英语博客-北美风情 253 Working around the clock

 　　The expressions in this week’s episode¹ are used when people get really focused on things or need to continuously work at something. It’s like these people are doing it all the time, and nothing else! These expressions are often used to exaggerate² that a certain activity is all someone is ever doing. If you know anyone who gets really busy and spends a lot of time doing one particular thing, then you can start using these expressions right away!

　　Maura:To say that something is happening around the clock.

　　Harp:Yes. Around the clock.

　　Maura:And this means that something is happening at all times: during the night, during the day. If you think about a clock, and the hands on the clock moving around, it covers all 24 hours in a day.

　　Harp:Yeah. It just keeps going on.

　　Maura:But you know, sometimes this expression is used as an exaggeration³. When someone is really focused on doing something and they’re spending a lot of time doing something, they might say they’re doing it around the clock. But it doesn’t actually mean they’re working on it 24 hours a day. It just means that they are spending a lot of time on it, and maybe staying up late.

　　Harp:Yeah. They could take breaks to eat or do other things, but if they’re working on something a lot of the time, they could say that they’re doing it around the clock.

1 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

2 exaggerate   

v.夸大，夸张

参考例句：

• If you exaggerate,people will no longer believe you.如果你说话虚夸，人们便不会相信你了。
• Don't exaggerate the difficulties of your work.别夸大你的工作困难。

3 exaggeration   

n.夸张

参考例句：

• Without exaggeration I can say that I hardly slept a wink. 可以毫不夸大地说，我几乎没有合过眼。
• John is rather given to exaggeration. 约翰很喜欢夸张。