In these days of dieting and weight watching, mostpeople would love to be able to tighten their beltafter losing a few kilograms. In times when food andjobs were scarce, however, tightening one's belt wasa sign that times were getting worse, and there wassimply not enough food to put on the table.

在节食和减肥的日子里，大多数人会因为能够在减去几公斤后收紧腰带而感到高兴。然而，在工作难找和食品匮乏的时代，收紧自己的腰带则代表着生活的日趋艰难——这是因为餐桌上根本就没有足够的食物。

As time passed, this physical act of actuallytightening one's belt became a symbolic statement, and hence an idiom. This means thattoday, you can use this expression even if you never wear a belt at all. Now, "tightening one'sbelt" simply means that the next few weeks or months or years are going to be more difficult,and we may have to work harder to get less.

随着时间的流逝，这样一个“勒紧腰带”的行为变成了象征性的表达方式，并因此成了一个成语。也就是说，如今即使你从来不系腰带，你也可以使用这种表达方式。现在，“勒紧腰带”这种表达方式意味着在未来数周、数月或数年你的生活会更加困难，而且你可能需要干得更多但享受得却更少。