Jason: Wow! Yesterday’s basketball game was a real nail-biter!
Jen: It sure was a nail-biter! Both teams were really good.
Jason: Yeah!

본문에서 Jason이 제게 “Wow! Yesterday’s basketball game was a real nail-biter! 어제 농구 경기는 손에 땀을 쥐게 하는 승부였어!”라고 하자, 저는 “It sure was a nail-biter. Both teams were really good. 정말 조마조마한 경기였어. 두 팀 모두 정말 잘했어.”라고 동의합니다.

Jason도 “Yeah! 맞아!” 라고 합니다. Now keep today’s expression ‘nail-biter’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Jason: Wow! Yesterday’s basketball game was a real nail-biter!
Jen: It sure was a nail-biter! Both teams were really good.
Jason: Yeah!

Today’s expression is nail-biter. A nail-biter is a situation that causes a lot of nervousness and uncertainty. Some people who are nervous tend to bite their nails, which is where this expression comes from.

Nail-biter를 직역하면 ‘손톱 깨무는 버릇이 있는 사람’이라는 말이 되죠. 그런데 사람들은 보통 조마조마하거나 긴장된 순간에 손톱을 깨물잖아요? 그래서 'nail-biter'는 조마조마하거나 손에 땀을 쥐게 하는 경기나 영화를 뜻하기도 합니다.

In our example today, Jason tells me that yesterday’s basketball game was a real nail-biter. This means that the game cause a lot of nervousness.

오늘 본문에서 Jason은 어제 농구 경기는 정말 손에 땀을 쥐게 하는 승부였다고 했습니다. 영어로 “Wow! Yesterday’s basketball game was a real nail-biter!”라고요. 이렇게 조마조마하거나 아슬아슬한 상황 때문에 긴장할 때 쓰는 표현이 ‘nail-biter’입니다.

그럼 예문을 통해 오늘의 표현을 좀 더 익혀 보겠습니다. “The election was a nail-biter.”라는 문장을 해석하면 “그 선거는 정말 손에 땀을 쥐게 했어.”라는 뜻입니다.

Here is another example. “This weekend was a nail-biter, because my son was in the hospital.”는 “아들이 병원에 입원하는 바람에, 이번 주말은 정말 조마조마하게 보냈어.”로 해석할 수 있습니다.

Now that you know what today’s expression means, let’s listen to the conversation for the last time. 그럼 오늘의 대화를 마지막으로 들어보겠습니다.

Jason: Wow! Yesterday’s basketball game was a real nail-biter!
Jen: It sure was a nail-biter! Both teams were really good.
Jason: Yeah!

Let’s review. A nail-biter is a situation that causes a lot of nervousness and uncertainty. 'Nail-biter'는 조마조마하거나 손에 땀을 쥐게 하는 경기나 영화를 뜻하기도 합니다. NAIL-BITER.