TOEFL TOEIC 기출 관용표현 - Hit the nail on the head

1. 오늘의 표현
  Hit the nail on the head

 

    뜻 : 정확한 말을 하다, 문제의 핵심을 찌르다

 

    유래/어원
    이 표현은 목수들이 망치로 못을 정확히 박는 모습을 비유한 데서 비롯되었습니다. ‘못의 머리(head)를 정확히 때린다’는 말은,

    말이나 행동이 본질을 정확히 꿰뚫는 것을 뜻하게 되었으며, 현재는 회의, 프레젠테이션, 논쟁 상황 등에서 광범위하게 사용됨.

 

2. 출제 사례

• 2018 TOEFL iBT 리스닝 – 의견 평가 문항
• 2022 TOEIC RC Part 7 – 기사 독해 중 어휘

Hit the nail on the head

3. 예문

1. She really hit the nail on the head when she said our marketing needs more data analysis.
   (그녀는 마케팅이 더 많은 데이터 분석이 필요하다고 말하며 정말 핵심을 찔렀어요.)
2. During the meeting, John hit the nail on the head with his summary of the problem.
   (회의 중 존은 문제의 핵심을 정확히 짚어냈습니다.)
3. The article hit the nail on the head by highlighting the gap in public trust.
   (그 기사는 대중의 신뢰 격차를 지적하며 핵심을 잘 짚었습니다.)
4. You hit the nail on the head—that’s exactly what we were missing.
   (당신이 정확히 핵심을 짚었어요—바로 그게 우리가 놓치고 있던 부분이에요.)
5. He hit the nail on the head with his analysis of our weak customer retention.
   (그는 고객 유지율이 낮은 이유에 대한 분석으로 정확히 핵심을 찔렀습니다.)

4. 유사 표현과 반대 표현

  1) 유사 표현
    (a) get to the point (요점을 말하다)

• Please get to the point, we’re short on time.
  (요점을 말해 주세요. 시간이 부족합니다.)
• She got to the point without any unnecessary details.
  (그녀는 불필요한 설명 없이 요점을 말했습니다.)

   (b) nail it (완벽히 해내다)

1. He nailed it with that pitch—it was spot on.
   (그는 그 피치로 완벽하게 해냈어요. 정말 딱 맞았어요.)
2. I think we nailed it with the new product launch.
   (우리는 신제품 출시를 정말 성공적으로 해낸 것 같아요.)

   2) 반대 표현
    (a) miss the point (요점을 놓치다)

• I think you missed the point of the discussion.
  (당신은 이 논의의 요점을 놓친 것 같아요.)
• He completely missed the point of the presentation.
  (그는 발표의 핵심을 완전히 놓쳤어요.)

   (b) beat around the bush (돌려 말하다, 핵심을 피하다)

• Stop beating around the bush and answer the question.
  (돌려 말하지 말고 질문에 답하세요.)
• They kept beating around the bush instead of addressing the issue.
  (그들은 문제를 다루기보다 자꾸 에둘러 말했어요.)