English Idioms 2024，刮桶

you can't teach an old dog new tricks

Proverb: you cannot teach some new skill or behavior to someone who is set in their ways. 
Good luck getting Grandpa to start going to yoga with you. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

A grain of salt

To take something with a "grain of salt" or "pinch of salt" is an English idiom that suggests to view something, specifically claims that may be misleading or unverified, with skepticism or to not interpret something literally.

In the old-fashioned English units of weight, a grain weighs approximately 65 mg, which is about how much table salt a person might pick up between the fingers as a pinch.

shenanigans

报纸上看到这个生字，有点奇怪，查了，解释为“secret or dishonest activity or maneuvering”，中文对应的是恶作剧的意思。

再使用google翻译，输入中文“恶作剧”，结果出来四个有“恶作剧”意思的单词和词组：mischief; hoax; practical joke; escapade。

此外，下列词亦有恶作剧的意思： 

quiz   测验, 恶作剧
monkey business   胡闹, 恶作剧
monkeyshines   恶作剧
capriccio   随想曲, 恶作剧
cantrip   恶作剧
gambade   恶作剧, 马的跳跃
gambado   恶作剧, 马的跳跃

晕！

【Confidence game，这和自信竟然没有半毛钱关系！指的是那些骗人的把戏，如果在街上有人捡了钱包要跟你分钱，这就是一个典型的confidence game，简称con-game.】

根据这个con-game的来历和用法，我想"con man"的con会不会也是从confidence缩略而来的呢？

查confidence man, 得：a confidence man is a man who persuades people to give him their money or property by lying to them. 所以，它们是相关的。

另外，下列词都包含有“欺骗”的意思：

bluff
charlatan
chiseler
con artist
confidence operator
conniver
cozener
crook
deceiver
decoy
defrauder
dodger
double-crosser
double-dealer
enticer
fake
hypocrite
impostor
inveigler
masquerader
pretender
quack
rascal
rogue
scammer
shark
sharper
shyster
swindler
trickster

Confidence trick  信任骗局 （杀猪盘）：

William Thompson (1821–1856) was the original "confidence man". Thompson was a clumsy swindler who asked his victims to express confidence in him by giving him money or their watch rather than gaining their confidence in a more nuanced way. A few people trusted Thompson with their money and watches.

A confidence trick is also known as a con game, a finesse, a con, a scam, a grift, a hustle, a bunko (or bunco), a swindle, a flimflam, a gaffle, or a bamboozle. The intended victims are known as marks, suckers, stooges, mugs, rubes, or gulls (from the word gullible). When accomplices are employed, they are known as shills.

"six definite steps or stages of growth" of a confidence game：

Foundation work
Preparations are made in advance of the game, including the hiring of any assistants required and studying the background knowledge needed for the role.

Approach
The victim is approached or contacted.

Build-up
The victim is given an opportunity to profit from participating in a scheme. The victim's greed is encouraged, such that their rational judgment of the situation might be impaired.

Pay-off or convincer
The victim receives a small payout as a demonstration of the scheme's purported effectiveness. This may be a real amount of money or faked in some way (including physically or electronically). In a gambling con, the victim is allowed to win several small bets. In a stock market con, the victim is given fake dividends.

The "hurrah"
A sudden manufactured crisis or change of events forces the victim to act or make a decision immediately. This is the point at which the con succeeds or fails. With a financial scam, the con artist may tell the victim that the "window of opportunity" to make a large investment in the scheme is about to suddenly close forever.

The in-and-in
A conspirator (in on the con, but assumes the role of an interested bystander) puts an amount of money into the same scheme as the victim, to add an appearance of legitimacy. This can reassure the victim, and give the con man greater control when the deal has been completed.

『不來閣』很創意。

good to know. 多謝邊君分享！

『我们对身边的熟人说I wanna take French leave, or Irish exit就漂亮了』 －－ 很得瑟哦。

take French leave 通常是不聲不響就走了。
"To take French leave means that someone has left a gathering without asking or announce he or she is leaving." (zt)

是啊，光顾“得瑟”了，硬是把具有“叙述”功能的短句当作陈述的工具了！

Indian giver:

One who takes or demands back one's gift to another, as in Jimmy wanted to take back Dan's birthday present, but Mom said that would make him an Indian giver. This term, now considered offensive, originally alluded to the Native American practice of expecting a gift in return for one that is given.

The History Behind The Phrase 'Don't Be An Indian Giver'

“波将金村庄”， a showcase of socialism. 

From the river to the sea

从河流到大海[1]或译为从河流到海洋[2]（阿拉伯语：من النهر إلى البحر‎ min al-nahr ila al-bahr，英語：From the river to the sea）是一个巴勒斯坦的政治口号，也与其它政治口号连用。巴勒斯坦民族主义者用这个口号主张建立一个包含约旦河到地中海范围内所有土地（包含现今以色列和巴勒斯坦国两国所有领土）的独立巴勒斯坦国。

......

批评者认为，这一口号指出的边界（约旦河到地中海）意味着将犹太国家消灭，将这片土地完全置于阿拉伯人的统治之下。

无解而且双输！

庆幸这几年把犹太民族的几千年历史仔细了解了。我支持犹太人有权力回到他们祖先曾经居住过地方，我也支持巴勒斯坦民族的生存权力得到保护。我真的希望犹太人同阿拉伯人能够和谐共处在那片圣土上，......