Tuesday, January 11, 2011

영어 Slang of the Day #12: There is "no love lost" between them. Huh?

"No love lost" is another way of saying that there exists long-standing animosity

When two people, or groups of people, have many, long-standing reasons for disliking one another, then you can say that there is no love lost between them.  The phrase is frequently used when describing a rivalry of some sort, for example between two sports teams, who have played against each other in many important games/matches.

Examples:
1.  There is no love lost between New York Yankees fans and Boston Red Sox fans.
2.  Jill and Mindy are again competing for the top prize;  there is no love lost between them after Jill insulted Mindy the last time.

Notes:
There is a nuance to the phrase "no love lost."  In addition to the competitive aspect, there is also an emotional aspect to the rivalry between the two people/groups.  In other words, if the two people are merely competing against each other in a game during a tournament, then that does not necessarily mean that there is "no love lost."  However, if there is some special reason that both teams want to win due to prior events, then you can use the phrase "no love lost."

The phrase "no love lost" is slang, and would be considered unprofessional in a business setting, and too casual for use in an academic setting.

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