Smithereens are tiny broken pieces — what is left when something is smashed or blown up.

when something is smashed or blown up東西被砸爛或炸開後，what is left剩下的，Smithereens are就是tiny broken pieces細小的碎片。

The word almost never stands alone. It lives inside a few fixed phrases: 'blow something to smithereens' (destroy it with an explosion), 'smash something to smithereens', 'blown to smithereens'.

The word這個字 almost never stands alone幾乎不會單獨出現。It lives inside它通常出現在 a few fixed phrases幾個固定用法裡：'blow something to smithereens'炸得粉碎 (destroy it with an explosion)用爆炸把它摧毀, 'smash something to smithereens'摔得粉碎, 'blown to smithereens'被炸得粉碎。It has no singular form這個字沒有單數形式；there is no 'a smithereen' in normal use一般也不會說「a smithereen」。

It has no singular form; there is no 'a smithereen' in normal use. The word has a slightly dramatic, storybook feel, and people often use it playfully for things that are not really explosions — a dropped plate, a plan that fell apart, a team beaten badly in a game. It came into English from Ireland, and it still carries a little of that flavour.

The word has a slightly dramatic, storybook feel這個字帶著一點誇張、故事書般的味道，and people often use it playfully大家也常常開玩笑地用它 for things that are not really explosions來形容其實不是爆炸的事情——a dropped plate摔破的盤子、a plan that fell apart失敗的計畫、a team beaten badly in a game比賽慘敗的隊伍。It came into English from Ireland這個字是從愛爾蘭傳入英文的，and it still carries a little of that flavour現在還帶著一點那種味道。