全球金融危机的恶劣形势下，你还能 live on easy street 吗？或者，你只能be out on the street? 这就来看看这两个和"街道"相关的习惯用语是什么意思吧。 

1 easy street

Easy street 从字面上看就是"容易街"。应该没有一条街叫这个名字，所谓的easy street 只是一个习惯用语，Easy street refers to a carefree situation, existence, or lifestyle，它用来形容一个人有足够的钱，生活得很舒适。

Easy street 这个说法大约是在九十多年前出现的。最初使用这一说法的是位美国作家。他在一本小说中描写了一个因生意做得好而变得非常富裕的年轻人。书中这么说："He could walk up and down easy street." 他可以在容易街上走来走去，引申之意就是：他可以生活得很自如。于是人们就渐渐把这位作家创造的词汇用到日常生活中去了。

例句1：Joe is an example of what hard work can do. He worked seven days a week for five years to make his restaurant the best in town. Now the money is rolling in and he's living on easy street.
要知道辛勤劳动能得到什么成果，乔伊就是一个例子。他连续五年每周工作七天，让他的饭馆成为了当地最好的饭馆。现在，财源滚滚而来，他生活得自在逍遥。

例句2：John has no siblings. So when his parents passed away, he inherited everything from the family-- properties, bank savings, stocks and a big house. He's really living on easy street.
约翰没有兄弟姐妹。所以父母去世以后，他继承了所有的遗产--房产，银行存款，股票和一栋大房子。他生活得非常舒适。

2 out on the street

有生活舒适的人，就也会有生活艰苦的人。Out on the street 刚好和 easy street 的意思相反，它的意思是：without a job or occupation; idle，一个人没有工作，难以维持生活。

例句1：I really wish I could find a way to help my brother Bill. He lost his job over a year ago when the company he worked for went bankrupt and he's been out on the street ever since.
我真希望能想个办法来帮帮弟弟比尔的忙。一年多前，他所在公司破产，他也就失了业。自那时起，他一直没有工作，生活得很艰苦。

例句2：I work very hard to provide you with a good education. I don't expect you to be a billionaire, but it's up to you whether you want to live on easy street or to be out on the street in the future.
我辛苦工作就是为了让你受到良好的教育。我不指望你成为一个亿万富翁，将来的生活是苦还是甜，全都要靠你自己了。