Daily Figurative Slangs 紧箍咒 【注音】jǐn gū zhòu

紧箍咒
【注音】jǐn gū zhòu
【解释】《西游记》里的猴王头上有道金箍，猴王的师傅一念咒语，猴王就感到疼痛难忍。所以，紧箍咒就是让人听了感到头疼或有顾忌的东西。
Originally from the classic novel “Pilgrimage to the West”, the Monkey King wears a golden hoop around his head, reading of this incantation by the monk will make the monkey suffer greatly so as to keep him under control. Now, it's used as a metaphor for inhibitions that give people headaches.
【例子】
例：父母想让儿子上一个好的大学，常常在儿子面前念这道紧箍咒，现在虽然儿子已经考上了大学，但一听到考大学这几个字，就头疼。

Ex.：The parents often use “you’ve got to enter a good college” to whip their son. Now that their son has already been a college student, but still feels headache at the mere mention of the words “entering college”.

开绿灯
Give the green light
【注音】kāi lǜ dēng
【解释】交通法规：红灯停，绿灯行，为某某开绿灯就是给他方便，给他特殊政策。
As the traffic regulation goes, red light is the sign for stop while green light is for go-ahead. Therefore, to give somebody green light is to give him special privilege.
【例子】
例：孙厂长对夫人吼道：“不能用公车干私活儿，如果给你开这样的绿灯，我这个厂长还怎么干了？”

Ex.：Mr.Sun, Director of the factory, shouted at his wife：“We should never use public car for private business. If I give you this privilege, how can I work as the director of the factory？”