Feeling lonely and desperate in life , the penniless old hermit hoped that he would kick the bucket in a peaceful way .
对生活感到孤独绝望,这位身无分文的老隐士希望以一种平和的方式了结一生。
head in the clouds
意思是脑袋在云里,看到的全是迷迷蒙蒙的幻想世界。形容人心不在焉总在做白日梦,活在自己的幻想中。
例句:
A good student should have his head in the clouds sometimes,but his feet are always on the ground.
一位好的艺术家有时应富于幻想, 但始终要脚踏实地。
dead as a doornail
这是在莎士比亚时期是一个常用的短语,意思是“死得非常彻底”。莎士比亚在剧院里创作《亨利六世》第二部分时,他的演员朋友托马斯·斯旺正在修补一扇坏了的门,锤子把门钉 doornail 敲得一动不动,像“死了”一样。这给了莎士比亚灵感,于是他写出短语 as dead as a doornail 用在剧本中。
例句:
I burst into the room and found him as dead as adoornail.
Not everyone can keep cool as a cucumber in an emergency.
不是每个人都能在危急时刻保持镇定的。
a storm in a tea cup
字面意思“茶杯里的风暴”,解释为“杯水风波;小题大做;大惊小怪”。这是18世纪法国哲学家孟德斯鸠的一句名言。有一次他听说圣马力诺发生了一场骚乱,就用了a storm in a tea cup这个比喻来形容整个事件。圣马力诺是欧洲最小的共和国,人口稀少,因此孟德斯鸠认为那里的骚乱对整个欧洲局势无关紧要。
例句:
That couple often quarrel, but it is a storm in a tea cup.