A: Do you know that Jack got divorced last month.

你知道嗎，杰克上個月離婚了。

B: For what reason.

為什么？

A: Jack always lives by his wits and he cannot support his family.

他一直靠小聰明混日子，根本不能養(yǎng)活自己的家庭。

B: He had better make a change.

他是應該改改了。

地道表達：

live by one’s wits

解詞釋義：

wit的本義是“智力，智慧”，by在這里表示方式，意思是“通過，靠，借助”。該短語的字面意思就是“靠智慧生活”，但是它是貶義詞，所以live by one’s wits就是指“靠耍小聰明而不踏踏實實過日子”，即我們說的“混日子”。

支持范例：

Eg. Perhaps you may live by your wits but I don't hope so.

也許你可以靠小聰明混日子，但我不希望你這樣。

Eg. He couldn't get a permanent job so I had to live by my wits for a couple of years.

他沒能找到長久的工作，因此這兩年來我只能靠騙人吃飯。

詞海拾貝：

1. make a change：改變

Eg. Let's make a change today. How about eating out?

咱們今天來點別的花樣吧，出去吃飯怎么樣？

Eg. We must make a material change in our plans.

我們必須對計劃作重大修改。

Eg. It does make a change.

天氣的確有了轉(zhuǎn)變。

Eg. Is it possible to make a change in our order?

我能不能更改訂單?

2. support one’s family：養(yǎng)活家人

Eg. He could not support his family on his meager salary.

他靠微薄的工資無法養(yǎng)家。

Eg. He could barely keep body and soul together, let alone support his family.

他連自己的生活都難以維持，更不用說養(yǎng)家了。

Eg. He must work very hard in order to support his large family.

他必須拼命工作以養(yǎng)活他的大家庭。

Eg. He found it demeaning to ask his wife to support the family.

他覺得讓妻子來養(yǎng)家糊口有損他的面子。

3. get divorced：離婚

更多信息請查看生活口語