| 词汇 | live by one's wits |
| 释义 | Idiom live by one's wits Theme: CLEVERNESS to survive by being clever.When you're in the kind of business I'm in, you have to live by your wits.John was orphaned at the age often and grew up living by his wits. live by/on (one's) witsTo survive or make a living through one's intellect and resourcefulness. When I lost everything, I had to live by my wits, and it made me a stronger, more savvy person. live by one's witsManage by clever expedience rather than hard work or wealth. For example, Alan's never held a steady job but manages to live by his wits. This expression uses wits in the sense of "keen mental faculties." [c. 1600] have one's wits about one, toTo be wide awake and alert. Wits in the plural has long meant keen mental faculties. Ben Jonson so used it in The Alchemist (1612): “They live by their wits.” About the same time, the expression of having one’s wits about one—in effect, ready to serve one—came into use. It appeared in James Mabbe’s 1622 translation of Guzman de Alfarache (“I had my wits about me”) and has been used ever since. To live by one’s wits, on the other hand, also implies managing by means of clever expediency rather than honest work. |
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