【字面理解】某人的一磅肉
【英文解析】to insist cruelly on repayment of what was borrowed
【中文解析】全部债务;所欠的东西
【典型例句】① My business is closed and my wife has cancer, and still the bank wants its pound of flesh. They’ll take my house if I can’t pay back what I borrowed for my wife’s hospital bills.我的企业倒闭了,我妻子又得了癌症,而 银行却还要不合情理地催逼债务。如果我不能偿还我 为付妻子的医疗费而借的款项,他们就要没收我的房 子。
② I didn’t realize working here was going to be such hard work. They really demand their pound of flesh,don’t they?我不知道在这里工作这么辛苦,他们简直不顾 别人死活,是不是?
【注释】源自莎士比亚的戏剧《威尼斯商人》:高利贷商 人夏洛克(Shylock)痛恨安东尼奥(Antonio),但却 借给他一大笔钱,条件是要是不能按期偿还就要割下 安东尼奥身上的一磅肉作为代价。因而产生了这个 习语,用来形容以借款人的惨重损失和痛苦为代价的 债务,也可以说是合法却极不合理的要求。常用在 have, demand, exact, want, ask for 等之后。