Julie: I’m afraid I must’ve done something to hurt Mary’s feelings. She has been so unfriendly recently to me. I told her I wanted to clear the air, but she turned and walked away from me.

오늘 본문에서 Julie 가 친구 Mary한테 모르고 마음 상하게 한 것 같다며 “I’m afraid I must’ve done something to hurt Mary’s feelings.” 라고 합니다. 이어 “She has been so unfriendly recently to me. I told her I want to clear the air, but she turned and walked away from me.”

요즘 Mary가 나한테 쌀쌀맞게 대하길래 오해를 풀고 싶다고 말했더니 돌아서서 그냥 가버렸어.”라고 합니다. Now keep today’s expression ‘clear the air’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Julie: I’m afraid I must’ve done something to hurt Mary’s feelings. She has been so unfriendly recently to me. I told her I wanted to clear the air, but she turned and walked away from me.

Today’s expression is clear the air. To clear the air means to resolve an issue between people. Sometimes there is emotional tension, dislike or misunderstanding between people, and they tend to not show those feelings. Clearing the air means that they bring those problems out in the open to work through them. It simply means to get rid of confusions, or emotional tensions.

Clear the air는 문자 그대로 하면 공기를 깨끗이 하다라는 뜻인데요 ‘상황을 개선하다, 서로 간의 오해나 나쁜 감정을 풀다, 의혹이나 긴장을 풀다.’ 라는 여러 의미가 있습니다. 한번 생각해 보세요. 방안에 연기가 꽉 차 있다면 얼마나 답답하겠습니까? 이럴 땐 얼른 창문이나 문을 열고 공기를 바꿔줘야 숨을 편안하게 쉴 수 있죠.

오늘 본문에서 Julie가 친구 Mary 하고 묵은 감정이 있나 봐요. Julie는 Mary랑 대화를 통해 오해를 풀려고 했는데 Mary는 그냥 모르는 척하고 지나갔다고 합니다. “I told her I want to clear the air, but she turned and walked away from me.”라고요.

이제 예문을 통해 오늘 표현을 더 익혀 보겠습니다. “I finally talked to Ted this morning. That really helped to clear the air.” 라고 하면 “드디어 Ted랑 오늘 아침에 얘기했어. 그러니까 오해도 풀리더라고.”라는 뜻이 됩니다. 또 다른 예문을 들어볼까요? “What must I do to clear the air with Gina?”라고 하면 “어떻게 해야 지나랑 이 안 좋은 감정을 풀 수 있을까?”라는 뜻이 됩니다.

Now you know what today’s expression means right? Then we will listen to the conversation for the last time.

Julie: I’m afraid I must’ve done something to hurt Mary’s feelings. She has been so unfriendly recently to me. I told her I wanted to clear the air, but she turned and walked away from me.

Let’s review. To clear the air means to resolve an issue between people. It can be misunderstandings, emotional tensions, or hard feelings. CLEAR THE AIR. Now try using this expression on your own.