Alice: Hey, all of us are going to grab desserts after dinner. You’re coming right?
Jason: I’d love to but I’ll pass this time.
Alice: How come?

Jason: Well, I came home really late one night last week and my wife has been giving me a hard time about it ever since.
Alice: Ah, I see. Then you’d better get going.

Alice가 Jason에게 “Hey, all of us are going to grab desserts after dinner. You’re coming right? 우리 저녁 먹고 후식 먹으러 갈 건데 같이 갈 거지?”라고 묻자 Jason이 “I’d love to but I’ll pass this time. “나도 가고는 싶은데 이번에는 안 되겠다.” 라고 했습니다.

이어 Alice가 “How come?” 이라고 다시 묻자 Jason이 “Well, I came home really late one night last week and my wife has been giving me a hard time about it ever since. “글쎄, 내가 지난주에 딱 한번 집에 늦게 들어갔는데 집사람이 그 거 갖고 계속 힘들게 해서 말이야.” 라고 대답합니다.

Keep today’s phrase ‘give somebody a hard time’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Alice: Hey, all of us are going to grab desserts after dinner. You’re coming right?
Jason: I’d love to but I’ll pass this time.
Alice: How come?

Jason: Well, I came home really late one night last week and my wife has been giving me a hard time about it ever since.
Alice: Ah, I see. Then you’d better get going.

오늘의 표현은 give somebody a hard time입니다. If you give somebody a hard time it means that you criticize someone and make him or her feel guilty about something they have done.

‘Give somebody a hard time’은 말 그대로 하면 누군가에게 힘든 시간을 준다는 얘기니까 결국 ‘누군가를 힘들게 하다, 심하게 대하다, 또는 못살게 굴다.’라는 의미죠. 상대가 한 실수를 비난하며 마음에 부담을 느끼게 하는 상황에서도 쓸 수 있습니다.

본문에서 Jason이 “Well, I came home really late one night last week and my wife has been giving me a hard time about it ever since. 글쎄, 내가 지난주에 딱 한번 집에 늦게 들어갔는데 집사람이 그거 갖고 계속 힘들게 해서 말이야.”라고 했죠. 이 상황을 그려보면 제 설명이 좀 더 쉽게 이해가 가실 겁니다.

이제 예를 들어 볼까요? Let me give you some examples. “I want to say apologize for giving you a hard time yesterday.” 라고 하면 “내가 어제 너한테 너무 심하게 대한 것 같아. 사과할게.”라는 뜻이 됩니다.

Now you know what today’s expression ‘give somebody a hard time’ means right? Then we’ll listen to the conversation for the last time.

Alice: Hey, all of us are going to grab desserts after dinner. You’re coming right?
Jason: I’d love to but I’ll pass this time.
Alice: How come?

Jason: Well, I came home really late one night last week and my wife has been giving me a hard time about it ever since.
Alice: Ah, I see. Then you’d better get going.

Let’s review. ‘Give somebody a hard time’ means that you criticize someone and make them feel guilty about something they have done. GIVE SOMEBODY A HARD TIME. Now try using the phrase on your own.