“cool heels”是“脚后跟发凉吗”？可别在闹笑话了！

我朋友前几天去了趟医院，回来跟我抱怨说人实在是太多了。她提前在网上预约了号，到那也等了很长时间。

I've been cooling my heels in the doctor's waiting room for at least an hour. 我在候诊室等了至少一小时。

大家有没有注意到这个表达呢，cool heels。heels是脚后跟的意思，cool是变得凉爽的意思，听到cool heels，有没有脚后跟发凉的感觉呢？

1. cool heels，which means to wait or be kept waiting. 我们可以通俗的翻译成“害你久等”的意思。

To make a good impression, I got there half an hour early, but I had to cool my heels for more than two hours before anybody would see me.

为了留个好印象，我提前半小时到，但是等了两个多小时都没人来见我。

If you are cooling your heels, someone is deliberately keeping you waiting, so that you get bored or impatient.

如果说cool your heels，是说有人故意让你久等，所以让你感到厌烦，失去了耐心。

 

I spent an hour cooling my heels in the waiting room while the doctor saw other patients.

医生在看别的病人时，我在候诊室等了一小时。

All right, if you can't behave properly, just sit down here and cool your heels until I call you.

这样，如果你不能好好表现，那就坐在这儿等着，等我叫你。

我们来看一个对话：

IPhone每次出新品的时候，体验店都是人山人海，很多人排队抢购。

Customer: I would like to buy an IphoneX right now, please.

我想买部IPhoneX。

Employee: I am sorry, but you have to cool your heels, sir. Lots of people have been waiting longer than you.

不好意思，先生。你需要等等，你前面还排着很多人。

2.to wait or take rest 这个意义上的等和“停下来休息”的意思差不多。

The man works so hard for his family, he deserves to cool his heels every now and then.

这个男人为了他的家拼命工作，他应该偶尔停下来休息休息。

 

You need to cool your heels for a minute and stop yelling at the staff―they didn't do anything wrong.

你歇会吧，别吼这些员工了，他们又没做错什么。

 

Their journey is still far from here. They will cool their heels tonight at a five star hotel to commence travelling again from morning.

他们的目的地离这还远呢，于是找了一家五星级酒店休息，明早再继续出发。

我们有个词叫“忙里偷闲”，以前被认为是一个不好的词，但我觉得有可以休息的机会，为什么不让自己放松放松呢？一味地忙碌也不是好事。

You will burn yourself out if you do not cool your heels when you can.

可以休息的时候一定要休息，不然你会累成狗的。