Category: News Vocabulary

嘴硬 (zuǐyìng) firm in speech; stubborn and reluctant to admit mistakes or defeats Usage:

做手脚 (zuò shǒujiǎo)to tamper with something; to play a trick Usage: “做手脚”的意思是为达到目的，暗中进行某种活动或者使用不好的手段,是个贬义词。口语中还经常说“在……上做（了/过/的……）手脚”。As a derogatory term, “做手脚”（ zuò shǒujiǎo） refers to do something secretly or employ bad means in order to achieve certain goals. People often say “在……上做（了/过/的……）手脚”.（zài ……shàng zuò (le /guò /de)shǒujiǎo）

做文章  (zuò wénzhāng) to make an issue of; write an essay Usage: “做文章”的本义是写文章。比喻抓住一件事发议论或者投入很大的精力做一件事。经常用的结构是“在……上（大）做文章”。The original meaning of “做文章”（zuò wénzhāng）is writing an essay. It is a metaphorical saying of making an issue of something or laying emphasis on doing something. The structure “在……上（大）做文章” （zài ……shàng (dà ) zuò wénzhāng）is often used.

乌鸦嘴(wūyā zuǐ )crow’s beak /doomsayer Usage: 中国人认为乌鸦是一种不祥的预兆。 而“乌鸦嘴”形容人口无遮拦，直言直语，说出不中听不吉利的话，而且往往会很灵验。Chinese people consider crow as a bird of ill omen. So “乌鸦嘴” is used to describe people who usually say sth. ominous directly . What’s more, the prediction could be efficacious.

绕弯子 (rào wānzi) to talk in a roundabout way/ beat about the bush Usage: “绕弯子”比喻不照直说话，不直接把心中想说的话说出来，而通常先花时间说些其他的事情，最后再把自己想说的话说出来。“绕弯子(rào wānzi)”means to talk indirectly . People usually say something else before what they really want to say.

搞鬼 (gǎoguǐ) to practice deception or to play tricks; secretly make mischief Usage: “搞鬼”的字面意思是装鬼。比喻暗中使用诡计陷害别人或者搞恶作剧。The literal meaning of “搞鬼” is to pretend as a ghost. It is a metaphor of practicing deception or playing tricks on somebody or something.

红颜 (hóngyán) a beauty Usage: 在这个词语中，“颜”指脸面或者面容。“红颜”的本义是红色的脸，古代女性化妆都要涂上腮红，因此用“红颜”比喻美女。
“颜” means face or appearance facial features in this word, and “红颜” originally means red faces. That the Ancient womaen applied made up with blusher when they played on makeup. It is a metaphor of a beauty.

动心 (dòngxīn) to be moved mentally; to show interest Usage: “动心”是指思想感情发生变化。可以表示想要某物或者开始对某事产生兴趣，也可以表示对某人产生感情。常用的结构是“对某物/某人动（了）心”。“动心” means to be moved mentally, showing interest in something or falling in love with somebody. The structure “对某物/某人动(了)心” is often used .

活字典 (huó zìdiǎn) a walking dictionary Usage: “活字典”字面意思是活着的字典，是指知识特别丰富，知识面很广的人，也指对某一方面的情况非常熟悉的人，他好像一本字典，随时可以从他那里问到需要的信息。“活字典”means the person has rich knowledge on some field and can answer any question on any occasion.