| 释义 |
wear out one's welcome wear out (one's) welcome1. To remain a guest in a place, especially someone's home, for too long, to the point where the host no longer wishes one to stay. After the cool reception I received at breakfast, it was apparent that I had worn out my welcome at the cottage of my father's friend.2. By extension, to do something that makes one no longer welcome in or at a place. Things were going fine at the dinner meeting until my coworker made an off-color joke, at which point it seemed that we had worn out our welcome.See also: out, wear, welcomewear out one's welcomeVisit for longer than one's host wants, as in She wanted to stay another few days but feared she would wear out her welcome. This expression uses wear out in the sense of "exhaust" or "use up." [Mid-1800s] See also: out, wear, welcomewear out one's welcome, toTo prolong a visit more than one’s host wishes. The ancients claimed that after three days guests and fish are equally stale. In the mid-nineteenth century the present locution was devised, as “an elegant rendering of the vulgar saying, ‘Fish and company stink in three days’” (Notes and Queries, 1869).See also: out, wear |