Drop like flies

English with Yoo! 는 일상생활에서 자주 쓰이는 다양한 표현들을 익히는 시간입니다.

I’ll give you a daily introduction to some meaningful and useful everyday English words and phrases! So let’s get started today!

Hi everyone, this is Jennifer Yoo and with ENGLISH WITH YOO! 안녕하세요 English with Yoo!의 Jennifer Yoo입니다.

[오디오 듣기] Drop like flies

오늘의 영어 표현은 Drop like flies입니다.

Have you ever heard this American English phrase, drop like flies? This expression is very common in American English. Let’s find out what it means! 그럼 오늘의 대화를 들어보면서 ‘drop like flies’가 무슨 뜻인지 알아 보겠습니다. 잘 들어보세요.

Drop like flies

Mike: Oh man, my colleagues are dropping like flies.
Jen: What do you mean?
Mike: Last week, a colleague came in to work with the flu and now almost everyone has caught it. They are dropping like flies and calling out sick.
Jen: Wow! You’d better be careful. Make sure you take your vitamins and keep your immune system as strong as possible.
Mike: Absolutely!

Mike가 “Oh man, my colleagues are dropping like flies. 세상에, 내 동료들이 무더기로 쓰러졌어.” 라고 말하자, 제가 “What do you mean? 무슨 말이야?”라고 묻습니다. Mike가 “Last week, a colleague came in to work with the flu and now almost everyone has caught it. 지난주에 한 직원이 독감에 걸리고나서 거의 모든 동료가 옮은거야. They are dropping like flies and calling out sick. 다들 독감때문에 집에 일찍 들어가고 있어.”라고 말하자, 제가 “Wow! You’d better be careful. 야, 너 조심해야겠다. Make sure you take your vitamins and keep your immune system as strong as possible. 비타민 잘 챙겨 먹고, 면역체계를 최대한 강력하게 유지해야 해 .”라고 말하고 있어요. Mike가 “Absolutely! 당연하지. ”라고 대답하고 있네요. Keep today’s phrase ‘ drop like flies’ keep in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Drop like flies

Mike: Oh man, my colleagues are dropping like flies.
Jen: What do you mean?
Mike: Last week, a colleague came in to work with the flu and now almost everyone has caught it. They are dropping like flies and calling out sick.
Jen: Wow! You’d better be careful. Make sure you take your vitamins and keep your immune system as strong as possible.
Mike: Absolutely!

오늘의 영어표현은 “Drop like flies”입니다.

The phrase ‘drop like flies’ means that something is disappearing very quickly. For example, if people were dropping like flies, it would mean that they were dying off, quitting or giving up something quickly. Drop like flies는 사람이 ‘무더기로 아프다, 쓰러지다, 죽다 ’라는 뜻인데요, 많은 집파리가 한꺼번에 죽는 데서 나온 표현입니다. 이외에도 drop like flies는 여러 사람이 하던 일을 한꺼번에 멈추는 경우에 쓸 수 있습니다. 예를 들어 무대 위의 가수를 향해 환호를 보내며 손뼉을 치던 관객들이 모두 동작을 멈출 때, “Audiences were dropping like flies and stopped giving big applauses. 관객들이 모두 박수갈채를 멈췄어”라고 말할 수 있어요. 또, 사람을 비롯한 많은 것이 갑자기 없어질 때도 이 표현을 사용할 수 있습니다. 넓은 곳에 모여있다가 갑자기 썰물처럼 빠져나가는 사람들을 보고 “People are dropping like flies 사람들이 갑자기 물이 빠져나가는 듯 떠나가네”라고 말할 수 있어요. 오늘의 표현, ‘Drop like flies’ 꼭 기억하시고요. Now let’s listen to this conversation for the last time.

Drop like flies

Mike: Oh man, my colleagues are dropping like flies.
Jen: What do you mean?
Mike: Last week, a colleague came in to work with the flu and now almost everyone has caught it. They are dropping like flies and calling out sick.
Jen: Wow! You’d better be careful. Make sure you take your vitamins and keep your immune system as strong as possible.
Mike: Absolutely!

오늘 배우신 영어표현, ‘Drop like flies’는 ‘someone or something that happens to faint and collapse in a large number’ 이라는 뜻입니다. 다음 시간에 다시 뵙겠습니다. 지금까지 ENGLISH WITH YOO에 Jennifer Yoo입니다. Bye bye!