to save one's life

Preview（腕試し）　

Koji: Kozo, do you know the name of that man standing over there?

Kozo: I know his face, but I can't remember his name to save my life.

What does Kozo mean?

A. He may remember soon.

B. He'll probably remember soon.

C. He can't remember at all, even though he is thinking hard about it.

　

Quick Glossary （用語辞典）

top (of a jar) = ふた

pickle = キュウリのつけ物

Examples（例文）

This idiom is used to say that you can't do something no matter how hard you try.

I saw a former student in Den Den Town, but I couldn't remember her name to save my life. (= I couldn't remember her name even though I tried very hard to remember it.)

Paula tried hard to get the top off of the jar of pickles, but she couldn't do it to save her life.

Tom once tried to learn how to play the violin, but he couldn't do it to save his life.

Note: This idiom is used with negative verbs. We probably wouldn't say, "I could remember her name to save my life."

Exercises（練習）Type the appropriate form of "to save (one's) life" in the box.	Answer (答え)
1. Keiko: Mark, do you know who the first prime minister of Japan was? Mark: I guess I don't know. Actually, I can't remember .	->
2. I asked Sayuri if she knew when to use "a" and when to use "the" before countable nouns, but she couldn't tell me .	->
3. One day our history teacher asked the class to name three important battles in the U.S. Civil War. Unfortunately, we couldn't answer .	->