gimlet-eyed, eat one's heart out, caused tongues to wag

Saul Bellow was born a hundred years ago today. He was a serial adulterer, a negligent father and a surprisingly lacklustre public speaker. But he was also a good friend to many literary luminaries such as Ralph Ellison, Bernard Malamud and John Berryman, and a “famed noticer” who channelled his gimlet-eyed observations to create enduring, innovative, award-winning fiction. 


Eat your heart out, Sarkozy. Stand back, Barack. Vladimir Putin proved that even a gimlet-eyed Russian politician can rise to the status of global celebrity in the multimedia age, as pictures of his bare chest and manly deeds on Siberian holiday caused tongues to wag worldwide.
去傷心吧，薩科茲。靠邊站，巴拉克。普廷證明了就連目光銳利的俄羅斯政客，也能在這個多媒體時代躍升至全球名流的地位，他最近在西伯利亞度假打赤膊、從事充滿男子氣概活動的照片，引起全世界議論紛紛。



eat one’s heart out：片語，原指非常傷心，如The children are eating their hearts out over their lost dog. （狗兒走失了，孩子們非常難過。）但若把名人姓名接在此片語後使用，即表示說話者在開玩笑，戲稱他們比這位名人還要好，例如I’m singing in the village production of Tosca next month - eat your heart out Pavarotti!（我下個月要在村裡的托斯卡歌劇表演裡獻唱，很傷心吧，帕華洛帝！）

eat one's heart out

suffer from excessive longing for someone or something unattainable: I could have stayed in London eating my heart out for you

[in imperative] informal used to indicate that one thinks someone will feel great jealousy or regret:eat your heart out, those who missed the trip

Eat Your Heart Out

cause/set （some）tongues to wag：片語，指引人議論，引發八卦話題，如The way she was so scantily dressed will also cause tongues to wag.（她穿得那麼少，一定會引發非議。）
俞智敏
Idioms: tongues wag
People are gossiping. For example, Tongues wagged when another police car was parked in front of their house, or Their arrival in a stretch limousine set the neighbors' tongues wagging. This metaphoric expression transfers the rapid movement of the tongue to idle or indiscreet chatter. [Late 1500s]
Idioms: eat one's heart out
Feel bitter anguish, grief, worry, jealousy, or another strong negative emotion. For example, She is still eating her heart out over being fired, or Eat your heart out--my new car is being delivered today. This hyperbolic expression alludes to strong feelings gnawing at one's heart. [Late 1500s]

gimlet

(Click to enlarge)

gimlet

( School Division, Houghton Mifflin Company)

n.

1. A small hand tool having a spiraled shank, a screw tip, and a cross handle and used for boring holes.
2. A cocktail made with vodka or gin, sweetened lime juice, and sometimes effervescent water and garnished with a slice of lime.

tr.v., -let·ed, -let·ing, -lets.
To penetrate with or as if with a gimlet.
adj.
Having a penetrating or piercing quality: gimlet eyes.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman guimbelet, perhaps from Middle Dutch wimmelkijn, diminutive of wimmel, auger.]