情景對(duì)話：

A: My father beat me yesterday.

昨天爸爸打了我。

B: I think he only stopped short of hurting you.

我想他只是點(diǎn)到為止，并沒(méi)有傷害你。

A: Anyways, he taught me a lesson.

不管怎么說(shuō)，他把我教訓(xùn)了一頓。

B: He hopes you'll behave yourself.

他是希望你能規(guī)矩些。

第一， 詞海拾貝

stop short of something

exp. Nearly do something but not actually do something. （險(xiǎn)些做出某事，差點(diǎn)就做某事）

e.g. She stopped short of calling the president a liar.

她差一點(diǎn)兒就指責(zé)校長(zhǎng)說(shuō)謊。

e.g. The manager told her that he was unhappy with her work, but he stopped short of dismissing her from her job.

經(jīng)理告訴她——他對(duì)她的工作不滿意，但他并沒(méi)有解雇她。

e.g. He can be ruthless in getting what he wants but I believe he would stop short of blackmail.

他這個(gè)人為達(dá)到目的是心黑手辣的, 但我認(rèn)為他還不至于使用敲詐手段。

第二， 語(yǔ)匯積累

1. stop short：突然停止，中途停下

e.g. The sudden blaring of the alarm caused me to stop short on my way down the hall.

突然的警報(bào)聲使我在下樓時(shí)突然停住了腳步。

When I read how many people had died, I stopped short and stared in disbelief at the newspaper.

當(dāng)我看到死亡人數(shù)時(shí)，我突然停了下來(lái)，難以置信地盯著報(bào)紙。

2. behave oneself：遵守規(guī)矩

e.g. The mother bade the child behave himself.

媽媽叮嚀孩子要守規(guī)矩。

e.g. He seems to have a wife with him, so I imagine he has to behave himself.

他現(xiàn)在似乎有老婆隨行，所以我想他得收歛他的行為了。

e.g. Can't you make your boy behave himself?

你不能教你的小孩規(guī)規(guī)矩矩些嗎？

3. teach someone a lesson：教訓(xùn)某人

e.g. If he did not stop his nonsense, they would teach him a lesson he would never forget.

如果他再不停止胡言亂語(yǔ)，他們就要狠狠地教訓(xùn)他一番，叫他終身難忘。

e.g. They taught the governor a lesson by giving him a good beating.

他們狠狠地揍了總督一頓，給了他一個(gè)教訓(xùn)。