“Sink your teeth into” = “咬牙切齿”?
Description
在英语中,”sink”是下沉的意思,那么把牙“下沉”到某件东西里,其实是相当于用牙狠狠的咬上去,但是这只是字面的意思,我们说过很多时候不能用中文直译英语中的意思,那这个习语到底是想表达什么意思呢?
C: Hi guys. I’m Chris.
J: And I’m Joy. Today we are gonna talk about the idiom: sink your teeth into. It means to do something that needs a lot of energy and enthusiasm. You can use it like this:
I want to sink my teeth into this. / She really sank her teeth into it. / They are going to sink their teeth into it.
C: Well, the literal meaning of this idiom is to bite something. So imagine someone slowly biting into a burger with his teeth. We can call that: he’s sinking his teeth into that burger. This idiom was first used to describe animals that bite deeply and vigorously into food. So maybe recently you just bought a book that is talking about public speaking. You can tell your friend that it’s a great book to sink your teeth into. Or you have put on a little weight and decided to start working out regularly. So you can say: I’ve been sinking my teeth into loosing weight these days. Now let’s see how we can use it in a conversation:
J: Hey Brian. You called me earlier today when I was in a meeting. So I couldn’t answer your call. What’s up?
C: Yeah, I just wanted to speak with you about the new app that I sank my teeth into developing recently. I was wondering if you were interested in joining me in the project.
J: Are you sinking your teeth into learning English? Well, practice makes perfect!
C: Yep, and if you like our channel remember to share our content with your friends and family! Talk to you next time! Bye!
vigorously: 猛地,起劲地,用力地