A child takes a huge bite of watermelon in the US state of Arkansas.
美國阿肯色州一名孩童大口吃西瓜 (照片：歐新社)
PHOTO: EPA




Have you ever been so hungry or so excited to eat your dinner that you put more food in your mouth than you could swallow? If so, then you know exactly what it is like to bite off more than you can chew.

When someone bites off more than they can chew, it means that the person has tried to do more than he or she can handle. For example, a student might bite off more than he can chew by deciding to join the math club, sing in the choir, be in the school play and play on the basketball team at the same time. That is a lot of responsibility for someone who still has to go to school!

When you have too many responsibilities and cannot take care of them all, you get a feeling that is very similar to the one you get when you have too much food in your mouth. That is how you’ll know that you have bitten off more than you can chew.

(Emily Shih, Staff Writer)


你可曾因太餓或吃晚餐時興致過於高昂，以致往嘴裡塞進太多食物到無法吞嚥？若是如此，你就能完全體會什麼是「to bite off more than you can chew」。

當一個人「bites off more than they can chew」，表示他或她試圖完成超過自己所能負荷的工作，例如︰一個學生如果同時決定要參加數學社團、合唱團練唱、參與校劇演出和加入籃球隊，就會覺得心有餘而力不足。這對還得上學的人來說負擔太重。

當你負擔過多而無法事事兼顧，便會產生類似在嘴裡塞太多食物的感覺，這樣你就知道自己不自量力了。



（翻譯︰鄭湘儀）