你就简明扼要地说吧。
Just tell me the story in a nutshell. *nutshell “坚果的壳”，in a nutshell是惯用语，“简明扼要地说，总结性地说”。
Give it to me in a nutshell.
告诉我详细情况。
Let me know the circumstances.
Let me know the situation.
轻而易举。
A piece of cake. *像吃一块蛋糕一样简单。“轻而易举”。
How was the test? (你考试考得怎么样?)
A piece of cake. (简直轻而易举。)
It was a piece of cake.
It was very easy.
It was a snap.
It was no problem (at all).
It was as easy as 1,2,3.
It was as easy as A,B,C.
到现在为止还好。
So far, so good.
How's your cooking going? (你做饭做得怎么样了?)
So far, so good. (到现在为止还好。)
Up till now, no problems.
马马虎虎。
So-so. *“不好不坏，过得去”。
How's school? (你们学校怎么样?)
So-so. (马马虎虎。)
(事情)就是这样。
That's about it.
没什么了不起的。
It was nothing.
Wow! How'd you do that? (哇!你怎么做出来的?)
It was nothing. (这没什么。)
It was no big deal.
这很简单。
There's nothing to it.
Can you help me E-mail? (你能教我用一下E-mail(电子邮件)吗?)
Sure, there's nothing to it. (当然，这很简单。)
It's a piece of cake. (这轻而易举。)
Nothing complicated about it. (这没什么复杂的。)
啊，真灵!
It worked!
And if you plug this in... (然后你插上插头……)
It worked! (啊，亮了!)
It did the job!
还需再加把劲。
It needs work. *还需要努力才能达到完美，变得更好。
What about the new computer system? (那个新的计算机系统怎么样?)
It needs work. (还需改进。)
It needs more work.
It needs some work.
就差那么一点儿。
Almost. *表示“可惜”，“差一点儿”。
Almost! (就差那么一点儿。)
I thought it was a home run. (我以为是个本垒打呢。)
越来越不好。
Going from bad to worse. *直译是“从不好到更糟糕的”，可以用于人际关系、经济或成绩等多种场合。
How's married life? (婚后生活怎么样?)
Going from bad to worse. (越来越糟。)
Getting increasingly worse.
Getting worse and worse (all the time).
他一举成名。
He made it big. *make it big “在社会上取得了成功”。
He became very successful.
He is a big success.
问题解决了。
We're set. *这句用来表示“准备好了，预备好了”。set“解决”。
They just fixed the car. (他刚把车修好。)
We're set. (问题解决了。)
We're set. (我们准备好了。)
Let's get going. (那我们走吧。)
Our problem's solved.
We're ready.
We're okay.
●随声附和
我知道了。
I see. *边向对方表示自己已理解，边使对话顺利进行。
That's why I was late. (……所以我才来晚了。)
I see. (我知道了。)
嗯，嗯。
Uh-huh. *当同意对方的意见时，可以代替Yes。
啊，是吗?
You have? *①I've been to Chicago. (我去过芝加哥。) →You have? ②He's from Chicago.(他是芝加哥人。) →He is? ③He went to Chicago. (他去芝加哥了。) →He did? ④He is tall. (他的个子很高。) →He is? ⑤He's cooking now. (他正在做饭。) →He is? 以上各句的答句要作相应变化。
是那样吗?
Is that right? *可以只表示“是那样吗?”，也可以表示“这样对吗?”
Is that so?
Is that true?
Is that correct?
是那样。
That's right.
没错!
Exactly! *强调肯定的语气。
That's it exactly.
That's exactly it.
是吗?
Oh, yeah? *比较随便的说法。
是吗?
Is that so?
Really?
Oh, really?
Oh, do you?
Oh, you do?
Oh, you like it? (哦，你喜欢吗?)
Oh, thank you. (哦，谢谢。)
It's nice, isn't it? (是不是特棒呀?)
然后呢?
And? *希望对方继续说下去，和将对方正在考虑，正在想的事情引出来时。
我也是。
Me, too. *用于同意对方的意见及想法相同时。这是比较随便的说法，儿童之间常用。在工作场合不用。
So am I.
So do I.
So did I.
我也不……
Neither do I. *用于对对方“我不……”的话的回应，表示“我也不……”的意见时。比“Me, neither.”要正式。
Tom doesn't want to go. (汤姆不想去。)
Neither do I. (我也不想去。)
Me, neither. *说法比较随便。正式的工作场合不用。
别说傻话。
Don't be silly.
I'll pay for dinner. (我付晚饭的钱。)
Don't be silly. (别说傻话。)
Don't be foolish.
真是太倒霉了。
That's too bad. *听了对方叙述不好的事情时使用。
I've lost my wallet. (我丢了我的钱包。)
That's too bad. (真是太倒霉了。)
真的吗?
Are you sure?
真是太过分(遗憾)了!
What a shame!
那好哇。
Good! *答应、满足的语气。
真叫人吃惊。
What a surprise! *用于没想到的事情，或被对方出其不意地吓了一跳时。
我真希望不是这样。
I hope not.
要是那样就好了!
I hope so.
太棒了!
Great!
难以置信!
Unbelievable!
See? My dog can sing. (你知道吗？我的狗会唱歌。)
Unbelievable! (难以置信!)
Incredible.
开玩笑吧!
No kidding!
You're kidding!
You're joking!
That can't be!
行!没问题!
You bet.
May I borrow your pen? (可以借用你的钢笔吗?)
You bet. (当然行。)
No problem.
Sure.
Certainly.
●一时语塞
嗯……
Well... *这是种很方便的表达方式。以下三种情况都可以用。(1)一时回答不了或说不上来时。“嗯……”、“唉……”、“这个嘛……”、“话是不错，可……”。(2)相当吃惊时。“哎呀!”、“什么?”、“啊!”。(3)改变话题继续交谈时。“那么……”、“可是……”、“后来……”。
Umm...
Hmm...
让我想想。
Let me see. *see “考虑”、“盘算”、“想”，口语中常用来表示无法立刻答复，一时想不出回答的话，或想说点什么。
May I take your order? (您点什么菜?)
Well, let me see...(点什么呢?……)
Let's see.
Let me check. (让我查查。)
I'll find out for you. (我找找。)
我的意思是……
I mean... *“就是说”、“不，其实我是说……”，用于会话中补充或纠正自己的发言时。
May I ask who you are? (请问您是哪位?)
I'm a friend of John's... I mean, Mr. Sheehan. (我是约翰的朋友，我是说我是希恩先生的朋友。)*当说话的人是希恩先生的朋友时。
话就在嘴边上。
It's on the tip of my tongue.
说什么好呢?
What should I say... *用于委婉表达难以启齿的事情，一时找不到合适的词，争取考虑时间的情况。
How should I put this...
How should I put it...
我真不知道该说什么好……
I don't know quite how to put this.
You said you wanted to talk to me...
(听说你有话要对我说……)
Well, I don't know quite how to put this... (嗯，我真不知道该说什么好……)
I don't know how to say this.
I'm not sure how to put this.
这可让你问着了。
Beats me. *回答不了别人的提问时，“哎呀!这可糟了”、 “怎么说呢”、 “不知道呀”的语气。
What's the population of Narita? (成田市有多少人口呀?)
Beats me. (这可让你问着了。)
I can't answer that. (我可答不上来。)
叫什么来着?
What do you call it? *一时想不出要说的东西的名字的时候。口语中常发音为Whatchamacallit?
What would you call it? *把“do”换成“would”则用于另外一种场合。意思是“你管它叫什么?”
让你问住了。
You've got me. *回答不上来问话时。
Who's the prime minister of Canada? (加拿大的总理是谁?)
You've got me. (让你问住了。)
●催促别人说话
你说点什么吧!
Say something.
Say something. (你说点什么吧!)
I'm speechless. (我连话都说不出来了。)
A penny for your thoughts. *这是惯用表达方式，用于当对方在考虑什么的时候。直译是“给你一便士也好，请告诉我你在想什么。”
我想知道得详细一些。
Tell me more (about it).
I want to know more about it in detail.
I'd like to know more details. *比较有礼貌的说法。
你的旅行怎么样?
How was your trip?
How was your trip? (你的旅行怎么样?)
It was terrible. (太糟糕了。)
我在认真地听呢。
I'm all ears. *“聚精会神地听”。
会开得怎么样?
How was the meeting?
How was the meeting? (会开得怎么样?)
We didn't accomplish much. (没什么结果。)
继续说呀。
I'm listening. *在对方停止谈话时，向对方表示“请继续说下去，我在呢”或“我听着呢”。
Keep talking.
我很想听听那件事。
I'd like to hear the story.
Did you hear about my trip? (你听说我旅行的事了吗?)
Not yet. I'd like to hear the story. (没呢。我很想知道。)
I'd like to know the story.
I'd like to hear about it.
我们只是闲聊一会儿。
We had small talk. *small talk “闲话，不着边际的话”。
电影怎么样?
How was the movie?
How was the movie? (电影怎么样?)
I really enjoyed it. (我觉得很有意思。)
那部戏有意思吗?
Did you enjoy the play?
Did you enjoy the play? (那部戏有意思吗?)
No, it was dull. (真没劲。) 转