fire someone up激起鬥志

把看不見的危險講成一個動作，聽得人手心一緊。

If X catches, it sucks Y right back into Z

提醒別人某個操作危險時用；對專業人士說會顯得多嘴。

If it snags, it drags your hand straight in. ／ Catch it wrong and it pulls you in.

中性

catches on the wood 連讀，right back into 加重。

If the drill slips, it can pull your sleeve right in. 鑽頭一打滑，就可能把袖子捲進去。

一句頂回去，不長篇大論，憤懣和不服全在裡頭。

He doesn't know what I'm capable of.

被看輕、被人下結論時用；對上級當面說會顯得頂撞。

They have no idea what I can do. ／ He wrote me off too soon.

口語

doesn't know 連讀，capable of 尾音收輕。

They don't know what this team is capable of. 他們不知道這支隊伍能做到什麼程度。

把抽象的動力說成一股火，能感到那股憋著要證明自己的勁。

have this fire in me that ...

講自己咬著牙往前的原因時用；面試裡這樣說略顯誇張。

There is this fire burning in me. ／ Something in me changed after that.

口語

fire in me 連讀，different than 重讀。

After the injury, she had this fire in her that changed everything. 受傷之後，她心裡憋著一股火，一切都變了。

用 abuse 這種狠詞講康復，把自虐式的堅持寫得毫不煽情。

abuse something to do something

半開玩笑說自己把某物用得很狠時用；正經場合別用 abuse。

I just hammered it until it worked. ／ I beat the thing into shape.

口語

abused the thing 連讀，retrain 與 toughen 並重。

He abused that old guitar until his fingers stopped hurting. 他把那把舊吉他練到手指不再疼為止。

把「極限」說成一條自以為是的位置，後面推翻它才有力量。

where one's limits lie

聊成長、突破自我時用；對剛受挫的人說會像說教。

We all think we know our limits. ／ Our limits are mostly guesswork.

中性

idea of where 連讀，limits lie 放慢。

Most of us have this idea of where our limits lie, and we are usually wrong. 我們大多都自以為知道極限在哪，可往往都錯了。

it takes something 留白，不點明是什麼，反而讓人對號入座。

It takes something to ...

總結突破需要代價時用；單獨丟擲來會顯得空泛。

Something has to push you past it. ／ It takes a jolt to go further.

中性

takes something 連讀，past that 重音收尾。

It takes something to force you past what you thought you could bear. 得有點什麼，才能逼你越過自以為承受不了的線。