宮部みゆきの小説 'The Devil's Wisper' を読んでいます。
The Asanos had an old wind-up clock that an antique dealer would probably give his eyeteeth to get hold of. It had been a wedding present and had survived earthquakes and moves, but it had never stopped ticking away.
"give his eyeteeth" の意味が分からないので "eyeteeth" を辞書で引くと "give one's eyeteeth" と云う慣用句であることが分かりました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Do anything in order to have or be something.: I'd give my eyeteeth to be going to sea.
・Dictionary.com: to give something one considers very precious, usually in exchange for an object or situation one desires: She would give her eyeteeth for that job.
この語源等について The Word Detective に下記の丁寧な説明がありました。
"To give one's eyeteeth for" has been a popular figure of speech meaning "to be willing to undergo great sacrifice for"since at least 1930, when it was used by Somerset Maugham in his comic novel "Cakes and Ale." One's "eyeteeth" are, as you say, the uppercanine teeth, so called since about 1580 because they are directly under and closest to the eyes. Not only are eyeteeth functionally valuable, being used to bite off and chew food, but any damage to them is likely to be very painful, as the nerves of these particular teeth run close to the eyes and the pain may actually be felt in the eyes. So to voluntarily suffer loss of one's eyeteeth would indeed be a great sacrifice, perhaps not as profound as "giving one's right arm for" something, but still a major drag. It would definitely make eating pizza (my personal quality-of-life standard) difficult, for instance. An even greater sort of sacrifice, however, would be "to give one's eyes for," a hyperbolic metaphor for sacrifice that dates back to 1857.
"to give one's eyes for" の表現なら直ぐに分かりますね。
The Asanos had an old wind-up clock that an antique dealer would probably give his eyeteeth to get hold of. It had been a wedding present and had survived earthquakes and moves, but it had never stopped ticking away.
"give his eyeteeth" の意味が分からないので "eyeteeth" を辞書で引くと "give one's eyeteeth" と云う慣用句であることが分かりました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Do anything in order to have or be something.: I'd give my eyeteeth to be going to sea.
・Dictionary.com: to give something one considers very precious, usually in exchange for an object or situation one desires: She would give her eyeteeth for that job.
この語源等について The Word Detective に下記の丁寧な説明がありました。
"To give one's eyeteeth for" has been a popular figure of speech meaning "to be willing to undergo great sacrifice for"since at least 1930, when it was used by Somerset Maugham in his comic novel "Cakes and Ale." One's "eyeteeth" are, as you say, the uppercanine teeth, so called since about 1580 because they are directly under and closest to the eyes. Not only are eyeteeth functionally valuable, being used to bite off and chew food, but any damage to them is likely to be very painful, as the nerves of these particular teeth run close to the eyes and the pain may actually be felt in the eyes. So to voluntarily suffer loss of one's eyeteeth would indeed be a great sacrifice, perhaps not as profound as "giving one's right arm for" something, but still a major drag. It would definitely make eating pizza (my personal quality-of-life standard) difficult, for instance. An even greater sort of sacrifice, however, would be "to give one's eyes for," a hyperbolic metaphor for sacrifice that dates back to 1857.
"to give one's eyes for" の表現なら直ぐに分かりますね。
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