真的那顆鐵球
這一支就是核心畫面本身，沒有比喻。
noun · B2
A heavy iron ball joined by a chain to a prisoner's leg, so that the prisoner could move but could not run away.
腳鐐鐵球
核心畫面
Picture a heavy iron ball locked by a short chain to someone's ankle. They can still walk; that is the point of it. Every step is slow, loud, and decided by the weight at the end of the chain. Each use of the phrase can be thought of as growing from that dragging ball: a thing you carry everywhere that quietly decides what you can do.
可以想成一顆很重的鐵球，用一條短鏈鎖在腳踝上。人還是走得動——這正是它的重點。只是每一步都很慢、很吵，而且由鏈子末端…更多收起
可以想成一顆很重的鐵球，用一條短鏈鎖在腳踝上。人還是走得動——這正是它的重點。只是每一步都很慢、很吵，而且由鏈子末端那個重量說了算。這個詞的各種用法，都可以想成從這顆被拖著的球長出來：一樣你到哪都帶著、而且悄悄決定你能做什麼的東西。Three branches
拖住你的那件事
把鐵球換成一件事：工作、債務、責任。你照樣過日子，只是每一步都拖著它。
noun · C1
Something that holds you back and takes away your freedom, so you cannot do what you want. It is usually a job, a debt, or a duty that you cannot put down.
累贅／束縛
（貶義）被當成那顆球的人
同樣的鐵球，這次腳上綁的被說成是自己的另一半。
noun · C1
A rude, joking way of talking about your own wife or husband, as if being married locked a weight to your leg. It is used most often about a wife.
（貶）另一半、老婆