Nelly Min

Reader's question: 

New Yorker Barry Hoggard draws a line in the sand when it comes to online privacy. In May he said farewell to 1251 Facebook friends by deleting his account of four years to protest what he calls the social network's eroding privacy policies. Could you explain “draw a line in the sand”?

My comments:

To draw a line in the sand is a figure of speech meaning ‘to create or declare an artificial boundary and imply that crossing it will cause trouble.’ It means you are setting a boundary, or limits. It is based on the idea of literally making a mark in sand to show someone they cannot move across it.

Example: He drew a line in the sand by giving his roommate an ultimatum about his sloppiness – he had to start cleaning up after himself or move out.

He draws a line in the sand when it comes to online privacy. It means his online privacy is very important to him, and having it violated is not acceptable.

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Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily website.