世博习惯用语【26】The straw that broke the camel's back 压倒骆驼的稻草

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The straw that broke the camel's back

Definition: the last in a series of unpleasant events which finally makes you feel that you can’t continue to accept a bad situation

【世博精解】

虽然稻草很轻而骆驼可以驮很重的东西，但当不断给骆驼背上加草时，终究会有一根稻草达到骆驼承受的极限而把骆驼压倒。这个惯用语是指打破能够承受的最后极限的东西/事情。比如说，You broke a lot of rules and we tried to ignore it. But stealing money from us was the straw that broke the camel's back. We're sending you home to your parents. 很多场合下，这个惯用语只写作the last straw或者 the final straw, e.g. He’d been unhappy at work for a long time but the last straw came when he was refused promotion. 这个惯用语常常用来表示“受够了，忍无可忍了”这样的意思，如：You have been rude to me all day. I've had it. That's the last straw!

Example dialog:

A: You broke up with Jane, really?
你和简分手了，真的吗？

B: Losing my job was bad enough but having the relationship end like that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
丢掉工作已经够糟了，现在又就这样就结束了我们的关系，真是没法再忍受了。