2016年2月24日 星期三

hairy, proximity, torpid, presently and apart, think on one's feet


A Japanese company has done a bit of thinking on its feet to come up with a new design for the humble computer mouse.
WWW3.NHK.OR.JP|由 NHK (JAPAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION) 上傳


Things may get hairy for the Quadrangle Group Friday -- the deadline for an investor decision on whether to cancel future commitments to the private equity fund once run by Obama auto task force head Steven Rattner.

Go to Article from The New York Post»



這hairy 不是吃重極難
令人怕到快抓狂
proximity 喻空間"接近"而非"近似"

In my two years at Bell Labs, we worked in two-person offices. They were spacious, quiet, and the phones could be diverted. I shared my office with Wendl Thomis who went on to build a small empire as an electronic toy maker. In those days, he was working on the ESS fault dictionary. The dictionary scheme relied upon the notion of n-space proximity, a concept that was hairy enough to challenge even Wendl's powers of concentration. One afternoon, I was bent over a program listing while Wendl was staring into space, his feet propped up on the desk. Our boss came in and asked, "Wendl! What are you doing?" Wendl said, "I'm thinking." And the boss said, "Can't you do that at home?"





The president is facing the prospect of leaving office with the economy in a slump. Last week, the Labor Department announced that the jobless rate rose to 5% in December, from 4.7% the previous month. Economists inside and outside the government are worried that falling home prices and rising foreclosures will lead consumers to cut back spending and tip the economy into recession. While the economy expanded at a pace of nearly 5% in the third quarter, economists predict the data will show a far more torpid performance for the final three months of the year.

think on one's feet

Fig. to be able to speak and reason well while (standing and talking) in front of an audience, especiallyextemporaneously. She really thinks on her feet well. I am not able to think on my feet too well before a bunch ofpeople.


think on your feet

to think and react quickly, especially in a situation where things are happening very fast An ability to think on yourfeet is a definite advantage when you're doing live comedy shows.


presently (SOON) Show phonetics
adverb OLD-FASHIONED
soon; not at the present time but in the future, after a short time:
The room was hot and presently her eyes grew heavy and she began to feel sleepy.
presently (NOW)
adverb MAINLY UK FORMAL
now; at the present time:
Of 200 boats, only 20 are presently operational.
Three sites are presently under consideration for the new hotel.

apart (SEPARATE) Show phonetics
adverb
1 separated by a distance or, less commonly, by time:
Stand with your feet wide apart.
How far apart should the speakers be?
We were asked to stand in two lines three metres apart.
The two lines of children moved slowly apart.
The garage, large enough for two cars, is set apart from (= not joined to) the house.
I forget the exact age difference between Mark and his brother - they're two or three years apart.

2 into smaller pieces:
My jacket is so old it's falling apart.
took the motor apart (= separated it into pieces) to see how it worked.

apart
adjective [after verb]
living or staying in a different place from the person that you are married to or have a close relationship with:
When you're apart you rely so heavily on the phone.

apart (EXCEPT)
adverb
apart from except for or not considering:
He works until nine o'clock every evening, and that's quite apart from the work he does over the weekend.
Apart from the salary/Salary apart, it's not a bad job.
Apart from you and me/You and me apart, I don't think there was anyone there under thirty.


torpid Show phonetics
adjective FORMAL ━━ a. 麻痺(まひ)した, 無感覚な; 不活発な, 鈍重な.
not active; moving or thinking slowly, especially as a result of being lazy or feeling like you want to sleep:
If you have a sudden loss of cabin pressure at 20 000 feet, passengers will become torpid and then lose consciousness.

torpidly Show phonetics
adverb FORMAL

torpor Show phonetics
noun [U] (ALSO torpidity)
1 FORMAL lack of activity

2 SPECIALIZED the state of reduced activity that some animals experience during the winter


prox・im・i・ty




━━ n. (場所・時間・関係の)接近 ((to)); 近接.

hairy (FRIGHTENING) Show phonetics
adjective INFORMAL
frightening or dangerous, especially in a way that is exciting:
I like going on the back of Laurent's motorbike, though it can get a bit hairy.

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