眼看就又要到月底了，果然不出所料，今天一上班儿外教Tony就开始跟着老板屁股后面嘟囔：

I'm flat broke once again and don't know how I'm going to pay my rent.

看到这句话有的同学可能就奇怪了，老外没钱交房租怎么还跟躺不躺平了有啥关系呢？是在抱怨家里连床都没有吗？！

其实大家可能都被"flat broke"给欺骗了，在这里可不能翻译成"平坦的休息"，flat在当副词使时有"断然地、直截了当地"的意思，而"broke"当然就是"没钱"啦！两个词儿合在一起就是"身无分文、囊中羞涩" 的意思。所以 Tony 刚才是在说 :"我又没钱了，都不知道该怎么付房租啦。"

flat / stony broke

adj. 身无分文； 分文不剩；一穷二白；破产；家徒四壁；一贫如洗；囊中羞涩

【En】

used to emphasize that someone or something has no money at all.

用来强调某人或某物根本没有钱。

If you say that you are flat broke, you mean that you have no money at all.

如果你说你是flat broke，意思就是你一分钱都没有了。

● Two years later he is flat broke and on the dole.

两年后，他身无分文，靠失业救济金生活。

● I went bankrupt and I'm flat broke now.

我破产了，现在一贫如洗。

【Scenario Example 场景示例】

● Sorry, I'm flat broke. Not a cent on me.

对不起，我身无分文。我身上一分钱都没有。

● We're always flat broke at the end of the month.

我们一到月底就分文不剩了。

● Mary recalls how they were flat broke and almost living hand to mouth.

玛丽回忆起他们当时是怎样一贫如洗，几乎只能勉强糊口的。

● I get paid next week, so can we go out to dinner then? I'm just flat broke right now.

我下周发工资，那我们能出去吃晚饭吗? 我现在身无分文。

● If you removed the future earnings, Baker told jurors, Simpson is flat broke.

贝克告诉陪审员们，如果把未来的收入去掉，辛普森就一穷二白了。

● He turned up at my house yesterday, flat broke and hungry.

他昨天突然出现在我家时，身无分文，饥肠辘辘。

● A spokesman said that the credit crunch had left the company "flat broke".

一位发言人表示，信贷紧缩已使该公司“一蹶不振”。

● He went stony broke the first year.

他第一年就破产了。

● You may be flat broke, but you will find a way to pay your electricity bill or you will live in the dark.

你可能身无分文，但你会找到办法支付电费的，否则你将生活在黑暗中。

● Mary was flat broke, and it was two more weeks before she was due to get paid.

玛丽身无分文，而且还有两周她才能领到工资。

● She foresees a gambler's end for me, stony broke.

她预见到我的结局会像个赌徒一样，一文不名。

● You have obviously suffered considerable ill treatment and you are stony broke.

你显然遭受了严重的虐待，而且身无分文。

● I was stony broke, with only a Shell credit card to get me home to Massachusetts.

我身无分文，只有一张空壳信用卡能把我送回马萨诸塞州的家。

● The district is flat broke and says it will not keep schools open past Tuesday.

该地区已经破产，并表示在周二之后将不会继续开放学校。

出处：见配图水印