adorn, astray, gun for, out-herod, out-innovated, an out-there ham, out-Austens

Behind the Scenes of "iPhone: The Musical" by David Pogue
"I had a lot of crazy fun making my video "iPhone: The Musical" last week--and a lot of fun watching the reaction online.
Most people found it funny, out-there, or at least entertaining (agreed). Many accused me of not being the greatest singer in the world and being a ham (agreed)...."

你知道嗎，20年前《傲慢與偏見》這部英國歷史古裝劇在美國上映的時候掀起了一股「珍·奧斯丁」熱。

20年前，《傲慢與偏見》在美成為一個現象

20年前的這個月，科林·費斯飾演達西先生的BBC版《傲慢與偏見》登陸美國，結果該戲成為了一個現象，引發錄影帶脫銷。《紐約時報》對這部迷你劇的評價幾乎高於小說。

CN.NYTSTYLE.COM

Gunning for Google in Search

Google could be out-innovated if it ignores new technologies, including Powerset's semantic search and Microsoft's specialization.


But I prefer the squares and parks in quiet corners and out-of-the-way neighborhoods. Many are the legacy of former President Jacques Chirac. In the 18 years he served as mayor of Paris, he put his personal stamp on his city by painting its hidden corners green.
“He took some of the pathetic, shabby squares and gardens and transformed and adorned them,” said Claude Bureau, one of the city’s great garden historians who was chief gardener of the Jardin des Plantes for more than two decades. “He appreciated beauty — of women, of nature.”

nihil tetigit quod non ornavit

‘Nihil quod tetigit non ornavit.’ His mind resembled a fertile, but thin soil. ..... for chymical experiments, of which Johnson was all his life very fond. ...The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D., by James Boswell (chapter21)

這Johnson 給 Goldsmith 在西敏逝寺的墓志銘;epitaph :nihil tetigit quod non ornavit 三本中文翻譯都略去

有意思的是我們可以找到Nihil tetigit quod non ornavit 的一些英文翻譯：

He touched nothing that he didn’t adorn..

He adorned whatever he touched..

He touched nothing without embellishing it.

CBS's $1.8 billion acquisition of CNET Networks "fits none of the criteria for a good deal," James Surowiecki writes in The New Yorker. His article discusses the many ways that mergers so often go astray.

Go to Article from The New Yorker»

astray Show phonetics
adverb
away from the correct path or correct way of doing something:
The letter must have gone astray in the post.
I was led astray by an out-of-date map.
Her parents worried that she might be led astray (= encouraged to behave badly) by her unsuitable friends.

a・dorn 

  

━━ vt. 飾る ((with)); 美しさを添える; 名誉［光栄］を添える.
 a・dorn・ment　━━ n. 装飾; 装飾（品）.

gun for


1. Pursue relentlessly so as to overcome or destroy. For example, He was sure they were gunning for him and asked for police protection, or The senator felt that the reporters were gunning for him with that article about his brother. [Slang; late 1800s]
2. Go after in earnest, try hard to obtain. For example, He's been gunning for a raise all year. [Slang; mid-1900s]





out-herod 

v. t.
To surpass (Herod) in violence or wickedness; to exceed in any vicious or offensive particular. Compare outpope the Pope. «It out-Herods Herod.» Shak.

Out-Heroding the preposterous fashions of the times.

Sir W. Scott.



----注釋
out-there. (adjective)不按牌理出牌等出怪招的
: UNCONVENTIONAL 例
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

或 Out there
Used in the context of general equities. Indication that buyer(s) and/or (more often) seller(s) exist in the market due to trading and inquiry activity, and should be found to get their order. Feels like IBM is out there.
---
ham (ACTOR)
noun [C] INFORMAL【俚】蹩腳演員[C]
an actor whose style of acting is artificial and old-fashioned, tending to use movements and emotions that are too obvious:
They had some dreadful old ham in the main part.
a ham actor

hammy
adjective INFORMAL
describes an actor or acting that is unnatural and uses too much emotion:
a hammy performance

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)