| 释义 |
room /ruːm, rʊm/► SEE ALLno room to swing a catelbow roomthe elephant in the roomfreedom of/room for manoeuvre
●no room to swing a ˈcat (informal) (of a room 房间) very small; not big enough 非常狭小；无转身之地◆In most modern student accommodation there’s not enough room to swing a cat.
现在大多数的学生宿舍都是斗室一间。◆I’d love a bigger kitchen. There isn’t room to swing a cat in this one.
我想要个大点儿的厨房，现在这个小得转不过身来。 ORIGIN Cat in this phrase does not mean the animal, but probably a special kind of whip (= a piece of rope or leather attached to a handle), called a ‘cat-o’-nine-tails’, that was used to punish sailors. * cat 在这个短语中并非指猫，而或许是指一种用来惩罚水手的鞭子，叫 cat-o'-nine-tails （九尾鞭）。●ˈelbow room (informal) 1. enough space to move in 可自由活动的空间；充足的活动余地◆October is a good time to visit as there are fewer tourists and more elbow room in the restaurants.10 月份是出游的好时候，因为游客减少，餐馆不那么拥挤。2. the freedom to do sth （做…的）自由◆Teachers often feel they have little elbow room to try new methods.教师们常常觉得几乎没有尝试新教学方法的空间。●the ˌelephant in the ˈrooma serious problem that everyone is aware of but which they ignore and choose not to mention 房间里的大象（指不肯正视且不愿提及的严重问题）◆The growing budget deficit is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about.不断增加的预算赤字成了大家心知肚明却没人想提及的禁忌话题。●freedom of/room for maˈnoeuvrethe chance to change the way that sth happens and influence decisions that are made 改变事态的机会；回旋余地◆Small businesses have limited room for manoeuvre.小企业的经营回旋余地有限。 |