I don't know how to explain it. We have a phrase in the Persian language. We use it when we have something but we don't wanna finish it because we love it very much. I want to know the equivalent in English. Example: I don't wanna finish Sherlock Holmes novels so soon, Because I love them very much. How do people describe it in English when they feel like that? What's the phrase for it?
There isn't a phrase for that in the English language. We would just say what you used as an example, or something very similar.
The closest that I can think of is to “savour” something... So, if somebody told me that they wanted to “savour” something, like a box of chocolates, I would assume that they would eat them slowly in order to fully appreciate/enjoy them. I don’t think that there’s an exact equivalent, or I can’t think of one anyway.
Thanks @BothWaysSecret @LostInDaydreams . Very interesting. How about "I could not find it in my heart to ..."? Doesn't it have any use in this case? I guess not.
I probably wouldn’t use that phrase in the context of something that I didn’t want to end. I associate that more with negative things, such as “I didn’t have the heart to tell her why she didn’t get the job” or something along those lines.
I second "savour" (spelled "savor" in American English). Usually this word refers to eating but can be used for anything else. It isn't the exact translation
You could always just say in English that you to take your time and enjoy something. So you might say "I just want to take my time reading these Sherlock Holmes books and enjoy them." This is a bit more verbose than saying you want to savor it, but when I think of the word "savor," I think of food, typically, as in savoring food.
I don't know which one is better. Under different circumstances, Maybe I will be able to take my time and savour both of them. As I looked it up, It means: to [deliberately] do something slowly and carefully without hurrying. I have more options with this one.