迷你对话：

A: Do you know that Jack got divorced last month.

你知道吗，杰克上个月离婚了。

B: For what reason.

为什么？

A: Jack always lives by his wits and he cannot support his family.

他一直靠小聪明混日子，根本不能养活自己的家庭。

B: He had better make a change.

他是应该改改了。

地道表达：

live by one’s wits

解词释义：

wit的本义是“智力，智慧”，by在这里表示方式，意思是“通过，靠，借助”。该短语的字面意思就是“靠智慧生活”，但是它是贬义词，所以live by one’s wits就是指“靠耍小聪明而不踏踏实实过日子”，即我们说的“混日子”。

支持范例：

Eg. Perhaps you may live by your wits but I don't hope so.

也许你可以靠小聪明混日子，但我不希望你这样。

Eg. He couldn't get a permanent job so I had to live by my wits for a couple of years.

他没能找到长久的工作，因此这两年来我只能靠骗人吃饭。

词海拾贝：

1. make a change：改变

Eg. Let's make a change today. How about eating out?

咱们今天来点别的花样吧，出去吃饭怎么样？

Eg. We must make a material change in our plans.

我们必须对计划作重大修改。

Eg. It does make a change.

天气的确有了转变。

Eg. Is it possible to make a change in our order?

我能不能更改订单?

2. support one’s family：养活家人

Eg. He could not support his family on his meager salary.

他靠微薄的工资无法养家。

Eg. He could barely keep body and soul together, let alone support his family.

他连自己的生活都难以维持，更不用说养家了。

Eg. He must work very hard in order to support his large family.

他必须拼命工作以养活他的大家庭。

Eg. He found it demeaning to ask his wife to support the family.

他觉得让妻子来养家糊口有损他的面子。

3. get divorced：离婚