Mike: You look exhausted. Was babysitting your nephews that hard?
Jason: Yes, it was so hard! They spent the entire afternoon just horsing around and I had to make sure they don’t break or knock things over in the house.
Mike: What did you expect? They’re little boys full of energy. They’ll horse around until they get tired.

본문에서 Mike가 Jason에게 “You look exhausted. Was babysitting your nephews that hard? 너 많이 지쳐 보인다. 조카들 돌보는 게 그렇게 힘들었니?” 라고 하자 Jason이 “Yes, it was so hard! 응, 아주 힘들었어. They spent the entire afternoon just horsing around and I had to make sure they don’t break or knock things over in the house. 오후 내내 하도 심하게 장난치며 놀아서 물건을 깨뜨리거나 쳐서 떨어뜨리지 않는 지까지 봐야 했어.” 라고 하네요.

Mike가 “What did you expect? They’re little boys full of energy. 에이, 애들이야 다 그런 거지. 그맘때는 힘이 넘쳐 흐르잖아. They’ll horse around until they get tired. 힘이 다 빠질 때까지 노는 거지.” 라고 하더라고요. Now keep today’s expression ‘horse around’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Mike: You look exhausted. Was babysitting your nephews that hard?
Jason: Yes, it was so hard! They spent the entire afternoon just horsing around and I had to make sure they don’t break or knock things over in the house.
Mike: What did you expect? They’re little boys full of energy. They’ll horse around until they get tired.

Today’s expression is horse around. When you horse around it means that you goof around or play around roughly with someone or something. It also means to work inefficiently by wasting time or be engaged in an idle activity.

Horse around는 몸으로 심하게 장난을 치며 시끌벅적하게 놀다, 아이처럼 재미있게 놀다, 또는 아무것도 안 하고 시간을 낭비하다 라는 의미가 있습니다. The expression ‘fool around’ means the same thing. 비슷한 말로 ‘fool around’라는 표현도 있습니다.

오늘 본문에서 Jason이 “They spent the entire afternoon just horsing around and I had to make sure they don’t break or knock things over in the house. 오후 내내 하도 심하게 장난치며 놀아서 물건들을 깨뜨리거나 쳐서 떨어뜨리지 않나 봐 줘야 했어.” 라고 했죠.

이제 예문을 통해 오늘 표현에 대해 더 자세히 알아보죠. “You boys need to stop horsing around or someone is going to get hurt.” 라고 하면 “너희 좀 차분히 놀아라. 그러다 다치겠다.” 라는 뜻이 됩니다. 또 다른 예를 들어 보겠습니다. “I don’t think we should horse around. We have a lot of work to do.” 라고 하면 “이제 더는 시간 낭비하면 안 돼. 할 일이 많단 말이야.” 라는 뜻입니다. Now you know what today’s expression means right? Then we will listen to the conversation for the last time.

Mike: You look exhausted. Was babysitting your nephews that hard?
Jason: Yes, it was so hard! They spent the entire afternoon just horsing around and I had to make sure they don’t break or knock things over in the house.
Mike: What did you expect? They’re little boys full of energy. They’ll horse around until they get tired.

Let’s review. When you horse around it means that you goof around or play around roughly with someone or something. It also means to be engaged in an idle activity. HORSE AROUND.