英语咬文嚼字: on steroids, mutate, in a heartbeat, relent, backstop_北京外宾旅游指南

英语咬文嚼字 The Crazy Logophile

on steroids /ˈstɪr.ɔɪd/
(idiomatic, informal) (usually after the name of a place or thing),

1. To a greater degree, exaggerating the characteristics of the previously named object.
在更大的程度上，夸大了先前命名的对象的性。
"Panic is anxiety on steroids".

2. If you describe something as being on steroids, you mean it is an extreme example of that thing.
如果你形容某物像 on steroids ，你的意思是它是那种东西的一个极端例子。
He described the firm as an IT services company on steroids.

Schumer: Stimulus bill is like "unemployment insurance on steroids". Schumer promised most people will get their full or nearly full salaries or can be furloughed. He called it "unemployment insurance on steroids."

mutate
verb [ I ] /mjuːˈteɪt/ (Cambridge)
1. to develop new physical characteristics because of a permanent change in the genes. These changes can happen naturally or can be produced by the use of chemicals or radiation.
（遗传物质等）变异，突变
These bacteria have mutated into forms that are resistant to certain drugs. 这些细菌已发生变异，对某些药物产生了抗药性。
2. to change from one thing or type of thing into another
转变
Jon has mutated from an awkward teenager into a sophisticated young man. 约翰从一个稚嫩的少年变成了一个久经世故的男人。

The novel coronavirus appears not to be mutating quickly, according to at least one scientist. Vineet Menachery, a scientist at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said there was no evidence that there have been any mutations that will make the virus more virulent or more transmissible at this point.

in a heartbeat
very quickly, without needing to think about it
非常快的；无需考虑的
I'd do it again in a heartbeat. 我无需考虑，还会这样做。(Cambridge)

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has been consistently rejecting calls for a nationwide lockdown claiming that an all-out closure of businesses would affect the “25% of the population that lives below the poverty line,” the country's daily wage earners who Khan said would lose their incomes in a heartbeat. (CNN)

relent
verb [ I ] /rɪˈlent/ （Cambridge）
to act in a less severe way towards someone and allow something that you had refused to allow before
变温和；变宽容；不再拒绝
Her parents eventually relented and let her go to the party. 她父母的态度最后缓和了下来，同意她去参加聚会。
The security guard relented and let them through. 保安最后同意了，给他们放了行。

Earlier in the outbreak, U.S. health officials said there was a hypothesis among mathematical modelers that the outbreak “could potentially be seasonal” and relent in warmer conditions. （CNBC）

backstop verb
to provide support in an emergency 在紧急情况下提供支持

"We encourage the government to backstop the economy by implementing income supports at similar levels as Denmark and the United Kingdom," the statement reads. (CBC)