Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - a tough nut to crack｜又中又英

Nuts are nutritional but high in fat and calories. That’s why you should eat nuts in moderation. If a certain type of food is nutritional it means it contains the good things necessary for health and growth. Potato chips and cookies are not very nutritional. To eat something in moderation means to not eat too much of it. If you drink alcohol, you should drink it in moderation. I love eating nuts but I never eat too much because they are high in calories. Years ago when I lived in Seattle, I used to buy raw nuts still in their shells. I had a nutcracker to crack open the nuts so I could eat the kernels inside the shells.

A kernel is the soft inside part of a nut which is edible. Most nuts have hard shells, such as walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds. They are tough to crack even with a nutcracker but a walnut is an especially tough nut to crack. The literal meaning of a tough nut to crack means it is very hard to crack the nut. But a tough nut to crack is also a phrase with a very different meaning. If something is a tough nut to crack it means it is a problem that is very hard to solve. It can also mean a person who is difficult to deal with, hard to understand, or difficult to defeat. The expression “a hard nut to crack” has the same meaning.

When I was in school, mathematics was a tough nut to crack. I found it very hard to understand. Many people say Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is a tough nut to crack because she is difficult to deal with. Many media reports said President Vladimir Putin thought his Russian military could defeat Ukraine in a few days. He has now found out Ukraine is a tough nut to crack.
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坚果富含营养（nutritional），但也有很高的脂肪和卡路里，因此你应该适量地（in moderation）进食坚果。若某一种食物是 nutritional，意即它蕴含对健康和发育有益的营养。薯片和曲奇就没甚么营养（nutritional）了。To eat something in moderation意思是有节制地进食某物，不宜过量地吃。若你喝酒，你也应有节制地（in moderation）喝。我爱吃坚果，但我从不会吃太多，因为它们有很高的卡路里。我多年前住在西雅图的时候，经常会买一些带壳的生坚果，那时我有一个胡桃钳去开生坚果，能吃到硬壳中的果仁（kernels）。

A kernel就是坚果中可以食用、较软身的果仁。大部份坚果都有硬壳，例如核桃、榛子和杏仁。即使用上胡桃钳，它们都硬得难以夹开，但核桃尤其是tough nut to crack。按字面解a tough nut to crack就是坚果非常坚硬，很难夹开；但 a tough nut to crack也是一个片语，有着迥然不同的意思。若某事物是 a tough nut to crack，意即那是难以解决的棘手问题；它也可以解作一个难相与、难以理解又或不好对付的人。习语“a hard nut to crack”亦有相同的意思。

我从前在学的时候，数学是 a tough nut to crack——它对我来说很棘手，我实在很难理解。许多人说特首林郑月娥是 a tough nut to crack，因为她是个很难打交道的人。许多传媒报道，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔‧普京以为他的军队可以在几天内击败乌克兰，但他现在发现，乌克兰并不那么好对付（a tough nut to crack）。

中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁