spruce up - to make neat and trime [dict]

From BBC, Shanghai finally decides to “spruce up its image”. It’s long been an international amusement to see many obscure English translations in China. I recall there was a newly opened shop painting “service not found” as the English translation for its Chinese name. Presumably, someone typed the Chinese characters into an on-line tanslation service and it happend that the webiste was down.

dry run – A trial exercise or rehearsal [dict]

On “two and a half men”, Alan was depressed after his wife Kandi deserted him. He curled up on bed, not speaking to anyone. When his son, Jake, came in, Alan mumbled that he was taking a nap. “I’m getting old, Jake,” Alan said, “Old people nap. It’s like a dry run for death.”

pull the wool over someone’ssomeone’s eyes – to deceive someone [answers]

“It is difficult to pull the wool over his eyes” is a jocular way to say “it is difficult to cheat him”. The word “wool” relates to the wig that the judge wears in court. Pulling the wool blinds the judge’s eyes so that he is unable to see the facts in a trial.

sink in – to penetrate the mind [dict]

This is an entertaining news from BBC. A woman didn’t feel well, but she went to see a doctor and was told she had been 20 weeks pregrant. Thirteen days later, she gave birth to twins. Of course, this is all good news (though surprising) to the family. “It took a while to sink in that I was pregnant in the first place”, she said during an interview, “and took a bit longer to sink in there was (were) two of them.”

too many chiefs and not enough Indians – too many bosses, and not enough people to do the work [thefreedict]

“In the old days,” someone said, “The HR recuritment policy in my company was flexible. I once hired a guy who didn’t even have a degree, but he was really good at programming. And he never complained doing the chore. Now, the company enforces a strict recruitment policy to ensure only recruiting very good people. But, the problem is that we end up with too many chiefs and not enough Indians.”

can’t have one’s cake and eat it – can’t have things both ways [thefreedict]

I discovered some useful shortcuts in Visual Studio and told a colleague. Unfortunately, the shortcuts didn’t work for him because they conflicted with the emacs program that he was using. “That’s pity,” he said, “But you can’t have butter and the money of the butter”.  He is French so he was literally translating a French idiom. The English eqivalent is: You can’t have your cake and eat it.

There is also a similar saying in Chinese: you can’t have the fish and the bear palm paw at the same time (see here and here).

namby-pamby – lacking in character, directness, or moral or emotional strength [dict]

Someone brought in some computer hardware that he used nearly 30 years ago. The hardware looks very bulky, by today’s standard. The memory controller is heavy enough to knock a person out. “It is real hardware,” he says, ” Very solid-built, not like the the namby-pamby stuff you guys are using today.”

that ship has sailed – A particular opportunity has passed you by [UsingEnglish]

On the ‘two and a half men’, Alan is splitting up with Kandi. It seems Kandi has a better lawyer and will get everything, but Alan still fights to get at least the dog. Charlie, his brother, tries to enlighten him: “Just give her everything. When all of this is settled down, you get one thing that you value most and that you cannot put a price on…” “Dignity?” Alan asks. “Oh, stop it,” Charlies continues, “That ship has sailed… The thing you get is freedom!”

break wind – to expel intestinal gas (an euphemism for fart) [dict]

This is hilarious. A football player was given a yellow card for breaking wind while another player was taking the penalty (see BBC news). The referee explained that was “an ungentlemanly conduct”.

the applet doesn’t fall far from the tree – children are like their parents [idiom][wikiAnswer]

On the “Two and a half men”, Judith is Alan’s ex-wife. On Christmas eve, Judith and her boyfriend dropped by at Charlie’s house. The moment Judith saw newly made eggnog, she instantly falled for the alcohol. Alan said to Judith’s boyfriend: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?” A similar idiom is “Like father, like son.”

someone’s ass is on the line – if someone’s ass in on the line, they will be blamed if things go wrong [freedict]

On “The X files”, Mulder was following a lead to investigate a chemical pollution. He pressed an old man, who was an old friend of Mulder’s father, for more information. The man yelled: “I cannot tell you more. My ass is on the line.”

live in sin – Cohabit outside marriage [dict]

During a chitchat, someone mentioned that his mother died when he was young and his father was now living in sin with his girlfriend. Of course, it shouldn’t be interpreted as he hates his dad; this phrase is used in a jocular fashion here. Sometimes the same phrase could be used to mean something serious. The context is important. It also depends on how literal the local customs and views are.

catch some z’s – Take a nap; go to sleep [dict]

In comic strips, “zzz” is often used to say someone is sleeping or snoring. Here is one example:

A: Excuse me. I’ve to catch some z’s.

B: I thought you just woke up. You sleepy head.

There are alternative expressions: catch some Zs, cop some Zs and cut some Zs. (see thefreedict)

spill the beans – Disclose a secret or reveal something prematurely [dict]

A basic principle in the cryptographic research is that unconditionally trusted third parties do not exist. In other words, no one is absolutely trustworthy – not even the law-enforcement authority.  Here is an example from BBC. The UK police maintain a central criminal database which contains valuable information. However, one cop wanted to make money out of it. He abused his trusted role by contacting the convicted offenders and threatening to spill the beans on their crimes unless he was given “hush money“. Of course, he got what he derserved.

willy-nilly – whether one wishes to or not; willingly or unwillingly [dict]

Modern computers have abundant memory such that programmers often write codes in whatever liked style without worrying about the memory usage. However, the case is different with programming smart cards where the available memory is extremely constrained. “When programming for the (Java) smart card,” someone warned, “Don’t create new objects willy-nilly.”

get feet wet – to experience something for the first time, especially something that involves taking a risk. [thefreedict]

This is a commonly used idiom. If you have never invested money in the stock market, you can get your feet wet by just buying a few shares.

fools rush in while where angels fear to tread - This idiom is used where people who are inexperienced or lack knowledge do something that more informed people would avoid. [UsingEnglish][wikipedia]

By the US federal law, a website cannot keep private data of users who are under 13 years old unless with the explicit consent from their parents. This creates a number of technical difficulities in the practical implmentation. (Sony was fined 1 million dollars for not doing it properly). To avoid the trouble, Facebook simply limits memberships to users who are older than 13.

According to Regsiter, there is this new social network website – dubbed Facebook for Kids – due to lauch in a few weeks time. This webiste targets users who are between 7 and 12.  It might start off as a useful idea to create a network that brings together children and parents. But the design of the website is terrible with little regard to security and privacy protection. Security researchers found that anyone could can view the children’s private data on that website. Disappointed by the slack security design, they concuded their finding by a saying: “fools rush in while where angels fear to tread“.

monkey see monkey do – It refers to the learning of a process without an understanding of why it works [wiki]

Our team uses a fairly complex software build system, which often gives strange and confusing error messages. A new comer was assigned to investigate why a particular software package couldn’t be compiled. After struggling for a long time, he finally passed the compiling without errors. His manager, however, was not very impressed. “It works now,” he says, “but I suspect it’s the case of monkey see monkey do.”

What is good for goose is good for gander – The original meaning is that different sexes should be treated the same. The extended meaning is that there should be no doube-standard [UsingEnglish]

It comes from an earlier proverb (nowadays less commonly used): what is source for goose is source for gander [bartleby]. Here is an example (from BBC).

The news says that the current situation in South Ossetia sparks deep worries among western countries for a new cold war with Russia. While almost all western leaders have been condemning Russia, there is a different voice from the former British ambassador to Yugoslavia, Sir Iva Roberts.

He said: “Moscow has acted brutally in Georgia. But when the United States and Britain backed the independence of Kosovo without UN approval, they paved the way for Russia’s ‘defence’ of South Ossetia, and for the current Western humiliation.

“What is sauce for the Kosovo goose is sauce for the South Ossetian gander.”

worth one’s salt – deserving of one’s wages or salary [dict]

On last night’s BBC TV program, The Real Hustle, Alexis demonstrated a scam in which he conned an unsuspecting girl into becoming an accomplice in a jewelery store robbery. Pretending not sure what jewelery to buy for his wife, Alexis asked a girl sitting outside a jewelery store for a big favor – to try on a necklace. Ready to help, the girl agreed and stepped into the store together with Alexis. Alexis asked for a $5000 necklace, and quickly switched it with a $5 one when no one was watching. He then set off the mobile phone ring, and excused to go outside the shop for better signal. The jeweler assumed the two were together, so she didn’t stop him. Once outside the shop, Alexis quickly drove off. “Any jewelers worth their salt will realize the switch straightway”, he explained in the program, “So you got to get out quickly”. This scam worked as the hustler exploited the dual relationship he had with a newly-met girl, and made the jeweler think they were together.

part and parcel of something — a necessary part which cannot be avoided [dict]

A lecturer must assume teaching responsibilities even though his real interests lie in doing research. Someone was assigned to teach two courses for the new semester. He said to me with a sigh: “That’s part and parcel of the job”.

crank it up a notch — increase or intensify a bit (See [crank up] and [notch])

On Friends, Joey envied Chandler and Monica being together. He thought that the two got along because they were friends first. So Joey attempted to hit on Rachel. He said to her: “Since we are friends, maybe you and I can crank it up a notch“. This phrase seems to come from a song called “crank it“.

rake in — earn large sums of money [dict]

This article explains a fast way to become rich in Turkey — get married! It says that as a custom in Turkey, if one is invited to a wedding, he/she should usually give $200 to the newlyweds. The president and prime minister of Turkey had taken advantage of this custom by inviting nearly 5000 people to their children’s weddings, “raking in literally $millions from distinguished and wealthy guests”.

vote with one’s feet — to show that you do not support something, especially an organization or a product, by not using or not buying it any more [thefreedict]

In the area of security research, there are some standard security solutions that are secure in theory, but suffer from poor usability in practice. Someone commented: “De facto standards often emerge because people vote with their feet rather than following standards”. That is an interesting view.

have it out with someone — settle or discuss something with someone angrily [idiomconnect]

If you organize a debate and call for participation, you may like to have an announcement starting with: “Burning to have it out with someone? Here is your chance … “

bear out — To prove right or justified; confirm [thefreedict]

This is another way to say “confirm” — for example, the results bears out our claims.

not bat an eyelid — not show any shock or surprise [thefreedict]

When talking about a new model of phone with a rich set of features, someone said: “I hardly bat an eyelid“. While technologies are advancing fast, so are people’s expectations — today we are no longer easily impressed by claimed “new” things.

shoot the breeze — to have a relaxed conversation [thefreedict] [answers]

On ‘Frasier’, Roz tells Frasier that she has been dumped by Roger. Pouring her a glass of wine, Frasier tries to comfort her: “Let’s sit down, and shoot the breeze for a while”.

buy off — to bribe [dict]

On “Frasier”, Frasier’s father ask Frasier and Niles to walk his dog since he has to go to work. Frasier hates dogs, so he asks Roz: “If you can walk the dog for me, I will pay you 100 dollars”. His brother, Niles, also says to Daphne: “If you do that, I will give you 100 dollars too. Wow, that’s 200 dollars!” Roz immediately slaps Frasier in his face: “I cannot believe you try to buy me off.” And Daphne also slaps Niles: “Me too”.

shoot off one’s mouth — Speak indiscreetly; also, brag or boast [answers]

A guy doesn’t know much about computer security, but he tends to talk a lot to show off his knowledge on the subject. Someone commented: “He is always shooting off his mouth about it.”

a dizzy spell — A period of physical or mental disorder or distress [answers]

On “Frasier”, Roz set Frasier up on a blind date. After introducing Frasier to a lovely lady, Roz excused herself: “Sorry. I have a dizzy spell. Let me take some rest in the room.”

throw someone in at the deep end — to make someone do something difficult, especially a job, without preparing them for it or giving them any help [thefreedict]

My driving instructor is a nice and brave English old man. Though today was only the second session, he let me take the full control of the wheel on a busy road, and kept giving me instructions: “More gas please! Much faster!”. I dare not speed up as I could not help worrying we might hit someone. My body muscles tense, I tried to follow his instructions, fumbling for the clutch, brake, gas pedal, handbrake, and signal lights. Thanks, God. The instructor finally called for a break.

He handed me a sweet candy. ” You should smile while driving, ” he said to me with a grin, “My training method is to throw you in at the deep end. It’s like throwing you into the deep water so you can learn swimming quickly.” Suddenly, I had the thought: “Why should I be worried? He throws me into this crazy traffic. He should really be one who feels nervous on the seat.” I felt relaxed. Seeing me smile, the old man was excited: “Right! That is what I am talking about.”

know of someone/something — to have information about someone or something [thefreedict]

On “Frasier”, Niles is chatting with a friend about a legendary connoisseur of wine tasting. When asked whether he knows the person, Niles replies: “I don’t know him. I just know of him.”

take the edge off — Ease or assuage, make less severe [dict]

On “Frasier”, Frasier is upset with something. His brother, Niles, tries to comfort him: “Have a beer. It really takes the edge off.” Suppose you are sitting just next to a sharp cutting instrument. How will you feel if those pointy edges are blunted or removed?

red herring — something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue [dict]

The origin of this phrase comes from this story: a hunted fox throws off a hound by dragging a red herring along a wrong trail. The hound follows the strong smell of the herring, and hence loses the quarry. One use of this phrase is seen below (from Economist):

“The bilateral trade imbalance, the target of so many American politicians’ anger, is an economic red herring.”

call of nature — A need to urinate or defecate [dict]

Sometimes, people may say someone has left to answer the call of nature — it is just an euphemistic way to say that he went to the toilet.

hold with — to approve of [dict]

On “Lord of the rings”, While eating Elvish biscuits, Sam says to Frodo: “I don’t usually hold with foreign food, but this Elvish stuff, it is good.”

butt out – to stop meddling in the affairs or intruding in the conversation of others [dict] , also see “butt in“.

On “Frasier”, Frasier desperately wants to make up the lost kinship with his son. He asks his son to play games together, but gets indifferent response. Frasier’s father says: “The boy has a life. You better butt out.”

Give someone the boot – To fire/dump someone by force [idioms]

On Frasier, Niles wants to spend some lone moment with Daphne, but there is a guest in their house. When Daphne is preparing some wine in the kitchen, she asks Niles about the guest, and Niles replies: “I have given him the boot.”

skeletons in one’s cupboard/closet — embarrassing secrets [dict]

On “Four weddings and a Funeral”, Charles is proposing a toast on his friend’s wedding. He starts his speech with: “To my best knowledge, my friend has no skeletons in his cupboard …”

ticking bomb — a problematic situation that will eventually become dangerous if not addressed [dict]

On ‘Dante’s peak’, a long-sleeping volcano is about to erupt. Harry refers to the volcano as a “ticking bomb” and urges immidate evacuation. This is indeed a vivid phrase to describe some situation dangerous. Interestingly, while I was looking up this phrase on Internet, I came across the dilemma of “a ticking time bomb scenario“: Is torture justified in the war on terrorism? Talk to your friends, and it will be a though-provoking debate.

cut it out — to stop doing something [dict]

In a scary movie, the scary thing is usually something invisible. On “when a stranger calls”, a serial killer keeps calling a girl, but not speaking a word. After a few such “silent” calls, the girl is freaked out, and shouts over phone: “Whoever this is, it’s not funny. Cut it out.”

TV dinner — a prepackaged and frozen meal that requires little preparation, also known as frozen dinner, microwave meal or ready meal [wiki]

On “Die Hard”, John McClane was creeping in a narrow tunnel to avoid being captured. He complained to himself: “Now I know what a TV dinner feels like.”

luck out — to gain success or something desirable through good fortune [dict]

On ‘Friends’, Joey went to audition for a role in “Mac and Cheese”. When Joey learned that the “Cheese” in the show title was actually an acronym for “Computerized Humanoid Electronically Enhanced Secret Enforcer,” he exclaimed in disbelief: “They really lucked out that the initials spell cheese.”

catch out — trap; especially in an error or in a reprehensible act [dict]

Today, Michael Lynch, the founder and CEO of Autonomy, gave us an entertaining seminar. Near the end of the talk, he asked this question: there are three doors, with a Ferrari behind one and goats the other two. He asked one of the audience to pick up a door. Then he revealed that one of the other two doors had no Ferrari behind, and asked the same guy: “Do you want to stick to the original choice or change?”

To have a higher probability of winning the car, you should change. This problem, as a friend later told me, is called “The Monty Hall problem“. The essence of the problem is teaching people to adapt when there is new information. It took me a while to convince myself this was true; the usual intuition may tell you otherwise. “This is the kind of question you use to catch out people,” someone heard this problem before and said to me with a grin.

pull off — to perform successfully, esp. something requiring courage, daring, or shrewdness [dict]

At the beginning of the ‘X Factor’ show, the host introduced the surviving contestants, and then sent her blessing: “Hope you pull it off tonight.”

from stem to stern — from one end of something to the other [thefreedict]

On ‘Amdromeda’, Harper is a genius engineer, working on the warship Amdromeda. When asked how much he knows about the ship, he says: “From stem to stern.”

on the ball — Alert, competent, or efficient [dict]

To praise someone who has done a good job, you could say: “you are really on the ball.“

brush up (on) — to revive, review, or resume (studies, a skill, etc.) [dict]

A guy is doing a project that requires using JavaScript. “I am now brushing up on JavaScript”, he said, “I learned it a long time ago.”

have a voice in — Also, have a say in. Have the right or power to influence or make a decision about something [answers]

Over lunch, a guy talked about a UK general criticizing the government’s Iraq policy. He said: “This general has a voice in this matter.”

psych up — get excited or stimulated [dict]

I attended a seminar on “how to gain a PhD”. The speaker gave very good advices on doing a PhD study, as well as pursuing a research career. He concluded his talk by urging the audience, many of whom were fresh PhD students: “Psych yourself up in the unique PhD experience.”

chuck out — to expel, eject [dict]

A guy put a pile of personal stuff in his office, turning it into a storage room. Someone reminded him to clean up as soon as possible, otherwise his stuff could possibly be chucked out by the building administrator.

dry spell — a period of little or no productivity or activity, low income, etc [dict]

After I moved to a new house in the college, I can no longer watch TV programs conveniently. A friend noticed that my blog hadn’t been updated for a while, and said to me: “You’re having a dry spell now.”

light bulb moment — A light bulb moment is when you have a sudden realisation about something, like the light bulb used to indicate an idea in cartoons [UsingEnglish] [also see urbandict]

This news reports a potent idea of using natural gas pipes for broadband service. An American friend told me that a company in his hometown had already done something similar — by laying optical fibres within the gas pipes. But the cost is high. The new idea in the article exploits the “negligence” of the US federal regulation on radio signals UNDER the ground, and adopts wireless ultra-wideband (UWB) transmissions. The inventor hatched this idea at the “light bulb on the head moment“, according to the article.

knock-off — An unauthorized copy or imitation, as of designer clothing [dict]

On ‘Monk’, Monk and his assistant, Natalie, went to a a fashion show to investigate a murder crime. The fashion designer noticed Natalie’s wear, and screamed at her: “That bra … It is a knock-off from one of my designs.”

throw a monkey wrench — Sabotage or frustrate a project or plans [answers]

The Poincare Conjecture — the gem of the mathematicians’ crown — has finally been proven after a century of effort. Perelman, a Russian mathematician, is widely recognized for his main contribution in solving this problem. Fairly speaking, the final result bears the efforts of several people, with Perelman’s work based on an earlier breakthrough by Hamilton and later perfected by two Chinese mathematicians, Cao and Zhu.

However, recently, a professor at Peking University openly undermines Cao-Zhu’s work in his blog (Chinese). He accuses the two of “throwing a monkey wrench” and gleaning the credits in proving this conjecture. I feel sad as a professor at one of the most prominent universities in China criticises his peers in this way, not based on scientific facts but citations of several newspapers (he may forget that journalists are often terribly wrong in reporting science news). I have never seen such a thing happened abroad; it will be a long way for Chinese academia to move on in the right direction.

dust off — Restore to use. This usage alludes to cleaning and thereby renewing some object. [dict]

Steven Hawking, the renowned astrophysicist, is looking for a graduate student to assist his work. To many his admirers, this is, perhaps, the most tempting job opportunity . “Dust off your CVs”, urged by a guy who spread this news.

throw one’s hat into the ring — To enter a political race as a candidate for office [dict]

From an ‘economist’ article, Mr Zuma, a potential candidate for the next South African president, is facing another trial on charges of corruption and fraud, not long after he had just been cleared of a rape charge. To his opponents, whether Zuma is really guilty is not important, what really matters is that the trial should drag on. The article reads: “The longer the trial persists, the harder it is for Mr Zuma to throw his hat into the ring.” It’s just another political game.

come out of the closet — to admit that one is gay so that it is no longer a secret [thefreedict]

The host Conan O’Brien appeared in a funny film at the opening of the 58th Emmy Awards ceremony. In the film, he locked himself up in a closet, and shouted: “(Tom) Cruise is in the closet too!” The audience bursted into laughter at the line: “Conan O’Brien does not come out of the closet.” It is a good pun.

stand on one’s (own) feet — to act or behave independently [answers]

On ‘The Practice’, new evidence suggests that Bob’s client indeed commits the murder. Bob asks his colleague to take over the case, since he has been emotionally involved with the client. He says: “I cannot stand on my feet and do the closing.”

lay off — to stop doing or using something [thefreedict]

On ‘The Practice’, the lawyer, Bob, falls in love with his attractive-looking client. This client is accused of the murder charge but claims she kills out of self-defense. Bob goes ballistic for none of his colleagues believing that she is innocent. “Lay off,” one colleague tries to appease him, “We are on your side.”

dredge up — mention something unpleasant from the past [dict]

On ‘Monk’, a film company decided to shoot a film for the great detective Monk. To better act out his part, the “Monk” actor carefully observed the real Monk in life, mimicking his every movement and following his every thought. Eventually he developed an illusion that he himself was Monk, and started desperately looking for the killer who murdered Trudy, Monk’s long deceased wife. This, however, all reminded Monk of the painful memories when Trudy died years ago. Monk complained to his psychiatric doctor: “This guy dredged up all my feelings.”

not give a rat’s ass — don’t care at all [thefreedict]

On ‘Two and a half man’, Alan complained to Charlie that his life had been manipulated by Judith, his ex-wife, even after divorce. He was upset with himself being such a soft touch. Then Judith came to pick up Jake. Charlie spurred Alan to take this opportunity to change and stand up to Judith’s face. So when asked to bring Jake, Alan replied to Judith: “No. I won’t. If that makes you unhappy with me, I don’t give a rat’s ass.”

low hanging fruit — a task that is done easily [urban dict]

For a researcher, publishing papers is important. It matters on the paper quality, and the quantity as well. However, it is not always easy to strike a balance between the two. A good paper requires a lot of thoughts and takes a long time to write. On the other hand, working on an easy topic, one can produce a batch of papers in a short time, making their resumes look impressive. A professor advised us to avoid the later, and said: “Those people only pick the low hanging fruit“.

push a button — provoke [see push buttons]

On ‘Will and Grace’, during a quarrel, someone called Will “dumbass”. Jack immediately jumped to Will’s defence and shouted: “How dare you call my friend dumb. If you’re looking to push a button, call him chunky.”

out of sight, out of mind — you don’t think about it when you can no longer see it [GoEnglish]

On ‘Monk’, Monk came to like the life of being blind. He used to be deeply disturbed by dust, disorder, and filthy things, but now was no longer bothered by those. “Out of sight, out of mind,” he said with contentment.

be dealt a bad hand — receive bad cards in a card game; receive disadvantages in something [Idiom Connect]

On ‘Monk’, someone poured acid liquid onto Monk’s face before running away from the crime scene. Monk was blinded by this surprise attack. Not able to see anything for many days, he became very despondent and felt no hope. His assistant encouraged him: “You cannot give up just because you’d been dealt a bad hand.”

know someone in a biblical way — to have sexual intercourse [urbandict]

A guy in my group was amused by the story of “be intimate with“. He told me an equivalent phrase: know someone. “Adding ‘in a biblical way‘ makes the meaning more explicit,” he continued to explain, “This phrase is traced back to the biblical story that Adam had a baby with his wife Eve.”

From the King James version of the Bible: “And Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said I have gotten a man from the LORD.”

beer muscles — false bravado; Dutch courage; the powers one imagines one has after one has consumed 19 pints of beer [urbandict]

On ‘Two and a half man’, after drinking at a bar, Alan and Charlie took a taxi home. In the taxi, they kept complaining to the driver that their mother ruined their lives for being draconian in their childhood. “We have to stand up to her,” Alan exclaimed. Charlie was amused and mocked his brother: “Look who has got beer muscles all of the sudden.”

(and then Alan took a violent shit right in the cab, blowing the glass out of the windows and crippling every electronic device … continue)

rain check — A promise that an unaccepted offer will be renewed in the future [dict]

A guy declined an invitation to a dinner, because the time was not suitable. He said:” Sorry for that. How about a rain check.”

give/care a toss (often + about) — to not be worried about or interested in someone or something [thefreedict]

In our weekly meeting, someone described the change of thefts over time. “It used to be the case that thieves stole car radios,” he said, “but now nobody gives a toss.”

go overboard — To go to extremes, especially as a result of enthusiasm. [dict]

On ‘Lucky Louie’, Tim controls Louie’s diet, not letting him eat fatty foods. So Louie locks himself up in the toilet to eat a creamy cake. After Tim finds out this, she tells Louie that he can eat whatever he wants, but on one condition: he must eat in front of her. “Maybe if you don’t have to eat in secret any more,” she says to Louie, “you won’t go so overboard.”

back to square one — start from the beginning again [UseEnglish]

On ‘Monk’, Monk faces a stalemate in solving a crime. He says: “Now let’s go back to square one.” He then goes back to the crime scene and reexamines every detail.

out of commission — Not in working order, unable to function [dict]

I just finished a paper and sent sent it to someone for comments. He told me that he was recovering from a surgery, and “slightly out of commission“. I wish him the best and his recovery.

sharp practice — Crafty or deceitful dealings, especially in business [dict]

The ongoing discussion in the UKCrypto forum is on the pre-approved credit cards. It has become increasingly common in the UK that a bank sends you a brand new credit card with a credit limit of 1000 pounds, even without your requesting that. To some customers, this is perhaps welcomed for the convenience; but to the majority, it is a nuisance. The cunning bank deals with the later case by suggesting to “cut it up” if the card is not needed. The threat of cloning a “Chip N Pin” card at a low cost has been mentioned in the previous blog post. Hence, you have the sole responsibility to dispose of the card properly. Otherwise, you bear the liability to explain to the bank why you refuse to pay the bill charged to that card.

Feeling paranoid, you cut the chip into halves, then into further halves, … and finally put pieces to the barbecue fire. Before you feel safe that you’ve eliminated any chance of recycling the chip by a criminal, there arrive newly offered credit cards from other banks, retailers, super-markets … Someone in the forum describes this issuing pre-approved cards as the “sharp practice” by banks. There are no regulations on it yet.

an eye for an eye; (a tooth for a tooth) — Punishment in which an offender suffers what the victim has suffered [dict] [wiki]

An Indian guy borrowed a DVD of “Gandhi”, and invited all people in the house to watch it. It is a classic film. I watched it once about 10 years ago. At that time, my English listening was poor. I still remember our English teacher “chased” us into a dark video room to watch a film we couldn’t understand. The residual memory about the film is that it was super-long and basically we sat there for four hours, flicking each other to keep awake.

But this time was different. With improved English listening, I really enjoyed this film, so did all the others. On the film, Gandhi explained why the choice of “non-violence”: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” It is hard not to be reminded of the current chaotic situation in the middle east. Israel was provoked after its two soldiers were kidnapped, and quickly retaliated. However, Israel is quickly loosing the world’s sympathy for the rising reports of civilian casualties and refugees in Lebanon (Today’s news reports that four UN observers were killed in a bomb attack, including a Chinese). Who’s right and who’s no? No one can tell. The world is blind now, just as Gandhi had predicted 60 years ago.

dig in — To begin to eat heartily [dict]

On ‘Lucky Louie’, Louie’s wife, Tim, forces her husband to diet since he is overweight. One day, Louie goes to visit his buddy. The buddy’s wife serves him with the Pepperoni Pizza and a milkshake, and says: “Come on. Dig in.”

It ain’t (isn’t) over till the fat lady sings — until something has officially finished, the result is uncertain [UsingEnglish]

This is a rather amusing phrase I learned from this article (in Chinese). In the early days of the opera play, the performance was often ended by a fat lady, singing in a high-pitched tone (you could catch a glimpse of a really fat lady in the article). The word “ain’t” seemed alien to me. Then someone explained to me that it is exactly the same as “isn’t”. On the other hand, I come to like this “ain’t”; it is not only original, but also colloquial.

do not feed the trolls — to give no attention to the person who posted inflammatory messages [thefreedict]

Responding to the rude posts left on the security-research blog, someone gave a piece of advice: “Do not feed the trolls“. This phrase originates from “Do not feed the animals”. The meaning is intuitive: feeding the animals in a zoo will spur them to ask for more. People who attempt to make a scene in a forum simply ask for attention. Giving them no attention is often the best solution.

get one’s goat — to make one angry or annoyed [dict]

Our research group maintains a blog: “Light Blue Touch Paper”. The blog is meant for open discussions in security research. Recently, an anonymous reader abused the platform through dumping a derogatory post in the comment section. This really pissed off a guy in our group. He said: “That post gets my goat.”

cut (and) loose — To speak or act without restraint [dict]

On ‘Monk’, the murderer was eager to get into Sharona’s house and delete the phone messages. After pouring a lot of wine over Sharona at a bar, he said to her: “What do you say we cut and loose and do something crazy …“

out on a limb — In a difficult, awkward, or vulnerable position [dict]

On ‘Friends’, Chandler felt that Joey didn’t like his girlfriend, Janice. So he asked Joey: “You know, I may be way out on a limb here, but do you have a problem with Janice?” It’s a useful phrase if you are about to say something embarrassing.

loose lips sink ships — (during World War 2) Unguarded talk may give useful information to the enemy [phrase.org]

In a movie, a girl told her boyfriend a gossip and asked him to keep it secret. Then, the boyfriend passed on this gossip to his basketball buddy and asked him to keep secret, and so did the buddy to other teammates. In the end, everyone got to know the secret. The girl was mad at her boyfriend and said: “Loose lips sink ships.”

up one’s alley — Compatible with one’s interests or qualifications [dict]

In a magazine article, a guy described his brief experience of parenting two neighborhood kids, who ran away from their real parents’ incessant quarrelling and fighting. At start he felt reluctant to accommodate them as “dealing with kids was not up his alley“.

bad things happen in threes — why three? No one knows. That is just the way how things work [wiki]

In a movie, a guy complained about his bad luck — he lost his job, found his girlfriend cheating on him and got mugged on the street. “Had Bad things happen in threes,” he grumbled.

whatever floats your boat – whatever you like [freedict]

Someone taught me this phrase. “It’s quite informal,” he explained, “Better not say it to your boss.”

throw (someone) a curve ball — to deceive someone [dict]

On ‘Monk’, the murderer, who killed the lawyer and his secretary, left the crime scene with a smashed window on the door. The police chief pinned on a lawyer’s former client as the prime suspect. However, the observant Monk noticed that the suspect owned a security company. “He is able to pick any lock,” Monk analyzed, “Why smash the window?” The police chief didn’t like to be challenged. He explained impatiently: “Maybe he knows we know he can pick locks. So he threw us a curve ball.”

throw out the baby with the bath water — to lose the good parts when you get rid of the bad parts of something [freedict]

This is a useful phrase to use in a debate or argument. On the second day of the workshop, there was a panel discussion on the topic of “Electronic Voting”. Experts in the field were gathered to scrutinize this problem from different angles. One of them threw out a radical opinion: E-voting is useless and it’s completely a waste of time and money. He then substantiated his view by enumerating problems existent in all the proposed voting protocols. A cryptographer didn’t agree with him and said: “You cannot throw out the baby with the bath water.”

shoot oneself in the foot — Foolishly harm one’s own cause [dict]

On the first day of the Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, an invited speaker delivered a keynote speech on the moral and ethic values a scientist should possess. In particular, she praised the efforts by “Pugwash” — a conference that promotes ethics among scientists. However, one attendee did not quite agree with the speaker. He started his question with: “I am probably shooting myself in the foot here by saying pugwash is not good. …”

don’t poke the bear — to do something provocative or dangerous [UsingEnglish] [phrases.org.uk]

I heard this phrase from a movie. An alternative expression, more commonly used but less vivid, is: “let sleeping dogs lie“.

someone sits there like a lemon — to describe a person in a socially awkward situation [see lemon]

In a movie, Monk is a highly gifted detective. He, however, is awkward to deal with people. Once, he becomes very nervous when sitting next to a stranger. Seeing this scene, someone says, "Look, he sits there like a lemon". There are some discussions about why the word "lemon" in this phrase. One explains this way: a lemon is "small enough to miss in packing and round enough to roll out of sight". I don't know whether that truely explains the origin of this phrase (maybe not), but it certainly shows a mnemonic way to remember.

pull down — to draw money as wages [dict]

On a movie, a cop's girlfriend is a lawyer and makes good money. She wants the cop to quit his job and says: "I pull down enough for both of us".

trip up — Make or cause someone to make a mistake [dict]

On 'The closer', Brenda, the deputy police chief in LAPD, has a gifted ability to make suspects talk. Before an interrogation, she said to others: "I will give him a little pressure. And he will trip up."

run out of steam — to lose the energy or interest to continue [freedict]

At yesterday's seminar was an invited talk on the mobile phone security. The speaker was busy answering questions from the audience during the Q&A session. When I started worrying that the session would never end and we would have to miss the approaching England vs Sweden wold-cup match, the audience suddenly fell into silence. "Since we have run out of steam," the host spoke conclusively, "let's thank the speaker."

push one's luck — Risk one's good fortune, often by acting overconfidently [answers.com]

If you read my previous blog, you may agree with me on how hard it is to get a computer upgrade in our department. Recently, a guy requested a better computer on the research grounds. He was lucky enough to be assigned with a relatively new machine, with a fast CPU and a big memory. Not yet satisfied with the monitor, he raised another request for a good LCD monitor. One of the staff in charge of this wasn't very happy and said to me: "He is pushing his luck."

square up — settle conclusively; come to terms [dict]

Last weekend, the world-cup match between America and Italy turned out to be such a drama: one goal from Italy at start, quickly followed by an equalizer from America. But that was only the prelude. One Italian player was later sent off the pitch for a red-card. When everyone thought that the game was now tipped to America's advantage, two Americans were subsequently expelled for red-cards. However, in the remaining time, Italy failed to convert the advantage of having one more player into any goals. The game ended up with a 1:1 draw. At one scene during the game, two players from both sides clashed, attempting to gain the ball. The Italian player got up and "gently" massaged the American player's head, while the American "gently" patted the opponent's back. The TV commentator said: "That is relatively friendly squaring up."

on ice — Assured of attainment or success [dict]

On 'The Closer', Detective Hubbard killed his former partner for personal revenge and fabricated the crime scene to frame another Detective, Xavier. Brenda sensed something suspicious with Hubbard. Pretending that she needed help, Brenda asked Hubbard to be involved in interrogating Xavier. Without knowing this was a trick, Hubbard readily agreed. "You must catch that guy," he said to Brenda firmly, "I mean on ice."

bump up — increase, raise [dict]

At a party, referring to a pay rise, someone said: "They will bump up my pay next year."

sought after — Very popular, in demand [dict]

Someone was eager to watch the football match between Brazil and Croatia. He said, "This match is sought after." 

shore up — support [dict]

Yesterday on ITV news, some members in our research group demonstrated the cracking of the "Chip And Pin" cards issued by banks in the UK. Using the cloned card, the reporter was able to draw money from the ATM machine (from his own account). With a shivering voice, the bank spokeswoman still tried to assure the audience that the cards were safe. "Banks are fighting to shore up public confidence," the reporter commented at the end of the interview.