Talk Like a Native

Episode 3: “Salt in the Wound”

Kevin: Dude... what happened to your face?

Christine: Well, I was playing basketball and one of the players on the other team tripped me.

Kevin: Ouch, did you at least win the game?

Christine: No. We lost by one point ‘cause the ref called a foul on me even though it wasn’t even my fault!

Kevin: Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!

Christine: What? That sounds painful. I wouldn’t do that! Is that some sort of home remedy?

Kevin: No. I didn’t mean literally rubbing salt in your wound. I was saying that losing is bad enough and what the ref did was like rubbing salt in your wound.

Christine: Huh?

Kevin: When I say “rub salt in your wound” I mean that someone is making a difficult situation even worse.  Not only did you get hurt, but you lost the game because of the bad call.

Christine: So you’re not telling me to put salt on my cut then?

Kevin: No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think it would hurt a lot.

Christine: Today’s expression is “Rub salt in your wound”. Let’s hear some examples:

Getting yelled at was bad enough, but having it done in front of my friends was like rubbing salt in the wound.

After a break up, watching people celebrate Valentine’s Day is hard enough, but having someone ask about my ex is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Hearing the news about her wedding was rough, but finding out she married my best friend was like having salt rubbed in the wound. Christine: Thanks for explaining that Kevin. Now, I won’t think that people are actually telling me to put salt on my cut.

Kevin: On second thought, I think people used to do that in order to disinfect the cuts. Maybe you should try it.

Christine: No thanks.