2019-01-04 cut-throat

1.这是什么词？

词：cut-throat

英英释义：a cut-throat activity or situation is one in which people behave in an unfair or immoral way in order to get an advantage over other people

例句：The smartphone business is cut-throat.

2. 为什么选这个词？

“cut-throat”的字面意思是“切喉”，常常用来表示“冷酷无情的”，是个充满画面感的常见单词。当我们想描述竞争非常激烈时，除了用 fierce, tough, severe 之外，还可以用到 cut-throat，强调竞争的残酷无情，为达到目标而不择手段。

cut-throat 的使用比较简单，常和表示领域（比如 industry, business 和 world）、竞争和价格的词一起搭配使用。我们可以用 cut-throat 来描述某一行业领域的竞争激烈。比如，最近关于锤子科技的报道不断，其中一个关键点是智能手机行业竞争激烈，日趋饱和，就可以说：

The competition in the smartphone industry is cut-throat.

或者

The smartphone business is cut-throat and relentless.（这里的 relentless 和 cut-throat 是同义表达，放在一起起强调作用，这两个词可以一起记下来。）

看看《经济学人》是怎么用 cut-throat 的：

1）Ride-hailing, like many online businesses, is a cut-throat, winner-takes-all market: Didi itself is the product of a 2015 merger of two local firms.

2）Once state support for AT&T's monopoly status was removed, the phone market became cut-throat.

3）Amazon's cut-throat pricing has lowered online inflation by about one percentage point.

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）翻译下面的句子：

在这个竞争激烈的世界，只有适者才能生存。

In this cut-throat world, only the fittest will survive.

（参考翻译：In this cut-throat world, only the fittest will survive/prevail.）

2）结合自己的生活、学习、工作、兴趣等，想象在什么语境下会用到这个表达。先简要描述这个场景，再造句。

例子：游戏行业

场景：Many British developers were swallowed by American publishers, who relocated studios and staff to Canada and the United States, where games developers qualify for hefty tax breaks. The introduction of a tax break to game industry similar to one offered to film producers may bring some jobs back. Yet perhaps the best news for Britain’s industry has to do with changes in the way games are played and sold. The game industry in Britain is fast evolving and in a way that benefits in dependent developers, of which there are many in Britain. Many game companies distribute their games directly, through Apple’s app store and similar services. That side of the games industry is booming. Many small game companies were started in Britain in the past decade. These smaller developers face cut-throat competition now. But there is plenty of reward for those who succeed.