Mike: Hey, I’m afraid I can’t meet with you tomorrow for lunch. I’ll be tied up all afternoon.
Jason: Oh really? That’s fine. We can reschedule it to another day when you’re not tied up.
Mike: Thanks for understanding.

본문에서 Mike가 “Hey, I’m afraid I can’t meet with you tomorrow for lunch. I’ll be tied up all afternoon. 나 오늘 오후 내내 바빠서 꼼짝 못 할 거야. 내일 점심 약속 못 지킬 것 같은데.”라고 하자 Jason이 “Oh really? That’s fine. 오 그래? 괜찮아. We can reschedule it to another day when you’re not tied up. 네가 안 바쁠 때로 해서 새로 약속 잡으면 되지.”라고 하네요.

이어 Mike가 “Thanks for understanding. 이해해 줘서 고마워.”라고 했습니다. Now keep today’s expression ‘be tied up’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Mike: Hey, I’m afraid I can’t meet with you tomorrow for lunch. I’ll be tied up all afternoon.
Jason: Oh really? That’s fine. We can reschedule it to another day when you’re not tied up.
Mike: Thanks for understanding.

Today’s expression is be tied up. When you say that you are tied up it means that you are very busy to the point where you can't do something else.

단어 ‘tie’는 묶다, 묶어 놓다는 뜻이고요, to be tied up은 어떤 일이나 일정에 묶여있다, 아주 바빠서 다른 일을 못 하다, 꼼짝 못 하다는 뜻입니다. 우선 처리해야 할 일 때문에 다른 쪽에는 아예 신경을 쓸 수 없는 상태를 말하는 것이죠.

오늘 본문에서 Mike가 Jason에게 오늘 오후에 바빠서 꼼짝 못 한다며 Mike한테 내일 점심 약속 못 지키겠다고 했죠. “Hey, I’m afraid I can’t meet with you tomorrow for lunch. I’ll be tied up all afternoon.” 라고요.

그럼 예문을 통해 오늘 표현에 대해 더 자세히 알아보겠습니다. ‘I was so tied up and couldn’t get the phone.’ 라고 하면 ‘너무 바빠서 전화를 받지 못했어.’ 라는 뜻이 됩니다. Here is another example. ‘I am going to be tied up this evening. Let’s meet tomorrow.’라고 하면 ‘오늘 저녁에 바빠서 꼼짝 못 해. 내일 만나자.’라는 뜻입니다.

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

Mike: Hey, I’m afraid I can’t meet with you tomorrow for lunch. I’ll be tied up all afternoon.
Jason: Oh really? That’s fine. We can reschedule it to another day when you’re not tied up.
Mike: Thanks for understanding.

Let’s review what we've learned today. When you say that you are tied up it means that you are very busy doing other things so you can’t do something else. TO BE TIED UP. Now try using this expression on your own.