Rough Spots

朋友总结他的婚姻时说 “We had a few rough spots." 我们经历过一些低谷／难关。
Rough spot: 难关，低谷，磕磕碰碰。

Crunch Time

上周受邀去朋友的儿子上学的私校，参加家长早餐会，校方的负责人说:"For seniors, it's crunch time now."
crunch time: a critical moment, 关键时候。
现在是报考大学的关键时候，十二年级的学生特别紧张。

Deep Pockets

Home and Garden Show 上有个真人秀的节目叫 House Hunters，客人想在一个好区买房子，地产经纪说：“You need deep pockets to live in this area."  你有钱才住得起这个区。
To have deep pockets = to have a lot of money. 有深口袋，能装很多钱，就是富有。
The lawyers went after him because he has deep pockets.  律师告他，因为他有钱。

More Bang for Your Buck

在网上看顾客对某产品的评价，标题是: More Bang for Your Buck。
You get more bang for your buck: you get more value for your money by buying this product than from buying any other。
也就是说花同样的钱，买该产品更划算,  成本低,  收益大。

Wiggle Room

学校马上要开学了，几个辅导员好不容易把近三千个学生每人的课程排出来了，他们请老师们不要轻易答应学生给他们换课或换老师，因为真的没有什么改动的空间了。There is very little wiggle room.
wiggle: to move up and down or from side to side with small rapid movements. 上下或左右扭摆。常听人说“wiggle your toes”动动你的脚趾。

Eat Someone's Lunch

最近看了一篇有趣的文章，讲的是美国高等院校彼此较量，使出各种招数，吸引家庭富裕而且成绩优秀的学生入读，达到名(prestige)利(revenue)双收的目的。
如果你有本事抢到竞争对手也最想要的学生，或在U.S. News 上的排名超过了对方，你就把他们的午餐抢过来吃了。

If you've snatched up another school's top prospects or leapfrogged it in the U.S. News rankings, you've eaten its lunch.

近年，除了私校，越来越多的公校也雇用专人设法出招，通过如何分配资助 “financial-aid leveraging” 来吸引学生，这些人的衔头是enrollment manager。当然，像哈佛这种顶尖学校, 有钱、申请者又多，他们不需要在这方面费什么劲，不过特别想要的学生，他们还是会给较多钱的。

Go out on a Limb

我听人说过几次 "I am going out on a limb."  请 Cathy 解释这个用法 ，她特意编了以下一个很形象的故事：

A boy and girl were walking hand-in-hand. They saw an apple tree. The girl wanted an apple, so the boy climbed the tree, being careful to step on the thick branches (or “limbs”) nearest to the trunk. He picked an apple for the girl and threw it down to her.

“No,” she said. “I want that apple, there!” And she pointed to an apple way out at the end of a branch.

She was a mischievous girl and wanted to see how much the boy liked her.

The boy liked the girl very much. So he pulled himself out along the branch, out to where the branch was very thin. “See?” he said. “I’m ‘going out on a limb’ for you.”

He reached for the apple that the girl had pointed to. Crack! The branch broke and the boy tumbled to the ground.

“What a dope you are!” laughed the girl.

“To go out on a limb” means to put yourself in a difficult situation (physical, financial, or in regards to one’s reputation), usually for another person or a cause.  等于 “To risk life and limb”，冒失去生命和手脚的危险。意指为别人或某个事业，用自己的人身或名誉，或在经济上冒险。

这里还有个例句：

“Thank you for lending me this money. I realize you are really going out on a limb for me.”

 “Don’t worry. Just try to pay me back before my mortgage payment is due next month!”