【成語來源】?

burn the boat
破釜沉舟

In the late years of the Qin Dynasty (秦朝,221 - 206BC), Xiang Yu (項(xiàng)羽) launched a rebellion.?
秦朝末年，項(xiàng)羽發(fā)動了叛亂。

After crossing the Zhang River (漳河), Xiang Yu ordered his soldiers to sink all the boats and break their cooking pots.
在部隊(duì)渡過漳河之后，項(xiàng)羽命令士兵把所有的船只都鑿破，沉到河底，再把煮飯鍋完全打碎。

He distributed each soldier three days' rations and warned them that there was no way return; the only thing they could do to survive was to fight against the enemy.
項(xiàng)羽給每個(gè)人只發(fā)三天的糧食，然后再上戰(zhàn)場，這樣做，是為了向大家表示“寧死不退”的決心。

After nine furious war, the Qin army was finally defeated.
果然，經(jīng)過九次的激烈奮戰(zhàn)，項(xiàng)羽的軍隊(duì)終于打敗了秦國的軍隊(duì)。

This idiom is used to reveal one's strong determination to achieve one's goal at any cost.
后來，我們使用“破釜沉舟”比喻：下定決心，不達(dá)目的絕不罷休的精神。
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【文化鏈接】

英文中“破釜沉舟”可以用“burn the boat ”來表達(dá)，就是“燒掉船只”，即“破釜沉舟，自絕退路”。

我們一起來看幾個(gè)例句：

Andy is intelligent, energetic and is ready to burn his boat.
安迪聰明熱情，且隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備破釜沉舟干到底。

但是，這個(gè)短語并不是時(shí)時(shí)都是褒義的，如果“破釜沉舟”精神領(lǐng)會的不好，那有時(shí)會真的是自絕后路，比如說：

Think carefully before you resign ---if so, you will have burnt your boat.
你對辭職的事情要三思呀,不然就自絕了后路了。