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Catch a break

[ 2011-08-17 11:35]     字号 [] [] []  
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Catch a break

Kim Bowden
Murdochs Caught a Break at Hearing, Stock Analysts Say

Could you explain "catch a break"?

To catch a break is to have a bit of luck or some relief during a difficult time. For example, you could say, “After a run of bad relationships, my sister finally caught a break and met the man of her dreams”, meaning, after some ups and downs, your sister’s love life finally improved.

Although I can’t find much information online to back this up, I have always assumed the saying originated from surfing terms. A “break” is a slang term for a “breaker”, which is a wave that crests or breaks into foam, as it approaches a shoreline. Surfers, who ride waves standing on surfboards, will wait offshore, out beyond the white water, to “catch” these “breakers”, and then they ride them into the beach. I have sat on a beach watching surfers struggle time and again to catch a breaker, and when they do, it is a mix of good timing, patience, skill and a bit of luck.

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About the author:

Kim Bowden hails from Auckland, New Zealand, where she recently completed AUT University’s Postgraduate Journalism Diploma.

 
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