“at one's wit's end” 是一个常用的英语习语,字面直译为“在某人的智慧/才智尽头”,实际表示“(因问题棘手、压力大等)智穷计尽、不知所措、毫无办法”,形容人处于极度困惑或绝望的状态,找不到解决问题的思路或方法。
该短语的结构为 “主语 + be动词 + at one's wit's end”,其中:
“one's” 需与主语的人称一致(如I对应my,you对应your,he/she对应his/her等);
常可加介词 about/with 引出“不知所措的具体对象”(问题、人或事)。
通过不同场景的例子,更直观理解用法:
1、 日常困扰:
I'm at my wit's end with this broken laptop—nothing I do makes it work!
(这台坏了的笔记本电脑快把我搞疯了——我试了所有办法都没用!)
2、 育儿压力:
She's at her wit's end about her toddler's tantrums—he won't stop crying no matter what.
(她对蹒跚学步的孩子的 tantrum(发脾气)毫无办法——无论怎么做,孩子都停不下来哭。)
3、 工作困境:
The manager is at his wit's end with the project deadline approaching and half the team sick.
(项目截止日期临近,却有一半团队成员生病,经理已经焦头烂额。)
4、 情感问题:
He's at his wit's end trying to fix his relationship—they keep arguing over the same things.
(他试图修复关系却毫无头绪——他们总是为同样的事吵架。)
be at a loss(不知所措)
be stuck(卡住、无法进展)
be at one's rope's end(同“at one's wit's end”,更口语化,强调“用尽所有办法”)
不可混淆人称:如主语是“she”,必须用“her”(She's at her wit's end,而非She's at his wit's end);
通常用于描述负面情绪或困境,不用于正面场景。
总结:这个短语是表达“无奈、崩溃”的高频口语/书面语,用在“用尽所有办法仍无法解决问题”的情境中,非常贴切!