nix
起源于维多利亚时代的俚语，类似于早期德语中的nix，是德语nichts(nothing)的口语缩略形式。
Originally Victorian slang, nix can be compared with the earlier German nix, which is a colloquial shortened form of nichts (‘nothing’).
nixie / nixy / nixey
nix加后缀，–y/-ie的后缀通常用于宠物名和昵称。
And it wasn’t long until this slang term was given a –y/-ie suffix, used to form pet names and familiar diminutives.
nope
Nope在17世纪是红腹灰雀的别名，直到19世纪末开始用作“no”的意思。也是差不多时候“yep”开始用作“yes”的意思。
The earliest sense of nope (albeit an unrelated word spelled the same) was actually another name for the bullfinch, used in the early 17th century – but fast forward to the the late 19thcentury and nope is being used for no, with an apparently arbitrary extension, at around the same time that yep began being used for yes.
nay
这个词起源于北欧，来自冰岛语nei，直到14世纪后才开始频繁使用。
This form of no is particularly characteristic of Northern English. In origin it is a borrowing from early Scandinavian (cf. Icelandic nei). People haven’t been using this expression much since the 14th century.
nah
伦敦腔发音，“no”的非标准拼写。
A non-standard spelling of no, nah is often used when representing southern English pronunciation, particularly cockney speech
no way
虽然被认为是一种俚语，但其实no way最早可以追溯到18世纪。
Though decried as slang by some, no way (for ‘no’) has a long history, dating back at least as far as the 18th century.
no way, José
为啥会在no way后面加个José暂时不得而知，也许是因为比较押韵。这个用法也是比较新，最早出现是在1979年。
It’s not entirely clear why José is added to this expression, other than the obvious novelty of the rhyme. Its history (unsurprisingly) is far shorter, with the current earliest known use dating only to 1979.
negative
如果你是个军事迷，你可能会不自觉得在回答“不”的时候蹦出negative这个词。它比“no”更清晰地表达“不”的意思，相应地也用“affirmative”来表达“yes”。在无线电通话中，用“negative”或者“affirmative”比单纯的“no”或者“yes”更清楚。
If you’re feeling in a military frame of mind, you can say negative instead of no (as opposed to affirmative for yes). This probably started as a way of saying ‘no’ over the radio with as much clarity as possible.
veto
Veto源自拉丁语，字面意思是“我不许”，是一个比较强硬的说法，用来反对某个计划。
Veto joins that group of Latin words (including et cetera, ad hoc, and per se) that are used as everyday parts of English. Literally translating as ‘I forbid’, this is a fairly commanding way to show your disapproval of a scheme.
out of the question
原指“与讨论的问题无关”，后来引申为“不考虑、不赞成”。
Originally meaning ‘beside the point, not relevant to the matter under discussion’ – that is, outside the parameters of the matter in question – this took on the meaning ‘not to be considered or countenanced’. One of the earliest uses of this later sense comes from Eliza Haywood’s The History of Betsy Thoughtless: ‘A marriage with miss Betsy was, therefore, now quite out of the question with him’.
no siree
Siree是sirrah的变种，而sirrah则来自于sir，是一种对男性轻蔑的说法。
You would be right in thinking that siree here is derived from sir — ultimately it is, but it developed as a variant of sirrah (much used in Shakespeare), which (in turn) was formed directly from sir with a (perhaps arbitrary) suffix, as a term used when addressing men or boys with contempt.
for foul nor fair
Foul和fair可以说是一对反义词，把它们放在一起表示某件事不会发生。这个说法最早可以追溯到乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》。
Putting opposites together to cover a spectrum is a pretty good way to indicate that something isn’t going to happen: this one can be found as far back as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
not on your life
这个说法强调了你极其不愿服从某个请求，即使请求者赌上性命，你也不答应。
This emphasizes your reluctance to comply with a request – that, even if the requester’s life was at stake, you’d still be a hard pass.
not on your Nelly
这是not on your life的另外一种说法。
The British expression not on your Nelly, in its earliest incarnation in a 1941 issue of theNew Statesman, appears as not on your Nelly Duff. It is just another way of saying not on your life.
not on your tintype
“Tintype”是指一种锡版照相法，这一词组最早出现于1900年。
A tintype was a photograph taken as a positive on a thin tin plate but also found its way into this phrase, which dates to at least 1900.
not for all the tea in China
英国人似乎对这个词组用得上瘾了，不过它的起源却是澳洲英语口语。
This phrase, despite drawing on Britain’s national obsession, is actually originally from colloquial Australian English.
not in a million years
如果中国所有的茶还不够夸张的话，你可以夸大时间的长度。这个用法可以追溯到一个世纪以前，不过已经很久没有人用它了。
If the tea in China doesn’t seem like enough of a hyperbolic reward, try exaggerating the length of time you need for debate. People haven’t been using it for quite a million years, but it certainly dates back over a century.
under no circumstances
为了让你的否定听上去更加坚决，不会产生一丁点歧义，你可以用这个词组来表达否定的含义，几乎可以用于任何场合。最开始词组中的circumstance用的是单数，不过现在都是用复数形式了。
For avoidance of doubt, this one pretty much covers all bases. Circumstance was originally a noun of action or condition, in the singular, but is now usually pluralized.
not likely
如果有人提了无礼要求，可以用这个词回绝。
Although you’re probably in complete control of the likelihood or otherwise of something happening if you say not likely, it’s an option for dismissing someone’s suggestion with a bit of sass.
not for Joe
这个词表示“决不，无论如何也不”，Joe不是指特定的某个人，而是泛指。可以追溯到19世纪中期。
The phrase not for Joe, meaning ‘not on any account’, dates from the mid-19th century and appears to use Joe as a non-specific person (although the phrase may have originally arisen from the name of the 18th-century comedian Joe Miller, and a popular jest-book published after his death.
thumbs down
大拇指朝下的动作表示不赞成或拒绝。这个动作的来源有些复杂。有种说法是在古罗马圆形竞技场上，观众用拇指朝上或者朝下来决定角斗士们的生死。不过那个时候，拇指朝上反而是反对的意思。
Turning the thumb down is, of course, a gesture intended to indicate disapproval or rejection – and the term can be used figuratively for the same thing; i.e. a substitute for no – but it’s got a somewhat muddled history. The earliest uses of thumbs down and thumbs up relate to ‘the use of the thumb by the spectators in the ancient amphitheatre’ – but in these instances, thumbs up would indicate rejection.
pigs might fly
首先，猪是不会飞的，类似的说法还有Pigs don’t fly、pigs might fly、pigs have wing，都表示“不可能”。第一次为众人所知的用法在《爱丽丝梦游仙境》中，爱丽丝说：“I've a right to think（我有权思考）”。公爵夫人回答了一句“Just about as much right as pigs have to fly”，意思是““对，你当然有这个权利，就像猪有权利在天空飞翔一样”
Pigs (we hate to break it to you) don’t fly, and pigs might fly, pigs have wings, and similar expressions are used to indicate impossibility or incredulity. The first known use, in this way, of pig’s grounded behaviour is not quite synonymous with no – but has the distinction of being found in Alice’s Adventures of Wonderland: ‘‘I’ve a right to think,’ said Alice sharply… ‘Just about as much right,’ said the Duchess, ‘as pigs have to fly.’’
not a cat (in hell)’s chance
表示根本就没有机会的意思。最早可以追溯到1796年。
fat chance
“Fat”在这里有讽刺的意味。原意中有“很大”、“很多”的含义，这里正话反说，表示“几乎没有”。
Fat chance is an ironic use of the adjective fat in its sense ‘a large amount, a great deal’. Interestingly, this sense seems only to be used ironically, implying ‘very little, hardly anything’.
catch me!
这里的Catch并不是“抓”的意思，而是“突然/偶然/无意地发现、碰见”的意思。比如“我突然发现我说话的语气跟我妈一样（I catch myself speaking like my mother）”。所以这里的Catch me! 或者catch me at it!都是正话反说，意思是你永远不会发现我是这个样子（“it”在这里就是指代“这个样子”）
Catch me! and catch me at it! are also suggestive of their opposite: that is, that the interlocutor would never be able to catch the person at it, since it (whatever ‘it’ is) wouldn’t happen. The sense of catch being used is ‘to come upon suddenly or unexpectedly’, which is also still used in sentences such as ‘I catch myself speaking like my mother’.
no fear
No fear最开始意为“没有理由惊慌失措”，不过现在被作为no的非正式表达了。
Fear here originally meant ‘ground or reason for alarm’, though even in its earliest uses (including a 16th-century translation of Psalms) it appeared chiefly in (there is) no fear – that is, that there is no grounds for alarm. The usual sense now is as an informal but definite no.
go fish
Go fish实际上是一种儿童纸牌游戏。每位玩家轮流问对手要牌，如果对方拒绝就会说“go fish”，后来这个说法被广泛使用来代指“no”。
Go fish is an American card game, usually played by children, in which each player in turn asks an opponent for a particular card and is told to ‘go fish’ from the undealt deck if denied. The term has taken on broader use as a playful way of saying no.