今天李華忙著批改中文班學生的作業(yè)。李華會從Larry那兒學到兩個常用語：go easy on和go cold turkey。

LH: 哎！這些學生！看看他們的考卷兒，簡直糟透了！也不知道他們是不是真想學中文。

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: Go easy on them，就是對他們寬容一點，別那么惱火。可是Larry, 他們每天才學五個單詞，要是你問我啊，I am going easy on them。連這點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，可能是因為咖啡喝得太多，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, 剛才你讓我對學生要客氣點兒 - go easy on my students，現(xiàn)在又說我應該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, 就是讓我少喝點兒咖啡。可是，go easy on the students就是要對學生客氣點。我不是太清楚，Larry, 你能不能再給我舉個例子？

LL: Sure. Whenever you see me drinking at a party, you always tell me to go easy on the beer.

LH: 對呀，每次參加party 的時候我都勸你別喝那么多啤酒，喝醉了會出洋相的！哎喲，Look at this! 這個學生，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“突然停止做那些習慣做的事，一下子戒掉原來上癮的習慣”。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那兒學到了兩個常用語。一個是go easy on someone 就是“對某人客氣些”，要是說go easy on something，那就是“有節(jié)制地使用某件東西”。李華學到的另一個常用語是go cold turkey on something, 意思是“突然停止做某件事”。

相關(guān)閱讀

與吸煙有關(guān)的表達

Lick the habit 戒除惡習

無煙日”盤點smoke短語

如何告訴老外保持冷靜

（來源：流行美語 編輯：旭燕）

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