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kumakuma
2015年8月17日

  • 日语
  • 英语 (美国)
关于英语 (美国)（英文） 的问题

hold my breath 是什么意思？

the whole sentence is "I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a job offer from them."
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drummingtaco
2015年8月17日

  • 英语 (美国)

It means this person is not expecting a job offer quickly, if at all.
This expression comes from the fact that most people cannot hold their breath for a long time. So, if you are NOT going to hold your breath, that means you expect it to take a long time and it probably will not happen at all.

Another common way to use this:

Person 1: "Do you think she will call me back?"
Person 2: "Don't hold your breath!"

guitarfocus22
2015年8月17日

  • 英语 (美国)

It's a figure of speech saying if you were to hold your breath you would run out of air/and or die before you receive a job offer. Basically it's a way of saying it is most likely not going to happen so move on

kumakuma
2015年8月17日

  • 日语
Thanks.
Does "hold my breath" mean just "expect"? or the expression is usually used with "not"? like "dont hold your breath".
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drummingtaco
2015年8月17日

  • 英语 (美国)

The most common usage is with "don't" and is used in a negative way. In some cases, it can be used without "don't" which would signify hope.

Example:
Person 1: "Do you think you'll get a job offer?"
Person 2: "I hope so. I'm holding my breath"

But this is definitely not as common.

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