葫芦里到底卖的什么药
“really up to.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
给他几天试用期 看看这裴谦
“Give him a few days' probation and see what he's”
葫芦里到底卖的什么药
“really up to.”
也正好 打听打听腾达的秘密
“Also, we might even learn some of Tengda's secrets.”
“What is he really plotting behind our backs?”
In ancient China, traveling doctors kept secret herbal formulas inside dried gourds; modern speakers use this metaphor to describe anyone concealing their real agenda.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
what one is really up to; what one's hidden agenda is
A highly frequent idiom derived from traditional medicine vendors, used whenever someone's motives are mysterious or secretive.
on earth / after all
Placed before interrogatives to strengthen the speaker's urgency to get the definitive truth.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“I wonder what he's up to.”
“What in the world are they planning?”
“what you're really up to?”
“I don't know what she's up to.”
“You never know what he's up to. You need to be careful.”