Could you explain "catch a break"?

To catch a break is to have a bit of luck or some relief during a difficult time. For example, you could say, “After a run of bad relationships, my sister finally caught a break and met the man of her dreams”, meaning, after some ups and downs, your sister’s love life finally improved.

Although I can’t find much information online to back this up, I have always assumed the saying originated from surfing terms. A “break” is a slang term for a “breaker”, which is a wave that crests or breaks into foam, as it approaches a shoreline. Surfers, who ride waves standing on surfboards, will wait offshore, out beyond the white water, to “catch” these “breakers”, and then they ride them into the beach. I have sat on a beach watching surfers struggle time and again to catch a breaker, and when they do, it is a mix of good timing, patience, skill and a bit of luck.

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點擊進入譯點通

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網(wǎng)立場無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)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。

About the author:

Kim Bowden hails from Auckland, New Zealand, where she recently completed AUT University’s Postgraduate Journalism Diploma.