add insult to injury
泣きっ面に蜂
解説 Definition
すでに悪い状況をさらに悪化させる行為や言動のこと。傷口に塩を塗るような行為。
Add insult to injury means to make a bad situation even worse by doing or saying something hurtful after a problem has already happened. It is used when one difficulty is followed by another unfair or unpleasant thing. The phrase often carries a feeling of frustration.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
まず insult＝「侮辱」、injury＝「傷・被害」を知っていれば、add insult to injury はかなり見えます。すでに injury があるのに、そこへ insult を add「追加する」ので、「悪い状況にさらに追い打ちをかける」です。単なる make it worse より、人の一言や態度が余計に痛い場面で使いやすい表現。けがそのものより、『傷の上に侮辱まで乗る』絵で覚えると残ります。
Break it into parts: `insult` and `injury`. If someone already has an injury and you add an insult, the situation becomes even more painful. This helps you remember it as “making a bad situation worse,” especially by words or attitude.
例文
Not only did he arrive late, but to add insult to injury, he didn't apologize.
彼は遅刻しただけでなく、さらに悪いことに謝りもしなかった。
She lost her wallet, and to add insult to injury, it started raining.
彼女は財布を失くした上に、追い打ちをかけるように雨が降り出した。
The restaurant overcharged us, and to add insult to injury, the food was terrible.
そのレストランは料金を過剰請求し、さらに悪いことに料理もひどかった。
add insult to injury の類義語・関連語
add insult to injury の語源・成り立ち Etymology
add insult to injury は二語ともラテン語系で、insult は in-『上に』+ saltare『跳ぶ』、injury は in-『否定』+ ius『権利』です。exult や justice と見比べると、『傷の上にさらに侮辱を載せる』痛さが語源から見えます。
Insult comes from Latin insultare, literally "to jump on," while injury comes from Latin iniuria, meaning "wrong" or "injustice." The phrase brings together two Latin-based words to create the image of adding a fresh attack to an existing hurt. Over time, it came to mean making a bad situation even worse by adding offense to damage. Related words include justice and insularly distant forms like exult from the same jumping root as insult.
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