"behind the eight ball" = "난처한 상황에 놓인"
"behind the eight ball"은
"난처한 상황에 놓인,
다른 사람보다 안좋은 상황에 놓인"
이라는 뜻을 가진
이디엄입니다.
아래 대화를 통해 그 사용법과
다른 이디엄을 익혀봅시다.
Chris: I'm behind the eight ball*.
Ben: What's the matter?
Chris: I have so much work.
I can't make a dent in it.
(make a dent in something:
~을 진척시키다)
Ben: Maybe if you'd buckle down,
you wouldn't be up your ears in work.
(buckle down: 본격적으로 착수하다)
(be up to one's ears in something:
~에 눈코 뜰 사이 없다)
Chris: My job is no bed of roses
and my boss is off his rocker.
(no bed of roses: 만만하지 않다)
(off one's rocker: 미치다)
Ben: You'd better watch your P's and Q's
before you get canned.
(watch one's P's and Q's:
언행을 조심하다)
(get canned: 해고되다)
* behind the eight ball
=
in a difficult situation
or
in a worse situation than other people
(난처한 상황에 놓이거나
다른 사람들보다 안좋은 상황에 놓인)
(예문)
If you don't get the investigation going right away,
you put yourself behind the eight ball.
(당장 조사를 받지 않으면 넌
난처한 상황을 맞이할거야!)
<자료: Cambridge Dictionary>