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韓Sir 資深英語教師
又是學年結束前的大考期了！我的學生要努力溫習、應付期終試，我會跟他們說：
"Keep your nose to the grindstone!"
Grindstone是磨刀石，把鼻子貼近磨刀石？老師要求他們把鼻子磨利？原來，在英語世界內，grindstone已被用來比喻為艱苦和沉悶的工作。所以Keep your nose to the grindstone便有勸喻別人「要辛勤地工作」之意。
英國名作家狄更斯(Charles Dickens)在他的其中一本書《我們共同的朋友》(Our Mutual Friend)便用上了這句說話：
"His nose shall be put to the grindstone for it......His nose once brought to it, shall be held to it by these hands, Mr. Venus, till the sparks flies out in showers."(他的鼻子會被按在磨刀石上……我會以雙手按着他，一直磨至火花四濺！)
其實，那人並無金屬的鼻子，亦不會真的被按在磨刀石上，只是利用這個比方，強調他會被勞役而已。19世紀的狄更斯年代，Keep your nose to the grindstone多指被人勞役，但今天現代英語已把這詞用作「辛勤地工作」了！
Work Your Fingers to the Bone
另一個解作「辛勤地工作」的英語習語(idiom)是work your fingers to the bone。想像一下，某人拚命工作，把手指骨也弄至勞損，那辛勤程度可與keep your nose to the grindstone不相伯仲吧？例句：
1. My students are working their fingers to the bone preparing for their final examination.
(我的學生都在拚命工作，為準備期終考而努力。)
2. Many people in H.K have to work their fingers to the bone in order to earn enough money for survival.
(為了賺取足夠金錢維持生計，本港很多人必須辛勤工作。)
Work Your Tail / Socks Off
我們也可用work one's tail/socks off來形容工作辛勤。連「尾巴」或「襪子」也累得丟掉了，可想而知是有多努力！例句：
1. They had to submit the proposal by Friday, so they worked their socks off to get it done.
(他們須於周五呈交建議書，故拚命工作務求完成它。)
2. John worked his tail off doing his revision and managed to get good grades in his examination.
(約翰努力溫習，成功於考試取得佳績。)
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