



連老師: 妳的成績真的愈來愈退步。
葛瑞絲: 我已經盡全力了。
連老師: 妳真的必須要更督促自己。下次考試妳一定要考很好拿 A。
葛瑞絲: 要是我拿 B 或 C 會怎樣?
連老師: 如果妳的成績比 C 還低的話,妳的大學計劃就完蛋了。
葛瑞絲: 我不會讓你失望的,連老師。我保證。

nail 是『鐵釘』,coffin 是『棺材』。the final nail in the coffin 字面上的意思是指『最後的棺材釘』,為棺材釘上最後一根釘子,就等於宣告大勢已去、無可挽回,故本俚語引申有『最後致命的一擊』之意。
This argument was the final nail in the coffin of their marriage.
(這場爭吵是導致他們婚姻失敗的最後一擊。)
*marriage n. 婚姻
英文中有許多表『失敗』的俚語,但使用的時機則隨情境而不同。當一個人並未達到標準或期望時,我們會用 fall short 這個片語。
小李平時成績不錯,原本應該能考上好大學。但是他考試當天他竟睡過頭,等他醒來時考試早已經結束了。小李的爸媽很難過,認為他辜負了他們的期望。這時我們就可以說:
He really fell short of his parents' expectations.
= He didn't meet his parents' expectations.
(他真的辜負了他父母的期望。)
*meet vt. 滿足,符合
當某人因為粗心或是能力不夠而將某事搞砸時,我們可用 screw up 一詞。
考試成績不理想的小李在打工的時候,因為受到的打擊過大,精神變得有點恍惚,常將客人點的東西弄錯,所以沒多久就被開除了。
He was fired because he kept screwing up customers' orders.
(他因為一直弄錯客人點的東西,所以被炒魷魚了。)
一個人生意失敗時,我們可以用 go under 這個俚語來表示。
小李之後去街上擺攤賣黑輪,但是他好吃懶做的老毛病又犯,自己吃掉的比賣出去的還多,所以很快又血本無歸。此時我們就可以說:
His business went under.
= His business went bankrupt.
(他的生意破產了。)
Norman slipped and fell on the muddy road.
諾曼在泥濘的道路上滑了一跤。
Melvin tried to catch the fluttering bill, but it slipped out of his hand.
馬文試圖抓住飛舞的紙鈔,但它卻從手中溜走了。
As time slipped by, I thought less and less about my ex-boyfriend.
隨著時間流逝,我越來越少想前男友了。
Oil prices have slipped in recent weeks.
最近幾週油價一直在下跌。
The girl’s name just slipped my mind.
我忘了那女孩的名字。
The whole plan will fail with the slightest slip.
任何一點小過失都會讓計畫全盤失敗。
Lulu wrote down her phone number on a slip of paper and gave it to me.
露露把她的電話號碼寫在一張紙條上給我。
The girl painted her nails pink.
那女孩把指甲塗成粉紅色。
Brad’s hand got hurt when he tried to drive the nail into the wall.
布萊德試著要把釘子釘進牆壁時,把手弄傷了。
The argument over money was the final nail in the coffin of Sam’s marriage.
為錢爭吵是導致山姆婚姻失敗的最後一擊。
Joe nailed the doorplate to the wall.
喬把標示牌釘在牆上。
John is studying hard because he wants to ace all of his final exams.
約翰很用功,因為他想要所有期末考科目都得高分。
The argument over money was the final nail in the coffin of Sam’s marriage.
為錢爭吵是導致山姆婚姻失敗的最後一擊。
Unfortunately, we fell short of our sales targets.
不幸地,我們未達到我們的銷售目標。
Toby screwed up his life with drugs.
托比的人生讓毒品給毀了。
Toby messed up his life with drugs.
托比的人生讓毒品給毀了。
Handle this problem with care. Don’t screw up.
謹慎處理這個問題。別搞砸了。
