第165讲：over a barrel; over ones dead body
我们今天再来讲两个和over有关的习惯用语。第一个是：over a barrel. Barrel就是一只装东西的桶。那么，什么是over a barrel 呢? Over a barrel是一个人出于某种原因受人牵制，一切都得听从那个人的意志行事，别无选择。我们举个例子来看看在实际生活中over a barrel 是怎么用的。下面是一个饭馆的老板告诉我们他和他的合夥人之间存在的问题。他说：
"My partner wants to buy out my share but he's only offering half what it's worth. Of course, he has me over a barrel because I'm anxious to retire and go to Florida and I can't find anybody else who wants to buy."
这个人说：“我的合夥人要把我的股份买下来，但是，他只愿意付实在价值的一半。我呢，急着要到佛罗里达州去退休，又找不到别的买主，所以我就给我那合伙人捏在手里，任意摆布了。”
美国有不少人退休后就到佛罗里达州去生活，最主要的是那里天气好，冬天不冷，又是沿海，风景很好。有的人甚至在退休前就在佛罗里达州买好了房子，准备在那里渡过有生之年。当然,美国还有其它天气很好的地方，例如像夏威夷州，但是，夏威夷岛在太平洋当中，离开美国大陆很远，不如佛罗里达州那么方便。
我们再把上面这个句子念一遍：
"My partner wants to buy out my share but he's only offering half what it's worth. Of course, he has me over a barrel because I'm anxious to retire and go to Florida and I can't find anybody else who wants to buy."
下面这个例子是一个人在说他的邻居老太太，由于生活全靠侄女料理，因此她不得不受她侄女的牵制。
"That old lady has no children of her own, and she's too sick now to take care of herself. She has to depend on her niece for help. Of course her niece has her over a barrel -- she made the old lady transfer most of her savings to her own account."
这个邻居说：“这位老太太自己没有孩子，身体还有病，没有办法自己料理生活，全要依靠她侄女的帮助。她侄女于是就任意摆布她，让她把她大部份存款转到她的户头中去。”
美国的老年人很少和子女住在一起。有的和孩子住的比较近。这样，儿子女儿还可以经常去看望他们，帮他们买买东西，做一些他们能力不及的事。但是，也有一些孩子对父母很不关心，既不去看望，连电话问候也很少。这样的老人晚年是比较凄惨的，单身的老人就更是如此。美国人对中国人敬仰老人的风尚是非常欣赏的。
我们再来把这个句子念一遍：
"That old lady has no children of her own, and she's too sick now to take care of herself. She has to depend on her niece for help. Of course her niece has her over a barrel -- she made the old lady transfer most of her savings to her own account."
下面我们要讲的一个习惯用语是：over one's dead body。Dead就是死，body就是一个人的身体。Over one's dead body按字面来解释就成了在某