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Reader question: Please explain this sentence, and “brick wall” in particular: Middle-aged dieters hit a brick wall after 10 pounds or so. My comments: “Brick wall” is a wall built with bricks. Before the advent of steel structure and cement plates toughened by iron bars planted inside, almost all buildings were built with red bricks. Brick walls were tough – tougher than walls built with stone or mud. In most cases at any rate – after all we’re not talking about jerrybuilt houses or bridges in China. Or elsewhere, for that matter. The point of discussion here is “brick wall” the term itself and that stands for something tough and unbreakable, like an immovable object or obstacle. If you hit the brick wall then, it means you’re facing a problem you are incapable of solving. In the example from the top then, when middle-aged dieters are described as hitting a brick wall after 10 pounds or so, it means that for them, the first 10 pounds are easy to lose. After that it becomes really difficult to shed any more weight. Almost impossible as a matter of fact, as though one were pushing against an immovable brick wall. That’s part of the problem of being middle-aged, you see. Many people of that age tend to sit on their haunches most of the day, drive a car instead of walking to and from home, wine and dine a lot – business, you see – and, generally speaking, do little or no exercise at all. I heard of one such middle-aged man remark that the only exercise that he feels he does all day is when he hits the brake in traffic. | 
