[摘要]
· rob Peter to pay Paul拆东墙，补西墙

You borrow money from me to pay the bank loan. It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

· be no picnic不是件轻松的事

To learn one foreign language i...

· rob Peter to pay Paul拆东墙，补西墙

You borrow money from me to pay the bank loan. It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

· be no picnic不是件轻松的事

To learn one foreign language is possible. But to be a bilingual is no picnic.

· sugar the pill给人一点甜头安慰一下

Sonia didn’t want to work extra hours quite often, but the manager sugared the pill by promising her a trip abroad at the end of the year.

· be on pins and needles坐立不安

He is a very modest man. When others praise him, he feel on pins and needles.

· put that in your pipe and smoke it你好好考虑考虑吧
此句常用于祈使句

Don’t take it out on me. It is he who makes you lose so much money. Put it in your pipe and smoke it!

· play up to someone拍某人的马屁

The young actress played up to the director, hoping to get a role in the TV series.

· take the plunge踌躇一段时间后断然决定去干……

The commander finally took the plunge and launched the final attack.

· play possum装糊涂，装傻

He often quarrels with his wife. When he comes to me for advice, I can do nothing but play possum.

· drop something like a hot potato赶紧抛弃，放弃

He has been dreaming of owning his own car. But when he knew a car would cost ten years’ of his salary, he drop the idea like a hot potato.

· sing someone’s praises颂扬某人

The lawyer is quite successful. His clients sing his praises to others.

· be past praying for不可救药

When I sent my cat to the vet, he said that it was past praying for.

· be sitting pretty享受安乐生活

Our company survived the economic crisis and now we are sitting pretty.

· pocket one’s pride放下架子

The laid-off workers from the state-owned enterprises should pocket their pride and seek for re-employment.
· put someone up to...唆使某人去……

How dare you to have lodged a complaint against me with the director? Who put you up to it?

· pop the question求婚

Can you tell me how you popped the question to your wife? Maybe I can learn something from you.

· call it quits作罢

Mary and Tom had been in love for several years. But these days, they began to realize that they had very little in common. They decided to call it quits.

· chew the rag闲聊
chew the rag也有争吵的意思

If they have time, these wives are always sitting together and chewing the rag.

· fly into a rage大发雷霆

The old father flew into a rage when his daughter didn’t obey his will.

· break ranks with someone与……分道扬镳
反义词为：close ranks with someone

People within one party gradually had conflicts on some political issues. Some of them decided to break ranks with others and set up a new party.