Subject:All my roommates came like a dose of salts.

迷你对话

A: When you went to the dormitory this morning, had your roommates came like a dose of salts?

你今早去宿舍的时候，你的室友已经来了吗？

B: Not yet. All my roommates came like a dose of salts.

还没有，但是我的室友们没过多久就会来的。

地道表达

like a dose of salts

1. 解词释义

Like a dose of salts表示“很迅速有效地”，但是从字面上来看“像盐一样”。“盐”跟“迅速有效”有什么关系呢？原来这一用语中涉及到的盐不是普通盐，而是泻盐或硫酸锰盐。这种泻盐18世纪以来被作为用药，用于治疗便秘。人服了泻盐，便秘就自然迅速有效地解决了，由此便引申出“处理事务的迅速有效”“一下子，很快地”。对话中“ All my roommates came loke a dose of salts. ”意思是“我的室友们没过多久就都到齐了。”

2 典型范例

e.g. He gets through his pay like a dose of salts, and by Monday he's broken.

一发工资, 他就很快花个精光, 到了星期一便身无分文了。

e.g. Good Lord! The children have gone through that packet of biscuits like a dose of salts.

老天爷！孩子们很快地吃完了那包饼干。