【新鲜口语】put someone on the spot
发现很多英语俚语如果联系语境，加上词组本身的正面引导，很容易就会让人猜对其正确的含义，比如说我今天开车时听NPR谈话节目，是关于医疗保险的。主持人问了一个数据，嘉宾回答不上来，于是主持人赶紧很抱歉的说，sorry to put you on the spot…很容易就会猜到这个词的大概意思：置某人于难堪尴尬境地。
看一下Freedictionary的解释和例句：
put someone on the spot
to cause someone difficulty or make them embarrassed by forcing them at that moment to make a difficult decision or answer an embarrassing question. Steve rather put him on the spot by asking when we were going to get a pay-rise.
与此相关的另一个短语应该是比较熟悉：on the spot. 意思是立刻马上，还有在原地不动的意思。
同样是来自Freedictionary：
on the spot1. immediately. If you’re caught without a ticket, you’re fined on the spot. We asked for the money and he paid us on the spot.2. in the place where something is happening or has just happened. The police were called and they were on the spot within three minutes.3. if you run or turn on the spot, you do it without moving away from the place where you are. I ran on the spot for ten minutes to warm myself up.
:)
