【字面理解】戴著馬具死去
【英文解析】to die while one is still working
【中文解析】殉職;工作時死去
【典型例句】① He refused to retire, saying that he would rather die in the harness.他不肯退休,說寧愿工作到死為止。
② I’m as fit as a fiddle,and will never retire. Actors die in harness.我仍很健康,決不退休。演員要死在工作崗 位上。
【注釋】harness在古時可用來指“鎧甲”,如在莎士比亞 的戲劇《麥克白》中,麥克白在兵敗時曾說: At least we’ll die with harness on our back.(就是死我們 也要捐軀沙場。)另外,harness亦指“馬具”,馬匹過 度勞累,拖車的時候就可能突然倒下死去。所以人們 常常用die in the harness來比喻“掏職或在工作中死 亡”。變體:die with harness on one’s back。同義習語: die in one’s boots; die with one’s boots oiu