在英语中，经常会碰到“like watching paint dry”这个短语，字面意思是“就像是用眼看着等着油漆干”，实际上比喻的是一种“乏味无聊，冗长没意思的等待”。

My girlfriend loved the Les Miserables movie, but I hated it. For me, it was like watching paint dry.
The chancellor’s budget speech is on TV later. It’ll be like watching paint dry!
I hate it when football is on the television, it’s like watching paint dry.
值得注意的是，英语中还有一个与paint相关的短语“paint the town red”，字面意思是“把全城刷红”，实际上比喻的是“尽情地，毫无约束地狂欢庆祝”。



It’s my 21st birthday on Saturday and I’m going to paint the town red.