throw in the towel
投降
講解:
throw in the towel字面意義是「丟毛巾進去」。拳擊比賽時,如果拳擊手的助手朝擂臺里扔東西,這位拳擊手就會被自動取消資格。教練如果判斷他的子弟兵不能獲勝,有時會叫助手扔條毛巾進入場中(throw in the towel),裁判就會立刻停止比賽。因此,throw in the towel就代表「投降」的意思。
例句:
Far from throwing in the towel, Gorbachev came out fighting, lambasting the leaders of Russia,Belorussia and Ukraine for their declaration of a 'commonwealth" to replace the U.S-S.R.(出自:TIME,Dec. 23,1991,p. 24 )
戈爾巴喬夫絕不投降,反而披掛上陣,猛轟俄羅斯、白俄羅斯、烏克蘭的領袖,譴責他們宣告「國協」來取代蘇聯。