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spinster
n.(老)处女;未婚中年(或老年)女子[/scode]
音标：
/'spɪnstə/
英英释义：
A spinster is a woman who has never been married; used especially when talking about an old or middle-aged woman.
例句：
①The spinster wasting away in her tattered wedding dress.
未婚女子穿著破烂的结婚礼服日渐消瘦。
②So you can imagine all these Victorian spinsters : Oh, not the thimble again! Right.
所以那时的单身女士都会说，别再吃到顶针了。
电影《小妇人》也出现了这个表达：
单身女性用“spinster”,那男性就是用“bachelor”【A bachelor is a man who has never married.】
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on the off chance
概率很小的，几乎不可能（成功的）[/scode]
英英释义：
If you do something on the off chance, you do it even though you think it is unlikely to succeed.
例句：
①She thought of ringing him on the off chance of catching him at home.
②But... On the off chance that he... Doesn't, please, take my check.
《卫报》一篇题为 Scenes from a midlife crisis 的文章也出现了这个表达：
关于“不可能的”，还有一个在电影《恋恋笔记本》里出现过的的一个短语：not in/on the cards for 【If you say that something is not on the cards in British English, or not in the cards in American English, you mean that it is not very likely to happen.】
同时，还有一个同义表达：improbable adj.不大可能的; 奇异的; 荒谬的 【not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred.】
举个栗子：
It was more than improbable , it was incredible.
这件事根本不可能，简直不能令人相信。-----《月亮与六便士》
