Appendix

Common Idioms

Lus Txhiaj Txhais uas Hais Ntau

Cov txhiaj txhais yog tej lus uas muaj ib lub ntsiab thaum hais ua ke txawv ntawm txoj kev txhais txhua lo lus ntawd. Ntsia tej kab lus ntawm no “piece of cake.” Yog kuv hais, “I want a piece of cake,” txhais tias kuv xav noj ncuav. Tiam sis yog kuv hais, “Learning English with EnglishConnect is a piece of cake,” txhais tias kev kawm lus Askiv nrog EnglishConnect yooj yim. Lo lus txhiaj txhais “piece of cake” txhais tias “yooj yim.”

Kev siv tej lus txhiaj txhais yog ib txoj kev hais lus uas ua rau koj hais zoo li ib tug uas ib txwm tau hais yam lus ntawd. Tej lus txhiaj txhais ua rau peb pom ib daim duab hauv peb lub hlwb thiab ua rau peb xav. Hauv lus Askiv, thaum txhua leej raug xwm txheej ib yam, ces peb hais tias, “We’re all in the same boat.” Qhov no ua peb xav txog tib neeg uas ua hauj lwm ua ke hauv ib lub nkoj uas xav mus rau tib qhov chaw. Kev hais, “We’re all in the same boat” ua rau peb xav tias muaj kev sib raug zoo thiab kev nkag siab.

Kev paub thiab siv cov lus txhiaj txhais yeej lom zem heev! Tom qab yog tej lus txhiaj txhais uas hais ntau.

Kawm cov lus txhiaj txhais li cas:

1. Saib lo lus txhiaj txhais. Kawm txog lub ntsiab thiab tej kev siv.

2. Xav seb koj puas muaj tej lus txhiaj txhais hauv koj yam lus.

3. Xav txog seb koj yuav siv lo lus txhiaj txhais li cas.

4. Sau tej kab lus nrog lo lus txhiaj txhais. Siv hauv tej lus sib tham.

5. Saib lo lus txhiaj txhais thaum koj nyeem los sis mloog lus Askiv.

Lus Txhiaj Txhais	Txhais Li Cas	Yam Ntxwv
Lus Txhiaj Txhais a piece of cake	Txhais Li Cas yooj yim	Yam Ntxwv That test was a piece of cake!
Lus Txhiaj Txhais a blessing in disguise	Txhais Li Cas ib yam dab tsi zoo uas yus xav tias yog yam phem thaum xub thawj	Yam Ntxwv She lost her job, but it was a blessing in disguise. She found a better job.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais all in the same boat	Txhais Li Cas txhua leej raug xwm txheej ib yam	Yam Ntxwv Nobody can leave this room. We’re all in the same boat.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais barking up the wrong tree	Txhais Li Cas sim ua ib yam dab tsi tiam sis ua yuam kev thaum sim ua li ntawd	Yam Ntxwv If you think I’m going to loan you more money, you’re barking up the wrong tree.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais better late than never	Txhais Li Cas ua lig los yeej zoo dua li tsis ua hlo li	Yam Ntxwv A: He didn’t repay the money until last week. B: That’s okay. Better late than never.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais birds of a feather flock together	Txhais Li Cas tib neeg uas muaj yam ntxwv, cwj pwm, los sis nyiam tej yam ib yam ntau zaus nyiam nyob ua ke	Yam Ntxwv I was right that Paul and Ben would get along. Birds of a feather flock together.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais no use crying over spilled milk	Txhais Li Cas yeej tsis pab dab tsi li yog yus txhawj los sis xav txog tej yam uas raug phem yog tias hloov tsis taus	Yam Ntxwv We can’t get the money back, so let’s make a new plan. It’s no use crying over spilled milk.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched	Txhais Li Cas yus tsis paub tseeb tias yuav muaj dab tsi tshwm sim, yog li ntawd yus yuav tsis txhob npaj rau qhov ntawd tam sim no	Yam Ntxwv A: I will probably get a raise soon, so I bought a new bed! B: Well, don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. You might not get the raise.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais get all your ducks in a row	Txhais Li Cas npaj txhua yam thiab npaj ua tej yam yuav tsum ua tom ntej	Yam Ntxwv We have to get all our ducks in a row before the family comes for a visit. Let’s start cleaning and cooking right now.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais give me a hand	Txhais Li Cas pab kuv	Yam Ntxwv I can’t lift this sofa on my own. Can you give me a hand?
Lus Txhiaj Txhais hang in there	Txhais Li Cas tsis txhob tso tseg	Yam Ntxwv I know learning English is very difficult. Hang in there.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais it takes two to tango	Txhais Li Cas ob leeg uas ua ib yam dab tsi los sis ua yuam kev los lav ris yam ntawd	Yam Ntxwv It is partially my fault that we were fighting. It takes two to tango.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais keep an eye on	Txhais Li Cas saib xyuas zoo	Yam Ntxwv My son has been misbehaving a lot lately, so please keep an eye on him to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais let the cat out of the bag	Txhais Li Cas tsis xyuam xim los sis txhob txwm qhia ib yam dab tsi uas neeg tsis paub txog	Yam Ntxwv I heard that someone let the cat out of the bag, so I might as well tell you myself—I’m pregnant!
Lus Txhiaj Txhais out of the frying pan and into the fire	Txhais Li Cas raug ib yam dab tsi phem ces raug ib yam dab tsi phem tshaj	Yam Ntxwv He didn’t like his previous job, so he quit, but now he can’t find a new job. He’s out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais go out on a limb	Txhais Li Cas sim ua ib yam dab tsi uas tej zaum yuav ua rau yus raug tej yam phem ntxiv	Yam Ntxwv I’m going to go out on a limb here and invest some money in this project, even though I don’t know if the project will be successful.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais preaching to the choir	Txhais Li Cas sim qhia dab tsi rau ib tug neeg uas twb pom zoo li yus hais lawm	Yam Ntxwv They are already going to vote for him. He’s just preaching to the choir.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais rub salt in the wound	Txhais Li Cas ua rau xwm txheej nyuaj dua ntxiv thaum ua rau ib tug neeg xav txog nws lub txim los sis rov qab ua rau nws xav txog nws tej kev txhaum	Yam Ntxwv I know I shouldn’t have done it. You don’t have to remind me and rub salt in the wound.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais so far, so good	Txhais Li Cas ua ntej lub sij hawm no, txhua yam zoo	Yam Ntxwv This first month, they haven’t had any problems building the house. So far, so good.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais the straw that broke the camel’s back	Txhais Li Cas ib qho teeb meem me me uas ua rau yus raug tej yam loj heev vim tias yog qhov teeb meem kawg tom qab ntau yam teeb meem ua ntej	Yam Ntxwv We had a terrible week. Everything was going wrong. So when we missed the bus, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Lus Txhiaj Txhais you’re pulling my leg	Txhais Li Cas sim ua kom ib tug neeg ntseeg ib yam dab tsi tsis yog lawm thaum dag ua si xwb; dag ntxias nws	Yam Ntxwv No, that celebrity isn’t calling me. You’re pulling my leg.

Note

Lus Cim

Cov neeg kawm zoo siab kawm txog cov lus txhiaj txhais Nov yog tej lub tswv yim pab lawv kawm.

• Xaiv ib lo lus txhiaj txhais txhua hnub thiab qhia cov neeg kawm. Qhia lub ntsiab thiab hais txog kev siv tej lus ntawd.

• Ces cia cov neeg kawm siv sij hawm txhua tus qhia txog ib lo lus txhiaj txhais rau lawv pawg. Lawv xaiv tau ib lo lus txhiaj txhais ntawm cov ntawv sab saud los sis xaiv ntawm lwm lo lus uas lawv paub txog. Txhua tus kawm qhia tau ib leeg zuj zus, los sis faib ua ob leeg ua ke.

• Nug cov neeg kawm kom muab cov lus txhiaj txhais piv rau cov lus txhiaj txhais hauv lawv yam lus. Piv txwv, kom txhawb nqa ib tug neeg thaum lub sij hawm nyuaj, tib neeg hauv Teb Chaws Amelikas hais tias “Hang in there!” Tej lus twg hauv koj yam lus muaj tib lub ntsiab li no?