down-at-heel

2013年4月19日 星期五

"down-at-heel" means badly dressed or in a bad condition because of a lack of money.

eg. When I first met her she was down-at-heel but still respectable.
The play was set in a down-at-heel hotel in post-war Germany.

grit one's teeth

2013年4月5日 星期五

"grit your teeth " means
1. to decide to deal with an unpleasant or difficult situation. You may as well grit your teeth and accept that air travel is going to get worse before it gets better.
2. to deal with something in a determined way. When a test came along, I just gritted my teeth and studied harder because I knew I had to improve my grades.