It's six of one, half a dozen of the other. 两个差不多

　　----I don't know whether to give my mum flowers or chocolates for Mother's Day.我不知道母亲节那天是要送我妈妈花还是巧克力。

　　---- It's six of one, half a dozen of the other.B：这两个都可以。

　　---- Do you think we should take the third ring road instead of the second ring road?你认为我们应该走三环，而不是走二环吗？

　　---- Oh, I don't know, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.哦，我不知道，我感觉差不多。

　　---- They keep blaming each other — whose fault was it really?他们一直在互相指责，到底是谁的错？

　　----Oh, it was six of one, half a dozen of the other.他们两个都有错。

　　test the water 试探一下

　　----Have you started on your new book?你开始写新书了吗？

　　--- Yes, I've written three chapters and I've sent it to the publishers to test the water.开始了，我把已经完成的三章寄给出版社了，打算先试探一下。

　　--- Oh, what perfume are you wearing? It's lovely.哦，你用的是什么香水？真好闻。

　　----Oh thanks. It's just a sample a company sent me. They're testing the water to see if people like it.谢谢。这是一家公司刚刚寄给我的样品。他们想先测试一下，看人们喜不喜欢。

　　----How is your Shakespeare project going?你的莎士比亚项目进行的怎么样了？

　　-----It's early days; we're still testing the water.现在是初期阶段，我们仍在试水。

　　a hot potato棘手的问题

　　You need to think about it very carefully before it becomes a hot potato.你要在事情变得棘手前仔细想清楚。

　　The shortage of housing supply is fast becoming a hot potato for the council.住房供应短缺很快会成为市议会的棘手问题。

　　The pay rise issue is a hot potato for management;对管理层来说，涨薪是复杂的问题；

　　I don't know how they are going to sort this one out between the staff, the union and the shareholders.我不知道他们要如何在员工、工会和股东之间解决这个问题。

　　a bitter pill to swallow 难以下咽的苦果

　　When John found out about his wife's affair with his best friend, it was a bitter pill to swallow.约翰发现他的妻子和他最好的朋友有染，这真是难以下咽的苦果。

　　It was a bitter pill to swallow knowing that my older sister finished the race quicker than me.知道我姐姐比我更快完成比赛，真是令人难以接受。

　　My friend has booked the same flights as me for half the price — it's a bitter pill to swallow! 我朋友以一半的价格定了和我一样的航班，这真让人难以接受！