wrench

n.扳钳, 扳手, 猛扭, 痛苦, 扭伤, 歪曲

vt.猛扭, 使扭伤, 曲解, 抢, 折磨

He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.

他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。

throws a monkey wrench/ throws the mon

in BRIT, use 英国英语用 throw a spanner in the works

一篇报道里面的俚语：And that throws a monkey wrench into the claims data collected by insurers and pharmacy-benefit managers.

中国人经常会用 “泼冷水” 这个词来形容一些影响人们热情的事．那麼，美国人是怎麼说的呢？“to throw a wet blanket on something”，A wet blanket 就是 “一张湿的毯子”．To throw a wet blanket on something 就是 “消除别人的热情”，或者是 “破坏别人的享受”．那麼，这个俗语是从哪儿来的呢？大家可能都注意到，当发生火灾的时候，人们往往用湿的毯子来灭火．这个俗语还经常被用来形容那些让人感到扫兴的客人。

To throw a wet blanket on something

请看例子：Let's not invite Dick to the dance, he is such a wet blanket with that sour look on his face and his boring talk.

这个人说：“我们开舞会可别请迪克，他那愁眉苦脸的样子，还老说那些没有人感兴趣的话，太扫兴了。 ”

下面这个例子是一个人在谈论国家经济动向的问题：

Bad news today: the government says that corporate earnings weren't as good as expected the last quarter. That'll throw a wet blanket over plans of investors to get into the stock market.

这句话的意思是：“今天的消息可不好．政府说，上一季度私营企业的盈利并没有期望中那麼好．这个消息对那些想在股票市场投资的人来说就好像泼了一盆冷水一样。 ”

下面给大家介绍的一个习惯用语是：“to throw a monkey wrench”，A monkey wrench 就是那种 “用来拧螺丝的活动扳头”．要是一个工人在工作的时候不小心把扳头掉到正在运转的机器裡去了，那个机器就会停顿．这也正是 to throw a monkey wrench 的意思，那就是 “影响，或者是终止某些本来应该发生的事”．

下面的例子是一个人在对他的朋友诉苦：The family and I planned to leave Monday for a two-week vacation in California. But the boss threw a monkey wrench into our plans today when he told me I have to go to a business meeting in New York next week.

他说：“我们全家计划星期一去加州两个星期渡假．但是，老闆今天突然要我下星期去纽约参加一个会议，这下可把我们全家的计划都打破了。 ”

A federal judge threw a monkey wrench into the project to build a new oil refinery on the river. He ordered the company to stop work until they had a better plan to guard against water pollution.

新闻报道说：“联邦法官终止了在河上修建新的炼油厂的工程．他下令那个公司在制定出更好的防止水污染计划之前停止这项工程。”

A wrenching adjustment 痛苦的调整

Property analysts predict that some countries, like this one , will face an even more wrenching adjustment than that of the United States , including the possibility that the downturn could become a wholesale collapse.