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2016년 3월 7일 월요일

PE 2/26 Choosing a Home Away from Home


* (first) dibs: a statement of claim on something that has no prior claimant
ex> I’m going to offer Darby first dibs on the last piece of pie because she helped me bake it.

* to the tune of: amounting to a specified large amount of money
ex> By the end of the decade, the country was in debt to the tune of four trillion dollars.

* home away from home: a place where one is as comfortable as in one’s own home
ex> That cottage was our home away from home every summer during my childhood.

* skid row: a poor part of a city that is inhabited by vagrants; a state of poverty
ex> I need to find a better job and pay off my debts before I end up on skid row.
ex> That area was a typical skid row, with plenty of alcoholism and petty crime.
Note> The term “Skid Road” or “skid row” was an actual road in Seattle, Washington during the late 1800’s. It was the main street in which logs were transported. It became a sketchy stretch of street that loggers began to call “Skid Road.” It was the dividing line between the rich people of Seattle and the mill workers along with the poor population of the city.

* up to snuff: meeting the required standard
ex> The range that came with my sister’s house wasn’t up to snuff, so she bought a new one.

* meltdown: an emotional breakdown due to fatigue or stress; a disastrous decline or collapse
ex> I’d better get some food into my two-year-old before he has another meltdown.
ex> Some people claim that the regulatory organization is necessary to prevent economic meltdown.

* fortuitous: 우연한, 행운의
The adjective fortuitous is often confused with the adjective fortunate, which means “something good or unforeseen” or “having good luck.” Fortuitous events aren’t necessarily positive ones, although the word is usually used that way.
ex> That was fortuitous. You could have been stuck up there all afternoon.


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