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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: Faced with criticism, he dug his heels in. My comments: In other word, he refused to budge. Whatever the said criticism is and no matter how many people criticize him and no matter how fair and valid their criticisms are, he refused to admit any wrongdoing and refused to change and reform, carrying on just the same, sometimes doubling down and behaving even worse. Sounds like talking about a certain someone in a position of great power right now. Sound like Donald Trump, President of the United States, don’t you think? Well, frankly speaking and to be totally fair, a lot of people are like that, digging in their heels and refusing to admit they’re wrong, ever. Anyways, the phrase to learn here is “digging in one’s heels” or simply “digging in”. Literally, soldiers dig in – by digging holes and trenches in the battlefield. And when they do that, you know they’re not going to retreat in face of an enemy attack. Instead, they’re going to resist and fight back until the attacking enemy is defeated – or until they die. That is, until they die in their trenches fighting to the end. Or picture two teams in a tug of war. In a tug of war, we see players firmly plant their feet on the ground while pulling the rope back; they plant their feet or heels so firmly and with so much force that it’s as if they are going to push their heels into the ground itself. | 
