昨天我接到我妹妹的电话。她告诉我，她男朋友这才第一个星期到咨询公司上班，就已经忙得见不到人了！她说这间公司把人女人当男人用，男人当牲口用，她男朋友每天都工作到晚上12点，还得把工作带回家，非常辛苦。这让我想到了一个习惯用语，那就是：break one's back。
我们知道，break这个词本身是“打碎”的意思，而break one's back字面意思是“背都打碎了”，引申出来就是“非常辛苦地工作”。
我妹妹的男朋友工作非常辛苦：
- Working as a consultant in this company will break your back.
在这间咨询公司上班非常辛苦。
下面这个例句是一个儿子谈到他妈妈为子女所作的牺牲：
- Mom always wanted my sister and me to enjoy a better life than she had. That meant working two jobs for many years to afford what we needed. She broke her back. But, as a result, I became a surgeon and my sister a concert pianist. We would never have become so successful without our mother's great sacrifices.
妈妈一直希望我和妹妹能过上比她更好的生活。她多年来一直身兼两份工作来满足我们的所需。她一直非常辛苦。但是现在，我成了一名外科医生，而我妹妹成了一名钢琴演奏家。如果没有妈妈的牺牲，我们绝不可能取得这样的成功。
是啊。母亲为孩子的牺牲真的很让人感动。这也是美国很多第一代移民的处境。他们为了让子女享受到他们没有享受到的生活，一生都非常辛苦地工作。
- The parents of immigrant families are willing to break their backs in order to give their kids a better life.
移民家庭的父母非常辛苦地工作, 想让孩子过上更好的生活。
上面我们谈到很多人辛勤工作，但是啊，也有恰恰相反的人。有些人，从来都不愿意付出一点努力：
- My neighbor across the street is one of the laziest people I know. Just about every day, he's out drinking beer on his front porch. Yet his house is falling apart and his yard is full of junk. It would take a lot of effort to get the place in good condition. Unfortunately, I can't imagine him ever breaking his back.
住在对面的邻居是我见过的最懒的人。他每天在门口走廊上喝啤酒，可房子却是东倒西歪，院子里堆满了垃圾。要把那里清理干净得花好大功夫。不过，我可无法想象他会辛苦地去整理。
自己家的院子都不愿意收拾，可真够懒的！在这里，我们也可以用neck来代替，break one's neck一样也是辛苦工作的意思。
- I can't imagine him break his neck for anything!
我想没有什么能让他去辛勤工作。
