盘点英语里好“方”的习惯表达

 　　并不只有汉语才会把形状变成“我好方”这类的习语的……(这并不是习语好嘛!)

　　“方”，square，在英语里的出镜率可是高得惊人呢。

　　今天，双语君就来盘点一下英语里那些让人“方”了的表述。

　　Square 方形

　　to be a square peg¹ in a round hole

　　方形的钉子插在圆形的孔里，指格格不入

　　? His appearance here is like a square peg in a round hole.

　　他在这里出现，显得有些格格不入。

　　to go back to square one

　　由于受挫或陷入僵局而从头开始

　　? The attempt failed and we had to go back to square one.

　　尝试失败了，因此我们得重新开始。

　　be there, or be square

　　一定要来，不见不散

　　通常是一种玩笑性质的施压，像是说，晚上party要来哦，谁不来谁是孙子。

　　? There's a bunch of people going to be at John's on Saturday. Be there or be square.

　　一堆人周六要去约翰家聚会呢，你不能不来哦。

　　call sth square/

　　square accounts

　　双方扯平、互不相欠

　　? He deliberately² insulted me but I'll square accounts with him one day.

　　他故意侮辱我，但总有一天我会跟他算账的。

　　something doesn’t cut any squares with one

　　不受某事影响

　　? The quarrel doesn’t cut any squares with him.

　　他完全不受这场争吵的影响。

　　to be fair and square

　　公平对待每个人

　　? I ask no odds³, I just want you to be fair and square.

　　我不要求特殊照顾，我只要求您公正。

　　to look someone square in the eye

　　看着某人的眼睛，表示坦诚

　　? He sat me down, looked me square in the eye and said, "I love you."

　　他拉我着坐下，看着我的眼睛说，我爱你。

　　on the square

　　诚实公正地、正大光明地

　　? We just want this trail on the square.

　　我们只希望这场审判能够正大光明地进行。

　　out of square

　　不一致;不协调

　　? Both reports are from supposedly reliable sources, but they are out of square.

　　两份报道按说来源都可靠，但两者却有出入。

　　a square answer

　　坦诚的答案

　　? He offered us a square answer.

　　他给了我们一个坦诚的答案。

　　to square away

　　校正或摆好;整顿就绪

　　? He is trying to get all his legal troubles squared away as soon as possible.

　　他努力把所有法律上的麻烦搞定。

　　a square deal

　　公平交易

　　? The workers were offered a square deal of a 40-hour week and guaranteed overtime⁴.

　　工人们得到了每周40小时和保证支付加班费的公正待遇。

　　A square meal

　　一份完整的、营养丰富的餐食

　　Three square meals(经常简化为three squares)：指早、中、晚传统三餐。

　　? They haven't had a square meal for four or five days.

　　他们已经四五天没吃上一顿像样的饭了。

　　to square off

　　摆好架势准备战斗或比赛

　　? French soldiers squared off with a gunman at a road checkpoint.

　　在一个公路检查站法国士兵摆开阵势，准备迎战一名持枪者。

　　to square up

　　解决或妥协，也指勇敢地与某人或某事对峙

　　? I have something to square up with you.

　　我有点事要和你商谈解决一下。

　　? The world's most prestigious⁵ insurance company was last night squaring up to take on MPs who have accused it of being riddled⁶ with corruption⁷.

　　世界上最负盛名的保险公司昨晚作出回应，要和那些指责其腐败泛滥的议员们较量一番。

　　to square one’s shoulders

　　挺起肩膀、胸膛，可指这一动作，也可比喻准备迎接挑战。

　　? You need to square your shoulders for the subsequent task.

　　为了接下来的任务，你要做好准备。

　　to attempt to square the circle

　　做不可能的事

　　? It is easier to square the circle than to get round a mathematician⁸.

　　从数学家面前混过去比“化圆为方”还难。

　　to square something with someone

　　与某人就某事协调或达成一致

　　? I squared it with Dan, who said it was all right so long as I was back next Monday morning.

　　我征得了丹的同意，他说只要我下周一早上能回来就行。

1 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。

2 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

3 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

4 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

5 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

6 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

8 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。