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Reader question: “To go all the way, you need to burn the bridges behind you.” What does “burn the bridges” mean? My comments: This sounds like someone advising people, as they are about to embark on some new endeavor or other, to go all out and not worry too much about the past or about consequences. Or they’re advising you not to be half-hearted. Perhaps this is a better explanation. To “burn the bridges behind you”, you see, is an idiom inspired by some ancient military tactic of burning the bridge after the soldiers have crossed the river. This risky tactic is used as an extra motivation to spur on the soldiers, telling them now that the bridge is burned, there is no turning back. There’s nowhere to go but forward. And so let’s go all out and win the battle once and for all. In Chinese, we have a similar idiom of military origin in Mie Ci Zhao Shi（灭此朝食）, or in plain language, let’s skip breakfast. If we go on attack this morning with an empty stomach, as goes the logic, we may be better motivated in battle this time. And so let’s win the battle now and have a big lunch afterwards. Extreme tactics, assuredly. Perhaps soldiers can all make do going to battle on an empty stomach for one day, but certainly not everyday! Hence, you better save such tactics as “skipping breakfast, burning the bridge, or burning the boat (same as burning the bridge)” for extreme circumstances. | 
