美國(guó)之音之流行美語(yǔ)go easy on / go cold turkey
Popular American - #108
流行美語(yǔ)-第一百零八課
go easy on
go cold turkey
今天李華忙著批改中文班學(xué)生的作業(yè)。李華會(huì)從Larry那兒學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：go easy on和 go cold turkey。
LH: 哎！這些學(xué)生！看看他們的考卷兒，簡(jiǎn)直糟透了！也不知道他們是不是真想學(xué)中文。
LL: Hey, go easy on your students, Li Hua. They've only been studying Chinese for a few weeks. It's a difficult language!
LH: 你說什么？你要我把中文課改得再容易一點(diǎn)兒？
LL: That's not what I said, Li Hua. I said you should go easy on them. That means you should show some restraint - don't be too angry with them.
LH: mHmmpph! Go easy on them，就是別這么厲害，別那么惱火。可是Larry, 他們每天才學(xué)五個(gè)單詞，要是你問我啊，I am going easy on them.連這點(diǎn)最基本的中文都考不好，那還有什么希望吶！
LL: I just mean you shouldn't yell or get angry at them. Why are you always in such a bad mood these days?
LH: 我這幾天是情緒不好，沒耐心，也不知道是什么原因，可能是因?yàn)榭Х群鹊锰?，晚上睡不好覺的緣故吧。
LL: A lot of coffee - huh? No wonder you can't sleep well. I think you should go easy on the coffee.
LH: Go easy on the coffee? 等等，Larry, 剛才你讓我對(duì)學(xué)生要客氣點(diǎn)兒 - go easy on my students，現(xiàn)在又說我應(yīng)該go easy on the coffee，這又怎么解釋呢？
LL: When I say "go easy on the coffee", I mean you should show some restraint and drink less coffee.
LH: Go easy on the coffee, 就是讓我少喝點(diǎn)兒咖啡?？墒?，go easy on the students就是要對(duì)學(xué)生客氣點(diǎn)。我不是太清楚，Larry, 你能不能再給我舉個(gè)例子？
LL: Sure. Whenever you see me drinking at a party, you always tell me to go easy on the beer.
LH: 對(duì)呀，每次參加party 的時(shí)候我都勸你別喝那么多啤酒，喝醉了會(huì)出洋相的！哎喲，Look at this! 這個(gè)學(xué)生，五道題里只回答了一道，我只能給她不及格了。
LL: Hey, hey, don't give her an 'F'! Go easy on her. And go easy on the coffee,
****
LH: 啊，我累死了！
LL: How are you feeling now that you're drinking less coffee?
LH: 嗯，我已經(jīng)三天沒喝咖啡了，晚上睡覺是好多了，可是白天我怎么老是覺得精力不夠、昏昏沉沉的呢？
LL: No coffee for three days? I told you to go easy on the coffee, not go cold turkey!
LH: Go cold turkey? 你在說什么呀？你讓我少喝咖啡，多吃冷火雞呀？
LL: No, I said you went "cold turkey". That means to suddenly quit doing or consuming something that is addictive.
LH: 噢，原來go cold turkey不是 “吃冷火雞”呀！Go cold turkey是“突然停止做那些習(xí)慣做的事，一下子戒掉原來上癮的習(xí)慣”。哎，Larry, 你覺得我過去喝咖啡到上癮的程度了嗎？
LL: Ok, you're not really addicted to coffee. But quitting coffee isn't easy, right? When I said you went cold turkey, It implied that quitting is not easy.
LH: 是啊，突然一下子一點(diǎn)兒咖啡都不喝了，是夠難的，怪不得我老沒精神呢！不過Larry, 要把戒咖啡和戒煙相比，我看，戒煙恐怕更難吧？
LL: That's true. One day, my friend Rick went cold turkey on cigarettes. It almost drove him crazy, but he never smoked a cigarette again.
LH: Wow, 你的朋友Rick可真了不起，說戒煙一下子就戒掉了。我記得我叔叔也試過一下子戒掉 - go cold turkey on cigarettes，可是他試了三次都沒成功，不過他現(xiàn)在抽得比以前少多了。
LL: I'm glad your uncle is going easy on cigarettes.
今天李華從Larry那兒學(xué)到了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)。一個(gè)是go easy on someone 就是“對(duì)某人客氣些”，要是說go easy on something，那就是“有節(jié)制地使用某件東西”。李華學(xué)到的另一個(gè)常用語(yǔ)是go cold turkey on something, 意思是“突然停止做某件事”。
