Lee Hannon

Reader's question:?Did you hear about that pilot who had to jump out of his plane at twenty thousand feet? His parachute didn't open. But he wasn't even scratched - he landed in a twelve foot snow bank in the mountains. Now, isn't that one for the books! Could you explain “one for the books”?

My comments: One for the books is a colloquial idiom that dates back to the early 1900s and is widely used to denote an outstanding or unusual achievement. The phrase originated from keeping record books for sporting achievements. When an athlete excelled in their field, those gathered to watch would say “that’s one for the record books.”

After a number of years the phrase was applied to any situation to underline that it was considered most unusual or noteworthy. For instance if you were informed a friend stayed in last night despite free food and drink being on offer, one might say “That’s one for the record books,” as the person is normally first to anything free.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網(wǎng)立場無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學術(shù)問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

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Lee Hannon is?a journalist?at China Daily website?with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.