English 中文网 漫画网 爱新闻iNews 翻译论坛
中国网站品牌栏目(频道)
当前位置: Language Tips > 专家点评

Keep up with Joneses

[ 2012-03-21 10:54]     字号 [] [] []  
免费订阅30天China Daily双语新闻手机报:移动用户编辑短信CD至106580009009

Keep up with Joneses

Inability to "Keep up with the Joneses" might result in dissatisfaction, even for people whose status is high.

I am just a regular Jones

My comments:

The Joneses are any one of the families living in the same neighborhood as you. The Joneses are, in fact, one of your rich and more resourceful neighbors. Look at the fancy things they buy. Two years ago, they bought an Audi. Last week, they upgraded that with a new model – which costs them $35,000. The husband wears designer suits. The wife always has an LV bags in hand. Tom, their only child is chauffer-driven to school, and this morning he showed off his latest iPad to my son….

You see, the Joneses have all the money in the world to spend, creating an enormous pressure for me to do the same.

In short, keep up with the Joneses – buy whatever they buy and do whatever they do – is a game many families can’t afford to keep playing, and quite frankly it’s driving some families to the brink of bankruptcy.

And the thing is, even the Joneses themselves may not have all the money in the world to spend. It just appears that way. It’s all a façade. They don’t have the money to buy all that they buy, but it’s the only thing they can struggle to do to keep up with other, even richer Joneses down the street.

The upshot: Many families are overstretching themselves financially just to look good. Deep down, however, their inability (they know it) to keep up creates widespread dissatisfaction and disappointment.

Related stories:

Finishing touch

No great shakes

Warts and all

Catch -22 situation

Pull-up trey

I'm sold

Flip-flop

Sit on its hands

Casing the joint

Free rein

Bear the brunt of

Cross one’s path

Tribute projects

Off the beaten track

At the forefront of

Seat warmer

The rule of the jungle

On-the-go

On the fence

Wild guess

In the high teens

Touch up

Unforced error

Catch a break

City slicker

Political correctness

Gee up

Big mind

Blanket statement

Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA

Pick one's brains

A good eye

Thank one's stars for

Real money

Nodding acquaintance

Flip out over nothing

Bury the hatchet& have an ax to grind

Vocal proponent

Growing pains

Fleeting acquaintance

All-weather friend

Lead the pack

Fish or cut bait

Gilt-edged

To do more with less

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文仅代表作者本人观点,与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题,尊重他人,禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin(张欣) has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

 
中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
 

关注和订阅

人气排行

翻译服务

中国日报网翻译工作室

我们提供:媒体、文化、财经法律等专业领域的中英互译服务
电话:010-84883468
邮件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn