Question of the Day #1115

While hope is a quality not readily associated with the Mexican auteur’s work, it keeps surfacing here to extend a lifeline, even as we wait for the other shoe to drop.

From the 1st paragraph of this article at The Hollywood Reporter.

  上記の文で、wait for the other shoe to dropの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "wait for the other shoe to drop" mean?

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Write your answer in the Comments.

明日、ここに答えを書きます。
I will add the answer and other remarks here tomorrow.

 

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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

〔起こるはずのことを〕不安な気持ちで待つ

基本的に、避けられない悪いことが起きそうな時に使用するイディオムです。

 

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

To wait for the next, seemingly unavoidable (and typically negative) thing to happen.

 

Etymology

According to :

   

Examples

1. Mom said that Dad would punish us when he got home from work, so now we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
2. Now that she has a good enough job to leave her husband, we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
3. So one spends the benignly bland first hour of the film waiting patiently for the other shoe to drop. (The Minneapolis Star Tribune)
4. “My car started making a funny noise. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.” (I.E. for the car to break down).
5. “They laid off a couple of people at work today. Now we’re all just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

   

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