2019-02-20 每日一词 108 | boil down to

boil down to: to be the main reason for something or the most basic part of something

boil down to”是个出现频率很高的实用表达，可以用在口语和写作中。它的意思是“一个问题的主要原因是、归根结底是”，如同熬一锅汤，煮时间长了水分就会减少，只留下最重要最本质的东西。当我们想表示一个事件的本质时，就可以用到它。

比如我们想说主要问题是缺钱，就可以用 boil down to something 造句：

The problem boils down to one thing: lack of money. (这里的冒号也可以换成破折号，或者也可以直接说成 The problem boils down to lack of money.）

亚马逊 CEO 杰夫·贝佐斯曾在一次毕业典礼中说“In the end, we are our choices.“ 我们可以用 boil down to 来改写这句话：

Ultimately, who we are boils down to our choices.

美国一位减肥比赛节目冠军 Ali Vincent 说过一句类似的话：

Big, sweeping life changes really boil down to small, everyday decisions.

我们在口语中可以常用 It all boils down to 这个简单句型，表示“归根结底就一件事儿“，比如：

It boils down to one thing: who you know in this business.

It boils down to one question: do you really want to learn English well?

It boils down to a simple question: do you really love me?

The question will always boil down to: who pays for the extra cost, and takes the initial risk? （来自《经济学人》，在讨论市场机制、监管等话题的文章中直接使用）

和 boil down to 类似的常见同义表达是 come down to，在掌握了 boil down to 的用法之后，可以学习一下 come down to 的用法。

翻译：这场争论归根结底是伦理问题而不是法律问题。

The debate boiled down to the problem of ethic rather than of law.

参考翻译：The argument boils down to ethics rather than laws.

场景：许多人出现身体不适或疾病，归根结底是自己不重视身体健康。

造句：Many people have disorders or diseases, which boils down to lack of health awareness.(想到的原版）

Many diseases boil down to lack of health awareness.（“守”的版本）

许多疾病出现的根本原因是（人们）缺乏健康意识。