PS:粗体标出的表达都挺好滴！快用小本本记下吧！

发祥地：cradle

*from the cradle to the grave

*from cradle to cradle

cradle本义为“摇篮”。我们出生后第一个地方就待在摇篮所以cradle也有发源地的意思啦。

A place that is referred to as the cradle of something is the place where it began. 发源地; 发祥地

Mali is the cradle of some of Africa's richest civilizations.

马里是非洲一些最悠久的文明的发祥地。

...New York, the cradle of capitalism.

…纽约，资本主义的发源地。

下面介绍两个表达：

from the cradle to the grave 从生到死
from cradle to cradle 环保循环（？）

If something affects you from the cradle to the grave, it affects you throughout your life. 一生; 一世; 从生到死

The bond of brotherhood was one to last from the cradle to the grave.

兄弟之情会延续一辈子。

“from cradle to cradle”是我无意间查到的一本书，但其实这是一个产品设计理念、一种新的环保思维：

Cradle-to-cradle (C2C) is a way of designing products or processes that work more like natural systems. This design method is intended to replace a make-take-dispose approach which begins with new raw materials mined from the earth and ends with piles of garbage.This approach is modeled after nature's long-evolved, low-waste, energy-conserving processes.

最开始我们以经济增长为首要目标，产品设计制造以“从摇篮到坟墓”(Cradle to Grave)的思维为准则，也就是单向的：加工、制造、使用、抛弃、污染。

而“从摇篮到摇篮”（Cradle to Cradle）则是环形循环：加工、生产、使用、降解、再提取、加工...

画蛇添足：gilding the lily

直译是“给百合镀金”，但百合是自然美已经很美啦，镀金就纯属多此一举。

If you say that someone is gilding the lily, you mean that they are spoiling something that is already beautiful or perfect by trying to improve it or by praising it too highly. 画蛇添足; 多此一举

Gilding the lily of what is basically a romantic comedy, the director falls a little short of his best mark.

这基本上是一出浪漫喜剧，这位导演却画蛇添足，没有发挥出他的最佳水平。

或者可以说：add sth to to avail 加上这个也徒劳无功。

洗白：whitewash

disapproval If you say that people whitewash something, you are accusing them of hiding the unpleasant facts or truth about it in order to make it acceptable. 粉饰; 掩饰

The administration is whitewashing the regime's actions.

政府在粉饰该政权的行为。

'The whole incident was whitewashed,' he claimed yesterday.

“整个事件都已经被粉饰过了，”他昨日声称。

这里我无意联想到乔治奥威尔的《1984》.Government 有时是“掩盖”、“粉饰”真相，但“洗脑”这个方法更有效。私认为《1984》里提到的“Double Think”双重思想就是（高级）brainwash的基石。有兴趣的友友可以自行再查阅。

人性泯灭：dehumanize

humanize “使...更人性化” de-否定前缀

If you say that something dehumanizes people, you mean it takes away from them good human qualities such as kindness, generosity, and independence. 使失去人性; 使无人性

The years of civil war have dehumanized all of us.

连年内战剥夺了我们所有人的人性。

派生词：dehumanizing ADJ 无人性的；剥夺人性的

...the brutal, dehumanising experience of slavery.

野蛮的、剥夺人性的奴隶制生活

dehumanization N-UNCOUNT 非人化

She was horrified at the dehumanisation involved in much of the imagery.

这些意象在很大程度上表现出的人性泯灭让她深感惊骇。

茧房：cocoon

*in a cocoon

*cocoon sb from sth

*cocoon oneself

cocoon本义指“虫茧”“昆虫的卵袋”。引申为“保护层”or "comfort zone".我们常说的“信息茧房”则可以用“information cocoons”.

If you are living in a cocoon, you are in an environment in which you feel protected and safe, and sometimes isolated from everyday life. 给人安全感的环境; 保护层

...her innocent desire to envelop her beloved in a cocoon of love.

…她想要把心上人包裹在爱中的天真想法。

Even though we're living together we walk around in this cocoon of silence.

尽管我们生活在一起，但却形同路人。（这个句子就比较形象。）

You cannot live in a cocoon and overlook these facts.

你不能自己缩在套子里而忽略这些事实。

If something cocoons you from something, it protects you or isolates you from it. 把…保护起来; 把…隔绝开来

There is nowhere to hide when things go wrong, no organisation to cocoon you from blame.

如果出了问题，根本无处可躲，没有哪个机构会庇护你，让你免受指责。

The playwright cocooned himself in a world of pretence.

这个剧作家与世隔绝，生活在一个虚幻的世界里。

熟词生义：flowering、quarrel

flowering本义指花花盛开的模样。引申指某种风格的盛行。

The flowering of something such as an idea or artistic style is the development of its popularity and success. (想法或艺术风格) 成熟, 风行, 盛行

He may be happy with the flowering of new thinking, but he has yet to contribute much to it himself.

他也许会对新思想的盛行感到高兴，但他本人并没有为此作出多大贡献。

...the flowering of creative genius.

…创造型天才的涌现。

quarrel

quarrel本义指“争吵”，而且是吵的比较凶的那种。在报纸媒体用语中指“争端”。

*quarrel with sb over sth quarrel between A and B

journalism Quarrels between countries or groups of people are disagreements, which may be diplomatic or include fighting. 不和; 争端; 争执

...New Zealand's quarrel with France over the Rainbow Warrior incident.

…新西兰和法国关于“彩虹勇士号”事件的争端。

The quarrel between the Serbs and the Croats is old and bitter.

塞尔维亚人和克罗地亚人之间的争斗由来已久，而且非常激烈。

这里分享一个有趣的Quarrel Quote：

A lover's quarrel is always about every quarrel you ever had. 看到了吗哈哈哈。

情侣之间吵架总喜欢翻旧账。

OK 今天的内容就到这里！我们明天再见！

（图源来自网络再搬自我的知乎。知乎N·A小妙词596就是我。）