爱思英语编者按：如今人们的口头禅就是：忙忙忙啊啊啊！但是你知道在英语中如何地道地表达“忙得不可开交”么？答案可能会出乎你的意料哟！

今日短语
Snowed under 这个短语其实和“snow 雪”并没有什么关系。在英语里，人们常用这个表达来形容“忙得不可开交”。
 
例句
I'm sorry, I can't write that report for you right now - I'm snowed under with work today.
I'm going to treat myself to a spa weekend. I've been so snowed under lately; I need some time to relax.

请注意
另一个同单词 “snow 雪”有关的短语是 snowed in，意思是“大雪封门，被困在家里”。
Wendy rang to say that she can't come for dinner tonight – she's snowed in.
 
今日小常识
 
The word 'ski' originated from the Old Norse word 'skíe' which means 'split piece of wood or firewood'. Old Norse belongs to the North Germanic language which was spoken by people who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking Age.
英语单词 ski 来源于古诺尔斯语单词“skíe”，意思是“一块木头或柴火”。古诺尔斯语是维京时期居住在斯堪地纳维亚居民使用的语言。

1. snail mail

'Snail mail' is the traditional letter delivering service in which you have a postman and a post box.
所谓的“蜗牛邮件”就是传统的邮寄信件，没有邮递员也没有邮箱。

It's different from email or electronic mail, when the message sent on the computer travels quickly to its destination.
电子邮件则不同，信息在电脑上传递的非常快。

【例子】

A. I'm sending my auntie Marge this lovely birthday card via snail mail. She lives in Japan.
我正在用蜗牛邮件给我的阿姨玛姬发送生日贺卡。她住在日本。
B. I much prefer using email these days. All I get by snail mail are these marketing leaflets!
如今我更喜欢使用电子邮件。我在蜗牛邮件上收到的都是些广告单子。

2. Post

The verb 'to post' and the noun 'post' have also gained new meanings in the internet age.
“post”一词在互联网时代被赋予了新的含义。作动词为“发表”、“邮寄”；作名词为“帖子”。
If you write an opinion on a social media website - you 'post' a comment.
如果你在社交网站上写些意见，那你就是在“发表”评论。
Before, you had to go to the post office to… post your letters. Here are some more examples of this new meaning of 'post'.
以前，你要到邮局投递你的信件。以下是这个单词其他意思的例句。
【例子】

A. This website's all about how trendy it is to wear fur. I don't like it at all. I think I'll post a comment!
这个网站讲的全是关于穿皮草有多潮。我一点儿也不喜欢。我觉得我要发表点意见！
B. Mary ls first has a blog about food and she publishes new posts every day.
玛丽新建了一个关于美食的微博，她每天都在上面发布新的博文。

3. Hard copy

'Hard copy' is what we call the paper version of a document you write on your computer or of a digital picture you take.
hard copy是纸制文件，而soft copy是扫描的。
【例子】

A. I'll give you a hard copy of my report, Mary. You can read it on the bus, on your way home.
玛丽，我会给你一份纸质版的我的报告。你可以在回家坐车的时候看。
B. I have a digital copy of my wedding picture as a screensaver at work but I much prefer my hard copy in a frame. It's much nicer.
我用我的电子版结婚照作为办公电脑的屏保，但我还是比较喜欢框起来的结婚照，看起来更好看。