Inglish_10/08/09

Homo sapiens: 智人(现代人的学名)
Homo sapiens is used to refer to modern human beings as a species, in contrast to other species of ape or animal, or earlier forms of human.
What distinguishes homo sapiens from every other living creature is the mind.

pigeon-hole: To pigeon-hole someone or something means to decide that they belong to a particular class or category, often without considering all their qualities or characteristics.
Eysenck, instead of thinking people could be pigeon-holed this neatly suggested people could be described on a sliding scale of each of these factors.

tin ear: 畸形的耳朵;听觉不灵的耳朵;不懂音乐的人
Ministers have an inexplicable tin ear when it comes to the armed forces.

pull oneself up by the bootstraps: 靠自己努力成功
To “pull oneself up by the bootstraps” is to better oneself by one’s own unaided efforts.
An article "On Bootstraps" in intelligentlife has introduced the origins of the idiom and also its practicality.

well-heeled: 富有的
Someone who is well-heeled is wealthy.

schadenfreude: 幸灾乐祸的
(from German) a feeling of pleasure at the bad things that happen to other people
I couldn't resist a touch of Schadenfreude when he was defeated so heavily in the election.

last-ditch: 最后防线的, 已无后退余地的, 坚持到最后的
A last-ditch action is done only because there are no other ways left to achieve something or to prevent something happening. It is often done without much hope that it will succeed.

wishy-washy: 缺乏力量, 缺乏特点或决心的;浅淡的
someone who is wishy-washy does not have firm or clear ideas and seems unable to decide what they want
colours that are wishy-washy are pale and unexciting, not strong or dark

saving grace: 可以弥补缺点的优点(可取之处)
A saving grace is a good quality or feature in a person or thing that prevents them from being completely bad or worthless.
Her sense of humour is her saving grace.

pet-hate: A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to them, to a greater degree than others may find it. Examples may be; poor table manners, sloppy kitchen hygiene, smoking, grammatical errors in written passages, inconsiderate driving or lazy co-workers, and loud gum smaking.
My pet-hate is pie charts.