To swim upstream 逆流而上

今日短語

表達 “swim upstream 向上遊” 原本指三文魚這種幼期在河裡生活的魚類到瞭秋天就會逆流遊到砂礫遍佈的上遊河床產卵的習性。要完成這段遊途很不容易，而且會消耗巨大的體力，但正因如此，三文魚才得以繁衍生息。

在日常對話中，“swim upstream” 比喻 “一個人本可以輕松簡單地做某事，卻選擇瞭更加艱難的道路”。其中，“upstream” 是副詞，意思是 “向河、溪上遊地”，它的反義詞是“downstream 向河、溪下遊地”。

例句

She was very happy to retire. She felt like she had been swimming upstream for years, commuting over two hours morning and evening to do a stressful, badly paid job she did not enjoy.
她很開心能退休。她感覺這些年來一直在艱苦求生，每天上下班要花兩個多小時，而且工作壓力大、工資低，她一點也不喜歡。

Few musicians have the courage to swim upstream nowadays – most prefer to follow trends and make music that is popular but not innovative.
如今，很少有音樂傢有勇氣迎難而上。大多數都順應潮流，制作受歡迎但缺乏創新的音樂。

Although in the beginning it felt like he was swimming upstream, he persevered and managed to convince the shareholders to drop their resistance to his plans for restructuring the company.
雖然一開始他像是在逆流而上、孤軍奮戰，但他堅持不懈，終於說服瞭股東們不再反對他重建公司構架的計劃。