wait for the other shoe to drop

短语

提心吊胆

发音

AU

词形变化

waited for the other shoe to drop waiting for the other shoe to drop waits for the other shoe to drop 三单 waits for the other shoe to drop waiting for the other shoe to drop 现在分词 waited for the other shoe to drop 过去式 waited for the other shoe to drop 过去分词

释义与例句

v.
  1. 1.

    To defer action or decision until another matter is finished or resolved.

    习语
  2. 2.

    To await a seemingly inevitable event, especially one that is not desirable.

    提心吊胆

    习语

词源

A common experience of tenement living in apartment-style housing in New York City and other large cities during the manufacturing boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Apartments were built with very similar designs, with the bedrooms located directly above and underneath one another. Thus, it was normal to hear a neighbor removing their shoes in the apartment above. As one shoe made a sound hitting the floor, the expectation for the other shoe to make a similar disturbance was created.

来源：wiktionary