每日一词学英语(121): edgy

英国这家银行有本难念的经，去年不得已被部分国有化，现在又想结束对政府的依赖，进退两难。投资者不能不焦虑不安。Lloyds investors probably have most cause to be edgy. (From The Times, August 27, 2009: A £35bn dilemma for the Government)

edgy: (adj.) (informal) nervous, especially about what might happen.
*She’s been very edgy lately.
*After the recent unrest there is an edgy calm in the capital.
*I’m feeling a bit edgy about the exam tomorrow.

和on edge的异同：两个词意思一样，不过edgy也可以形容时间或事件，
*It was an edgy match with both players making mistakes.
on edge也可以形容人的神经（nerves）。
*His nerves had been on edge (= he had been nervous or bad-tempered) all day.

每日一词学英语(2): lead the charge

英国的银行业看来是要重振雄风了(但愿这话没说的太早)，先是昨天HSBC talks up UK banks，汇丰唱多英国三家银行，苏格兰皇家银行今天也对前景表示乐观，于是：

Banks lead the charge，股市全线飘红，银行业一马当先。

"Lead the charge" is a military concept: one person leads the rest of the soldiers into the particular battle. To "lead the charge" means to be the first or be the majority.
Lead the charge本来是军事用语，指一个士兵带领其他人冲锋陷阵，引申意为第一个或大多数。

看另一个新闻标题：Czechs lead the charge to British universities

From the article it is clear that many Eastern Europeans go to the UK to study and the Czechs are the most numerous.
这是06年的一则旧闻了，说是当时东欧学生蜂拥来英国留学，其中捷克人最多。