英語博客-北美風(fēng)情 253 Working around the clock
The expressions in this week’s episode 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 exaggerate 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 exaggeration. 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.
