地道英语表达｜take the wind out of your sails
地道英语表达｜takethewindoutofyoursails
Lifeishappyandsad,andofcoursethereisvocabularytorepresenthighsandlowsoflife.Today,wearegoingtolookatsomeofthelowvocabulary.Theexpressionisaboutbeingdemotivated,discouraged,ordisappointed.
「totakethewindoutofsb'ssails」使（某人）泄气；使（某人）不坚定
Herethesailsistheclothpartonaboatthatallowstheboattomovewiththewind.Thewindblowsthesail,andpushestheboatalongthewater.So,ifsomeonetookawaythatwind,thantheboatcannotmove.Thissortofgivesusahinthastothemeaningofthisexpression.Ifyouhavethewindtakenoutofyoursails,itjustmeansthatyouarediscouraged,ordemotivated.Youlostyourmotivationtodosomething.
Inthisanalogy,yourmotivationtodosomethingislikethewind.So,ifsomeonetakesawaythatwind,youhavenomotivationtodowhatyouaredoing.Ithinkeverybodyhashadthishappenedtothematsomepoint,whentheyaresuperexcitedaboutanideaorexcitedaboutdoingsomething,youwanttosharethatideawithyourfriendorcolleague,andtheirreactionisjustveryblas?(司空见惯).Thenyoubecomedemotivated,andyouarelikeIamsoexcitedbutmyfrienddoesn’tlikethatidea.Let’slookatacoupleexamplesnow.
ExampleI
A:So,IranthatnewideathatIhadbymyboss,
B:Oh,nice.I’msurehe’dloveit,right?
A:Nope,heshutitdown.
B:What?Why?Itwouldsavethecompanyatonofmoney.
A:Yeah,that’swhatIthoughttoo,butIdon’tknow.Anyway,itreallytookthewindoutofmysails.
Intheconversation,weseethattwocolleaguesaretalkingaboutanideathatwouldhavesavedtheircompanyatonofmoney,whenitwaspitchedtotheirboss,itwasshutdown,whichmeansitwasrejected.Whentheguywhopitchedthisideatohisbosswasshutdown,ittookthewindoutofhissails.He’sdemotivatedtocontinueworkinghardandthinkingofnewideasforthecompany.
runsthbysb
对（某人）说…（以听取对方意见）；向（某人）征求对…的看法；就…请教（某人）Wouldyourunyourideabymeonemoretime?你能不能再跟我说一遍你的想法？Let’smoveontoexampletwo.
ExampleII
A:So,areyouallpumpedupforthecampingtripthisweekend?
B:Idon’tknow,man.Imightchangemymind.IamnotsureifIstillwanttogo.
A:What?Comeon.Ifyouarenotgoing,thenothersmighttoo.Don’ttakethewindoutofmysailslikethis.I’vebeenplanningthistripforweeks.
B:Allright,allright.I’llgo.
A:Yeah,therewego.
Inthisexample,twofriendsaretalkingaboutacampingtripthefollowingweekend.Onefriendsayshemightchangehismind.Hisfriendrespondsbysayingdon’ttakethewindoutofmysails,meaningdon’tdothistome,don’tdiscourageme,andI’mveryexcitedforthistriprightnow.
