tip one's hand：to reveal what one is going to do; to reveal one's secrets. Thinking about playing cards. If you tip your hand forward so that other people can see your cards, you give the other players an advantage.

暴露底牌

I didn't tip my hand at all. I left them guessing.

Ode: a poem written to be sung ; in modern use, a lyric poem, rhymed or unrhymed, typically addressed to some person or thing and usually characterized by lofty feeling, elaborate form, and dignified style

诗词歌赋

“ode to joy”, theme from 9^th symphony, Ludwig van Beethoven

Cosset: treat with excessive indulgence; to treat with too much kindness; to pamper.

万般宠爱；

It must be wonderful to live a protected cosseted life.

stir-crazy: upset and nervous because you have been in one place for too long

Stir is a word used in American English for a prison.

热锅蚂蚁；困兽之狂

It's no wonder she's going stir-crazy, shut in that tiny house all day with three young children.

He is going stir-crazy if he stays this boring place a few days more.

Take our heads out of the sand:  If your "head is in the sand" it means you aren’t facing reality.  It means you don’t want to see the truth because the truth is painful. 

直面现实

I decided to take my heads out of the sand and go ahead with the paper.

the new black: used to say that something is the most popular or fashionable color or thing at the moment   

时尚前沿；最新流行

e.g.Designers say that brown is the new black.

go with the flow (go with it): to be spontaneous and accept things as they happen.

顺其自然; 一切随缘

Don't worry about directions, we're walking down to Eastern Market, so we'll find a place to eat when we get there, just go with the flow, ok?

standing ovation

起立鼓掌。

The blind pianist earned a standing ovation for his performance.

wipe the floor with someone: to defeat someone easily

意思是轻松打败；比别人强，打败别人, 让他人威风扫地。

I want to give the best presentation and really wipe the floor with all the other students.

看到一则新闻题目，发现短短的几个词就有两个不认识，恨白学了许多年的英文。

Defiant N. Korea lashes out (Yahoo News Title)

lash out (at sb)

1.                  to strike out violently  

痛打(某人)

2.                  to speak angrily or in bitter criticism

严厉谴责

We will no longer lash out against our machines.

defiant: openly and boldly resisting; refuse to be bound by convention;

轻世傲物; 放浪形骸

be defiant of convention

However, King Charles remained defiant in the face of imminent defeat.

be in a (pretty/right) pickle: to be in a difficult situation

尴尬境地；进退两难

If you run out of money in the middle of your stay you'll be in a right pickle.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The eye of the understanding is like the eye of the sense; for as you may see great objects through small crannies or holes, so you may see great axioms of nature through small and contemptible instances.

前两天网上买了本书， 今天收到Email， 如是说：

If your order hasn't blessed your mailbox just yet, heads are gonna roll in the Mishawaka warehouse!

heads will roll (heads are gonna roll): people will get into severe trouble.

后果很严重

非常容易的口头禅，俺却不知道用。

When the company's year-end results are known, heads will roll.

Heads will roll when the principal sees the damaged classroom.

英国Judas Priest 的 "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" 还不错。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MblU60Y49EE

另外，洛杉矶的一个乐队“The Hippos”出的一个专辑也叫Heads Are Gonna Roll。

exuberant   adjective
1. effusively and almost uninhibitedly enthusiastic; lavishly abundant；活力四射 
2. abounding in vitality; extremely joyful and vigorous. 兴高采烈；
3. extremely good; overflowing; plentiful； 精力旺盛
4. profuse in growth or production; luxuriant; superabundant；

生气勃勃；充满活力；枝繁叶茂
example:

an exuberant welcome for the hero；

exuberant health；

an exuberant imagination；
How come you're not that exuberant?
Her exuberant smile really cheered me up.

baleful: Threatening harm, ominous or sinister. 险象重生；凶险预兆

"baleful" and "baneful" 十分相似， 但用法截然不同。

"baleful" is said of something that seems to assure danger. 凶险预兆

e.g. I'm not going to have those baleful eggs; they look runny.

"baneful" refers to something that has already caused harm. 危害十足

perplex

1. To confuse or trouble with uncertainty or doubt.

See Synonyms at puzzle.

茫然困惑

2. To make confusedly intricate; complicate.

错综复杂

a perplexed look    不知所措的表情

a perplexed question   错综复杂的问题

wieldy: Easily handled or managed.  

轻松上手

unwieldy: not easily handled or managed.

不可驾驭；棘手困难

e.g. Its site has the slightly more wieldy title of Improving human potential and the socio-economic knowledge base。

perendinate: To put off until the day after tomorrow;  后日复后日

Mark Twain once said, "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." In other words, why procrastinate when you can perendinate?

如果可以推到后天，谁会拖到明天呢？

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In their youth both Herder and Schiller intended to study as surgeons, but Destiny said: "No, there are deeper wounds than those of the body, -- heal the deeper!" and they wrote.

     -Jean Paul Richter, writer (1763-1825)

zany: fantastically or absurdly ludicrous

滑稽好笑；该词本身对应中文的“小丑”。

brainy and zany (zany brainy):

智慧诙谐；有脑有趣；

该词组押韵有趣，很好的词组，用来表达对人或文学艺术作品很高评价。

有玩具公司给自己起名字为Zany Brainy, Inc.

hack something up: 

1. to chop something up into pieces. 劈砍切削

Hack all this old furniture up, and we'll burn it in the fireplace.

Hack up this stuff, and we'll burn it.

2. to damage or mangle something.

Who hacked my windowsill up?

Who hacked up my table?

advocacy  (noun): the act of advocating, or speaking or writing in support (of something)

主张提倡；拥护辩护

Independent advocacy is a good way to support people to develop their own opinions, aspirations and their confidence in these.

Quote:

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

                ---Helen Keller

Twists and turns:

该词组用的都是复数，俺认为翻译为“曲曲折折”最好；跌宕起伏；曲折故事；

The story behind the Obama family’s new dog is full of twists and turns.

                 (Yahoo news)

总统家新来的狗背后有好多曲折故事。

我还要说，

Life is full of ups and downs, and twists and turns.

doodle: a type of sketch, an unfocused drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes.

Stereotypical examples of doodling are found in school notebooks, often in the margins, drawn by students daydreaming or losing interest during class. Other common examples of doodling are produced during long telephone conversations if a pen and paper are available.

对应中文的“草草勾勒；随手涂鸦”。

www.doodle.com 是一个让人们作计划，征求意见的网站。个人以为很可爱的网站名字。

accolade：a ceremonial embrace b: a ceremony or salute conferring knighthood  表彰赞誉

2 a: a mark of acknowledgment : award ; b: an expression of praise

荣誉称号；

3: a brace or a line used in music to join two or more staffs carrying simultaneous parts  连谱号

e.g.  Performances of Levine's shows have earned her accolades like "brainy and zany" (Time Out New York) and a "mad professor genius comic" (Los Angeles Times).