtesy c.art.

'In a tight box' nghĩa là lâm vào hoàn cảnh khó khăn.

Ví dụ

He didn’t put us in a tight box. He told us to improve the quality and give more variety to guests.

I stayed stuck in a tight box of my own creation, because I didn’t understand how it truly works, to find roles we love, be well treated and respected, achieve great compensation for our work, and thrive in it.

The past year of the merry-go-round has seen the fund stuck in a tight box between $21 and $25.50. While we’ve had numerous breakout attempts, nothing has been able to shake GDX out of its stupor. Today’s jump, while robust, is merely returning prices to the middle of the range, so we’re still far from an upside breakout.

From the early going it was evident that the visitors were going to spend most of the game defending, with only the rare counter attack to offer their defenders a break. There were numerous occasions when all eleven Alaves players were in a tight box with the highest player no further than 30-yards from Fernando Pacheco.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Outside the box" nghĩa là gì?

"Outside the box" nghĩa là gì?

Young Dancer Statue, Broad Street, Covent Gardens, London. Photo courtesy Martin Pettitt.

'Outside the box' = 'ngoài chiếc hộp' -> nghĩa là tư duy/suy nghĩ ngoài những cách truyền thống, thông thường (outside of or beyond what is considered usual, traditional, or conventional).

Ví dụ

Tetra Pak thinking outside the box as sustainable packaging demand grows.

Ports need to think outside the box to make their terminals more cost-effective.

Dandenong Rangers are desperate to defend home court when they host Perth Lynx on Sunday, but they may have to think outside the box to do it.

For Imo State to be salvaged from further ruin orchestrated by previous government, there is need to think outside the box and bring the basic infrastructure to make the state viable again.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Shadow-box" nghĩa là gì?

"Money box" nghĩa là gì?

"Park the bus" nghĩa là gì?

"Park the bus" nghĩa là gì?

đổ bê-tông. Photo courtesy Gareth Williams.

'Park the bus' nghĩa là (trong bóng đá) đổ bê-tông, đặt xe buýt (2 tầng) trước khung thành (in football (soccer), to employ all (or nearly all) of a team's active players in defending its own side of the pitch).

Ví dụ

Rafa Benitez insists Newcastle can do more than park the bus.

If they decide to park the bus and we don't score early on, then it may be a boring drawn-out game.

Frank Lampard says his Derby side will not park the bus when they face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

Phạm Hạnh

"Throw somebody under the bus" nghĩa là gì?

"Shoot your bolt" nghĩa là gì?

"Shoot your bolt" nghĩa là gì?

bolt. Photo courtesy Miguel Teixeira.

'Shoot (one's) bolt' nghĩa là cố gắng hết sức (tiền bạc, sức lực...) để làm việc gì (to exhaust oneself doing some task and thus struggle to complete it; to use all your money or energy in doing something); lãng phí cơ hội duy nhất để làm gì (to waste your only chance to do something).

Ví dụ

You might think she has shot her bolt before the album has even begun but actually she has just carved out her terrain.

She says she has shot her bolt, done all she can to try to persuade colleagues to soften the impact of equalisation, and failed.

It's also the most amazing race – 'the mare has shot her bolt' in the words of Peter Bromley's thrilling radio commentary, yet still she gets back up to nail the luckless Wayward Lad, who may have been just short of his best after a frost-hampered preparation.

The fact is that Usain has shot his bolt. The greatest champion of all time has stepped down: and that means that the future of the sprint races starts right there on the Gold Coast of Australia – on the B of Bang. Usain Bolt has left a legacy; he has also created a vacancy. Big-time sprinting is no longer a contest for the silver medal.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "A bolt from the blue" nghĩa là gì?

"Lock the stable door after the horse has bolted" nghĩa là gì?

"A shot in the dark" nghĩa là gì?

"Make my mouth water" nghĩa là gì?

"Make my mouth water" nghĩa là gì?

gà khỏa thân. Photo courtesy Olaf Gradin.

'Make one's mouth water' nghĩa là làm thèm chảy nước dãi (to cause one to salivate or feel hungry; by extension, to cause one to feel happy or excited, usually with anticipation).

Ví dụ

A fan of the page, Kelly Samynadin, says that browsing through the posts makes her mouth water.

When Holly Arnold Kinney, the daughter of original owner Samuel P. Arnold, was a little girl, the aroma of roasting buffalo and caramelizing onion made her mouth water.

I've been a fan of chicken scarpariello for years. Apparently there are several versions of it, but the one that makes my mouth water stars chicken thighs, sausages, hot pickled cherry peppers and vinegar.

Kim Kardashian recently said she wants her “son to look like” her boyfriend Kris Humphries – but what is it about the NBA athlete that makes her mouth water? “Probably the sexiest thing about him is his personality,” she said. “And also, his deep voice.”

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Put words in my mouth" nghĩa là gì?

"Put words in my mouth" nghĩa là gì?

ẩn sau là dã tâm lớn của... Photo courtesy manhhai.

'Put words in someone's mouth' = to say that someone means one thing when the person really meant something else -> nghĩa là 'nhét chữ vào mồm người khác'.

Ví dụ

“I was talking about allegations (lời cáo buộc) in this political environment,” said McDaniel to media at the Pearl Town Hall meeting. “You can’t put words in my mouth.”

I’m absolutely silent for over two weeks, and they put words in my mouth that I’m part of a whisper campaign against Khashoggi. It reminds me of what took place in March 2017, when I took the actual news reporting by news outlets.

Mr Richard Grenell - the current US ambassador (đại sứ) to Germany may be a controversial choice (lựa chọn gây tranh cãi). He has caused waves in Germany by offending his hosts within hours of being sworn in, when he tweeted that German companies should immediately cease doing business with Iran. He then sparked anger by giving an interview to Breitbart, in which he said he was hoping to support nationalist (chủ nghĩa dân tộc) movements, like the "America First" of Mr Trump, throughout Europe - comments seized upon as showing support for far-Right groups in Germany. “Don’t put words in my mouth,” he tweeted in response. “The idea that I’d endorse candidates/parties is ridiculous. I stand by my comments that we are experiencing an awakening from the silent majority — those who reject the elites & their bubble. Led by Trump.”

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Foam at the mouth" nghĩa là gì?

"Foam at the mouth" nghĩa là gì?

Photo courtesy Tambako The Jaguar.

'Foam at the mouth' nghĩa là rất tức giận (to be extremely angry); (tức) sùi bọt mép.

Ví dụ

There are people who foam at the mouth at the opportunity to hop into matchmaking and dominate everyone else.

“[She] was not responding verbally and had begun to foam at the mouth brown and bloody looking fluid,” one deputy’s report reads.

Zhang shared his float ball with the engineer, who appeared to be in his 50s, when the older man began to foam at the mouth, lowering his head and showing other signs of exhaustion (tình trạng mệt lử/kiệt sức).

Clara was only 11 weeks old, so it was just simple things like learning to settle her, finding positions she would tolerate to play in and most of all, how to sit her comfortably in the dreaded car chair. Clara would literally foam at the mouth and cry hysterically (cuồng loạn, thác loạn) from the moment she was put in it. We have just completed our first baby block of six weeks of Bobath therapy and it has been a life changer.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "From the horse's mouth" nghĩa là gì?

"Out of the mouth of babes" nghĩa là gì?

"In the last resort" nghĩa là gì?

"In the last resort" nghĩa là gì?

vừa gặp ở "chợ tình" cách đây hai tháng... Photo courtesy Dan Lundberg.

'In the last resort' nghĩa là 'như là phương kế sau cùng' (ultimately); 'chỉ còn cách này khả dĩ'.

Ví dụ

For refugees in Germany, religious asylum is the last resort.

Petro Crypto Could be the Last Resort for the Venezuelan Government.

For some women in China, ‘love markets’ are the last resort to find a husband.

Forced blackouts are considered to be the last resort for preventing a massive power outage.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Have the last laugh" nghĩa là gì?

"Have the last laugh" nghĩa là gì?

hỉ tam nhân. Photo courtesy Loco Steve.

'Have the last laugh' = là người cuối cùng còn cười, người cười lâu nhất -> nghĩa là cuối cùng đã được xác minh là đúng, được minh oan -> dập tắt những hoài nghi trước đây (be finally vindicated, thus confounding earlier skepticism).

Ví dụ

Hamilton has the last laugh on team orders in Sochi.

Putin is bound to get the last laugh over the Salisbury poisoning.

Bringing family into the marketing hype was a tactic that contributed to Khabib’s meltdown at UFC 229, but in the end, Abdelaziz got the last laugh after McGregor was forced to surrender in the UFC 229 main event.

Trump's beef with Germany is chiefly about EU trade and regulations. Merkel is arguably the most influential European leader. But her two Achilles heels for criticism and isolation from the EU herd are NATO contributions and the gas pipeline. The lesson for UN delegates who may have laughed is this: Hope you don't get found out. President Trump likes respect. He won't forget. And he may get the last laugh.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Famous last words" nghĩa là gì?

"Famous last words" nghĩa là gì?

Nathan Hale.* Photo credit: lmtonline.

'Famous last words' nghĩa là những lời lẽ mà người phát ra cảm thấy hối tiếc (assertions that are almost immediately countered).

Ví dụ

Voltaire's famous last words: As he was dying, a priest asked him to renounce (chối bỏ, từ chối thừa nhận) Satan. Voltaire, quippy (hóm hỉnh, dí dỏm) even in death, said: "Now is not the time for making new enemies."

Higher inflation won’t hurt us, and it will help central banks more effectively support growth and combat problems in the next economic downturn (suy thoái kinh tế). Is this wise planning or famous last words?

The technical breakthrough was stiffly resisted by the entrenched (cực đoan, khó có thể thay đổi) diamond industry in much the same way bookstores tried to argue that electronic books would never catch on (nổi tiếng, trở thành mốt, được mọi người ưa chuộng) -- a classic example of famous last words if ever there was.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "The last I heard" nghĩa là gì?

* Historians believe the 21-year-old school teacher-turned-spy was paraphrasing a line from the popular 18th century play "Cato" as he stood on the scaffold (đoạn đầu đài, sự chết chém, sự bị tử hình; giàn giáo (để người thợ xây, thợ sơn... có thể đứng trên đó làm việc) according to the book "Cato's Tears and the Making of Anglo-American Emotion." The British hanged (treo cổ) Hale after he was captured (bị bắt) during a failed 1776 espionage mission (chuyến do thám thất bại) in Long Island.

"The last I heard" nghĩa là gì?

em vẫn khỏe, anh yêu... Photo courtesy Andrey Maximov.

'The last I heard' nghĩa là theo thông tin mới nhất mà tôi biết (used for giving the newest information that you know about a particular subject).

Ví dụ

The last I heard, the medics (thầy thuốc, y sĩ, lính cứu thương, sinh viên y khoa) told me he was breathing and moving on his own.

"The last I heard he was in surgery (khoa phẫu thuật, sự mổ; phòng khám bệnh, giờ khám bệnh; we've been praying for him," TSU coach Rod Reed said.

The last I heard, my brother was picking up my mother and father in Palu to evacuate (di tản, sơ tán) to another district.

Mrs Howard, 68, who cared for Yazmina after her mother died, said: ‘I got a text from her at 9.23pm saying she was okay. That was the last I heard. ‘Whatever happened from then, we’ll never know – we don’t know what has driven her to this at all. Yazmina was a beautiful girl, inside and out, who would never hurt anybody'.

Phạm Hạnh

Bài trước: "Breathe his last" nghĩa là gì?