这个习惯用语还比较新，出现在三十来年前。我们仍然看个例子来确切领会它的意思吧。这一回说话的人要说的是他兄弟Mike在办公室的境遇，看来Mike也日子很难熬：

　　例句：Mike's looking for another job. His boss is rude and very bad-tempered. And the five people who work for Mike are lazy and untrained so Mike has to explain everything to them. Therefore, his job is a real bed of nails for him.

　　他说： Mike正在另找工作，他的上级粗暴无礼、脾气又非常坏，而在他手下工作的那五个人既懒惰有没受过什么训练，所以Mike凡事都得向他们解释。这样看来Mike在那儿工作真是如坐针毡，处境极其艰难。

　　这里的习惯用语bed of nails意思就是处境极其艰难。