high time 可不是愉快时间

high time

含义

短语"high time"并不是“很高的时间”，而是指迫切需要立即开始或进行某项行动的时刻，通俗来说就是“再不做就来不及了”。例如：It's 1:00 PM now; it's high time for lunch.. 现在已经是下午13点了，再不去吃午饭就来不及了

例句

• It's high time we started saving for our retirement.
  是我们开始为退休存钱的时候了。
• It's high time we addressed the issue of climate change.
  我们早该解决气候变化的问题了。
• It was high time she cleaned her room; it was a complete mess.
  她早该打扫她的房间了；简直乱糟糟的。
• They decided it was high time to start saving for retirement.
  他们决定是时候开始为退休储蓄了。
• After years of procrastination, he finally felt it was high time to finish his novel.
  拖延了多年后，他终于觉得是时候完成他的小说了。
• With the project deadline approaching, it's high time we got serious about our work.
  随着项目截止日期的临近，我们早该认真对待我们的工作了。

起源

“high time”这个短语最初起源于13世纪，它指的是一天中最温暖的时间，即太阳在天空中最高的时候。在那个时代，人们大多是农民，工作时间一般都是白天，high time这个时间点标志着一天的转折点，一天已经过半了，你必须已经在地里完成了很多工作，或者你必须立即开始工作。随着时间的推移，这个短语被用来指任何活动必须开始的时间，因为最佳时间已经过去。在莎士比亚1590年的戏剧《Comedy of Errors(错误的喜剧)》中就使用了这个短语:“There's none but witches do inhabit here; And therefore 'tis high time that I were hence. She that doth call me husband, even my soul Doth for a wife abhor. But her fair sister, Possess'd with such a gentle sovereign grace, Of such enchanting presence and discourse, Hath almost made me traitor to myself: But, lest myself be guilty to self-wrong, I'll stop mine ears against the mermaid's song.”