A second-hand toilet seller takes a break in the Philippines. Photo: Romeo Ranoco / Reuters
今日小常识
In British English, the word 'toilet' can refer to the fixture itself or the room where it is installed, for which you will also hear the more colloquial words 'loo', 'lav' or 'john'. The slang word 'dunny' is popular in Australia while Americans tend to prefer the more polite terms 'bathroom' or 'restroom'. In the Philippines, the term of choice is the pleasant-sounding 'comfort room', or 'CR' for short.
在英式英语中，单词 toilet 指抽水马桶，也可以指卫生间。俚语卫生间的表达有loo, lav 或 john. 在澳大利亚，俚语单词 dunny 也是厕所的意思。美国人喜欢用含蓄一点的说法，比如 bathroom 洗澡间或 restroom 休息室。在菲律宾，卫生间的英语表达是 comfort room 舒适的房间, 简称 CR, 听着比较顺耳。
今日短语
如果说一件事情 goes down the pan 或者 goes down the toilet, 意思是说这件事情完蛋了，被搞砸了。
例句
Mike had great dreams of becoming a rock guitarist, but they went down the pan when he injured his hand.
I'm afraid all that careful preparation we did for Meerka's surprise birthday party went down the pan when her sister told her about it.
He invested all his life's savings in a beautiful, antique car but everything went down the pan when he crashed it the next day.
请注意
短语 out of the frying pan, into the fire “刚出油锅，又入火坑”可以用来表达某事从不好的情况进入到更糟的状态。
Studying for my MA was really difficult and stressful, but then I really went out of the frying pan into the fire when I graduated and realised there were no good jobs available.
