A: I feel that Bob’s father-in-law is a hard nut tocrack.
我覺得鮑勃的岳父是個難對付的家伙。
B: You have taken words out of my mouth. He is atough customer.
你說出了我要說的話。他是個倔強的家伙。
A: But his daughter is a very nice girl.
可是他的女兒是個不過的女孩。
對話精講
第一、地道表達
【核心短語】a tough customer
【解詞釋義】tough的意思是“倔強的”,customer是“顧客”或“主顧”的意思,用于口語表示“家伙”。這兩個詞連起來構(gòu)成的短語a tough customer的意思是“難對付的人”,“性格倔強的人”或“難斗的家伙”。
【典型范例1】Their new sales manager is a tough customer, so I was particularly pleased tonegotiate such a favorable price.
他們新來的銷售經(jīng)理是個難打交道的人,因此能談妥這樣一個優(yōu)惠價,我特別高興。
【典型范例2】She is also a tough customer while showing.
購物的時候,她也是個難伺候的顧客。
第二 詞海拾貝
a hard nut:難對付的人;難解之事;不易親近或了解的人
【典型范例1】I never know Bill very well.He was not very communicative and always seemed tome a hard nut to crack.
我從來就不太了解比爾,他不太愛說話,我總覺得他這個人很難對付。
【典型范例2】The third question in the examination is a hard nut to crack.
考試的第三道題真是夠難的。
【典型范例3】My manager is a hard nut to crack. He always shouts at me about what I havedone.
經(jīng)理是個很難對付的人,他總是對我做的事大吼大叫。
【典型范例4】Mind you, she is a hard nut to crack.
小心,這是個難對付的女人。
take words out of one’s mouth:搶先說出某人要說的話
【典型范例1】 Great! You take the words out of my mouth——I have set my mind to buy a newcomputer.
太好了,這正是我想說的,我決定買一臺新電腦。