我都打退堂鼓了
“I was ready to give up.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
其实这段时间
“Actually, in this period of time,”
我都 打退堂鼓 了
“I was ready to give up.”
还是你让我帮忙之后
“It wasn't until you asked me for help”
“I was ready to give up on this until you gave me a reason to keep trying.”
Admitting to 'hitting the retreat drum' shows emotional honesty, allowing the speaker to validate the partner's positive impact on their perseverance.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
to beat the retreat drum; to give up; to back out of a plan
A widely used idiomatic metaphor for losing confidence and wanting to abandon an endeavor midway.
Marks a change of state, indicating that the mental state of giving up had already been reached.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“some of them backed out.”
“some of them backed out. Why?”
“Now you know. Are you getting cold feet? So many colleagues”
“If we back down at a time like this,”
“If they get cold feet, I have to humble myself”
“Court is adjourned for now.”