Nancy Matos

Reader Question:

“Mary has really gotten under my skin.”

Could you explain “under my skin”?

My comments: To get under one’s skin means you are bothering or annoying them. As with the example above, the person is expressing that someone is irritating them, possibly by pestering them and/or getting on their nerves.

However, “under my skin” can have the complete opposite meaning. By getting under someone’s skin you can also have affected them in a positive way. One can get under one’s skin when someone is enamored with them and thinks about them all the time.

The late prolific American composer Cole Porter used this sentiment is his famous work, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”. Several artists have recorded the song, written in 1936, including Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, whose version is perhaps the best known.

The lyrics and meaning have prompted debate over the years, with some believing the phrase “under my skin” has a sexual innuendo and means more than just being in love with someone:

“I've got you under my skin I've got you deep in the heart of me So deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me I've got you under my skin”

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網(wǎng)立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

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Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.