没有活动余地 [
méi yǒu huó dòng yú dì]
no room to swing a cat
no room to turn in
- 所以美国拥有中国所没有的一点活动余地。
The United States therefore had a margin for maneuver unavailable to China. - 如果你的房间很小,你可能会说房间太小没有活动的余地(连摇摆猫的空间都不够)。
If your home is very small, you might say there is not enough room to swing a cat. - 我们从前住的那套房间很狭小,没有活动的余地,现在我们已得到很宽敞的住所了。
In our old flat we didn't have enough room to swing a cat, but now we've got plenty of space.