DH S02E01 Part02: 婆媳之战
There’s a rumor going around that:
Press charges against sb:
I find it/that/something ADJ
Deep down: 从本质上说
I know enough about him to know that deep down, he’s a good kid.
Demand:
Identity:
The way that…
The Rage just went away, kept me from doing something really stupid.
Go out of the way to do sth:
by any means necessary. /go any length.
Be entitled to:
I thought (that) it would be easier to be angry at you than to be angry with Rex.
I was at the hospital yesterday.
I was in the hospital yesterday.
Threw it out:
Push the interview:
Let the person know you can’t make the scheduled interview and you’d like to reschedule. Briefly explain the reason you need to reschedule. Be truthful and sincere, which means the reason should be a good one and one that the hiring manager can relate to. Apologize for any inconvenience rescheduling has caused. （改天再约、重新安排面试）
Interfere with sth:
Manager to do sth:
E.R. Emergency Room
Thank you very much for having me in.
Snake: to steal
Broad range：
A battery of activities
Ongoing:
Multitask:
The way I see it/ Here’s how I see it.
Business Acumen:
Go to the next level:
Win awards /Do P.S.As. pro bono
P.S.A Public service announcement
Demonstration:
Website: portal
Navigate:
Sail along
You think you know my daughter better than I do? I think we can navigate/nail our engagement without your input.
Sitemap
User-friendly
Get nodded.
fidelity:
Doing sth behind sb’s back:
Trick sb into doing sth:
Look on the bright side
过脑子 / 心里想 判断/想法
It kills/occurs me that I was really rude at the morgue. 主语从句 表语从句
It seems (to me) that he was really rude at the morgue.
(It occurs to/dawned on/hits ……) –-无灵主语?
It was quite…
Too dame perfect
Ralph Lauren:
Whichever:
Irresistible enthusiasm:
As / when
For/because
Place sth intangible in sb:
How do you feel after watching Bree desperately go to the audience, then replaced the orange tie with the one she borrowed from Tom?
欧文点评：Well, I think Rex’s mother Phyllis’ arrival is a total nightmare, it clearly shows the author’s intention to create someone who arouses the audience’s disapproval and disgust, let me walk you through the three major conflicts which give rise to such a dramatic event.
Now I’d like to elaborate further on each one of them. First of all, Phyllis’s idea of using the tie that Rex had been using in his prep school as well as contributing 15 pages of Rex’s childhood anecdotes is a blatant maneuver, she wants to set out a clear boundary between Rex’s youth and his married life. For that to happen, she would forgo her son’s decency in exchange for making the funeral all about her idea. The thing is, if we take a look into the American culture, Black has always been the dominant color when it comes to the funeral ceremony, yet Phyllis went out of her way to put the orange tie on her son’s body which was covered with a blue suit. For the purpose of belittling Bree’s existence, she didn’t give a shit about whether the tie goes with the suit or not. So, as a perfectionist like Bree, we could only imagine that she would go to desperate measures to prevent Phyllis’s attempt from getting succeed. Secondly, Phyllis’s ungraceful humiliation of Bree’s physical condition is a total disrespect, (when Andrew mentioned that his father was into big breasts, Phyllis replied “That’s why I was surprised when he married your mother.” ) She clearly wants to add fuel to the fire, you know to agitate Bree’s fragile emotional state and undermine her dignity), if you were on Bree’s shoes, you would have agreed that it is high time to get ready for the next strike. In addition to that, Phyllis also made an insensitive comment on Bree’s married life, saying that her marriage was a disaster, and it is Bree who made the last years of Rex’s life miserable, which drives Bree to the point of desperation. Judging from 18 years of Bree’s dedication and commitment to her family, Phyllis’s comment was so rude that no woman would put up with such a disgrace and discredit. As a result, Bree kicked Phyllis off the funeral and drove her out of the house until Andrew and Daniel convinced her to cut their grandma some slack, so in the name of Rex, Bree decided to let it slide. On the day of the funeral, people come to pay their last respect to Rex one after another, by the time Bree approach Rex’s body, she discovered that the orange tie had been put on Rex’s body without her consent, we could clearly tell that she flew off the handle, but she arduously [‘ɑːdʒuəsli] swallowed her anger and rage as if a dumb person tasted bitter herbs, anyhow, she managed to walk away calmly. Then she confronted Phyllis and learned the fact that it was Phyllis who secretly changed the Ralph Lauren Bree had put on Rex’s body an hour ago and put the orange one instead, Bree couldn’t sit still, but she can’t let go of any imperfections which were left on the man she once loved dearly, as the funeral was coming to an end, something inside her snapped, it was at that moment Bree shouted out and loud: “wait, do not close that coffin!” Here I have to say that I was deeply astonished by Marcia Cross’s amazing performance, on one hand, she was such a fine lady who would never shout out in front of the public and stir up an ongoing process in a sacred place like that, on the other, she was such a perfectionist who would never leave over anything that is not up to her standard, not to mention it happened on the man who she married for 18 years and that man is about to be sent away to heaven for good, she will no longer have another chance to see him again. What a tremendous struggle and what a stunning performance, Marcia Cross pulled it off!
欧文点评：As far as I know, in China, when it comes to the funeral ceremony, we tend to attach significant importance to the sobbing and weeping part, especially in the rural area, when I was young, normally if someone passed away, the family members will inform their relatives and friends to pay their respect, in retrospect, there’s a consensus that all the participants will chip in and provide the family who has lost their loved one with the help they could possibly offer. Later then, the dependents will hire the most capable cook in the neighborhood to cater to those who come Desperate Housewives S02 Study Notes Created by Owen Lee
32 / 32 to offer their condolences, apart from that, they would also hire a funeral band to display their sorrow and sadness, some of which even hire a keener to make a scene and draw neighbor’s attention, you know, the more pretentious it sounded and looked, the better it conveys filial[‘fɪliəl] affections or deep grief. After the luncheon [‘lʌntʃən], the crowd will scatter away and people go back to their normal lives. The old clothes and favorite possessions of the deceased will be burnt out, the body will be sent to the mourning hall of the crematory[‘kremətɔːri] by the dependents who’re supposed to put on mourning apparel [ə’pærəl] and take turns to serve at the wake, during the entire process, you would never hear a laugher since it will be considered as total disrespect and disgrace. From the time of immemorial, we Chinese people think that we have a very intense bond with our immediate family members, crying out and loud would get through the memory of the newly departed thus awakening their subconsciousness, and making them understand how much we cared and cherished their very existence, following with the howling sound of their beloved ones, will ensure the deceased person to better identify their dependents and locate their way back to home, as a result, those who cry the hardest are more likely to gain spiritual favor and blessing. But in the US, it’s a different story, as I’ve learned from Desperate Housewives when Marry Alice Young died, the neighbors were bringing mostly homemade dishes to attend the wake. Actually, it reminded me of a similar form of gathering that I learned from DH, potluck launch. Of course, the mood and motivation of attending these two social events are entirely different, but the form is very much alike. A potluck launch is more casual and the participants tend to be in a festival mood, a reception or a wake in the US is not only regarded as an opportunity for friends and family to get together and mourn the passing of their loved one, but also to celebrate their life Westerners believe that death is not an ultimate destination, but a symbol of rebirth, it opens the gate of moving through eternity. It is strictly prohibited to wail [weɪl] out and cry over the funeral regardless of whether the deceased person is immediate family or not. It is perfectly normal to witness the family members whimpering and sobbing, it is not common to see them cry out and loud. On the contrary, they’re suggested to keep calm and strong, and it is a generally accepted norm that the family members should remain decent composure, some of them were even encouraged to share funny stories and juicy anecdotes of the deceased so as to alleviate the grievous[‘ɡriːvəs] and gloomy atmosphere. As a matter of fact, a great many of those who’re able to make mood-lighting jokes were regarded as having a strong sense of humor or even personal charisma.
Bizarre / weird.
Sth got sb in the mood
How much do you really wanna know about our neighbors?
It had been one year since my suicide, and a lot had changed on WL, there were new…new…new neighbors, the kind
A small act of kindness. A teeny-tiny of kindness
Final thread/trace / ounce of sb’s dignity
介+宾语从句
It Say a lot about how you’re raised.
介+定语从句
With whom…
From which…
For what…
In/for which
When/While 尽管
During
As we have already learned from desperate housewives season 01, there’s no middle ground that can
accommodate this innate and inevitable conflicts between the in-laws, which I mean mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. whether it is the fierce battle between Gaby and Juanita in season 01, the smoking-hot tension between
Bree and Phyllis in season 02, or the hash confrontation between Susan and her future mother-in-law in Season 03, these are the cold-hard facts of the revelation[ˌrevə‘leɪʃn] of human nature. Like I said, every coin has a flip
side, these unavoidable and unresolvable clashes between the in-laws are very much alive around the world.
The scenarios regarding the in-law relationship of desperate housewives vividly justified the inner demons and
better angles at the same time, let me tell you why. If you look on the bright side, you will find out the brilliance
of the mother’s deep love for their sons and the magnificence of the wife’s dedication to their husband; but if
you look on the dark side, as the narrator of Desperate Housewives puts it “The bloodiest battles often involve
women and their mothers-in-law.” We’re gonna witness how ferocious, offensive and destructive the bloody
batter could be, because nothing can add more power than a protective and possessive mother and nothing can
top off the vicious attack than a desperate woman.
And judging from Desperate Housewives, I’ve come to the conclusion that all of the mothers-in-law were
tragically defeated, for instance, Gaby’s mother-in-law suffered a hit and run and miserably died in the hospital,
Bree’s mother-in-law eventually had been kicked out from Bree’s household, Susan’s mother-in-law had been
seriously taught a lesson while defending her son Ian’s major interests.
So, if you’re the mother of a grownup man, it is better to avoid getting entangled with your son’s domestic affair,
better still, don’t mess up with the women who loved your son dearly.
“It occurs/occurred to sb that“
It hits me / it dawned on me that….
Susan：So it occurred to me…that I was really rude at the morgue.
Snopshot:
it seems/appears/looks like…
In those last moments it occurred to her, in addition to being boring, life could also be very cruel.
See, the thing is, it occurs to me that we’re already having to defend ourselves.
It was at that moment it occurred to Ida（that） God may work in mysterious ways, but he isn’t particularly subtle.
指代 — 形式主语 逻辑
Until one day when it occurred to Lynette that there was one form of relaxation she had yet to try.
It rains when heaven deems fit, mother remarries when she wants to.
1、凝视着风中摆曳的烛火，他突然想到：他在老战友此刻恐怕是凶多吉少。（睹物思人）
As he staring at the flickering candle flames, it occurs to him that his old sport is now in a precarious situation at the moment.
2、看到孩子面黄肌瘦的样子，她突然意识到：已经好久没有给他做顿像样的大餐了，内心一阵抽搐。
Seeing her child’s pale and emaciated face, it occurs to her that it had been a long time since she had cooked a decent meal for him, and her heart twisted in agony.
3、随着谴责与嘲弄声愈加刺耳，他意识到：与其苟且偷生，不如鱼死网破。
As the condemnations and ridicule grew louder and more piercing, it occurs to him that it was better to risk everything and fight to the end than to live a life of humiliation and deprivation. （条件反射）
4、在临摹李白的《将近酒》时，他顿悟到：今朝有酒今朝醉。于是，所有的不适不快、彷徨纠结即刻烟消云散。
While copying Li Bai’s “Invitation to wine” , it occurs to him that “wine in hand, I should drink to my heart’s content.” Instantly, his discomfort and discontent went up in smoke.（油然而生）
When you told me about Zach, I was so busy freaking out, I never actually congratulated you.
