slings and arrows

名词 n.
中文释义
英 /ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹəʊz/    美 /ˌslɪŋz‿n̩ ˈæɹoʊz/

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. Hardships or adverse circumstances. idiomatic,plural,plural-only
    — To be, or not to be, that is the queſtion: / VVhether tis nobler in the minde to ſuffer / The ſlings and arrovves of outragious fortune, / Or to take Armes againſt a ſea of troubles, / And by oppoſing, end them, to die to ſleepe / No more, […]
  2. Harsh criticism or personal attacks. idiomatic,plural,plural-only
    — […] Mrs. Dareville, without any motives of interest, or good nature of sufficient power to restrain her talent and habit of ridicule, free from hope or fear, gave full scope to all the malice of mockery, and all the insolence of fashion. Her slings and arrows, numerous as they were and outrageous, were directed against such petty objects, and the mischief was so quick, in its aim and its operation, that, felt but not seen, it is scarcely possible to register the hits, or to describe the nature of the wounds.

词源

Coined by the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616) in his play Hamlet (written 1599–1601; first published 1604 in the second quarto), referring to fortune attacking a person, as if using slingshots and arrows: see the quotation.
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