有些英文短句是「表裡不一」的，若讀者以中文有邊讀邊、沒邊讀中間的「望文生義」學習法，恐被短句字面上的意思所誤導，而發生令人啼笑皆非的尷尬場面，本文將帶領讀者了解這字裡行間的弦外之音。

1. Can you spot me? (誤)你可以用聚光燈照一下我嗎? (正)先幫我墊一下錢好嗎

例: I'm a little short on money. Can you spot me some cash for this bag? 我手頭有點緊，可以用現金幫我代墊這個包嗎?

2. Keep your chin up. (誤)抬起你的下巴；(正)勇敢地面對困難，別灰心

鼓勵正處於逆境的人，提醒他們要有信心，不要因受挫而灰心；例: Keep your chin up. Things will get better. 別灰心，事情會好轉地。

3. My fingers are all thumbs. (誤)我的手指都是大拇指；(正)笨手笨腳

想像若你所有的指頭都是大拇指，怎能靈活地做事；例: His fingers were all thumbs and he dropped the cup.他笨手笨腳的把杯子掉落到地上。

4. See to it. (誤)看它；(正)小心行事，確保

When you're a leader, you've got to see to it that everything gets done. 身為一個領導者，你必須能確保使命必達。

5. Sitting on the fence. (誤)坐在柵欄上；(正)因怕事而保持中立，考慮中

這句話常用於諷刺或貶低某人因沒有勇氣面對爭論而不做決定；例: The politician is afraid of losing votes if he takes sides, but he can't sit on the fence forever. 這位政客因怕選邊站而失去選票，然而他不能鴕鳥一輩子。

6. Work my tail off. (誤)工作到斷了我的尾巴；(正)拼命地工作

說話者通常因不愉快的心境而持有反對的意見；例: You've spent half your life working your tail off - and for what? 你這拼命地工作，到底是為了什麼/又得到了什麼?

7. Beat someone to the punch. (誤)某人被拳猛擊；(正)比別人搶先一步

指你本計劃要完成某事，卻被別人捷足先登了；例: I planned to write an app for uploading and sharing photos, but someone beat me to the punch. 我本來計劃撰寫可上傳及分享照片的app，但有人搶先一步了。

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