流行美语 第 108 课：go easy on ; go cold turkey

今天李华忙着批改中文班学生的作业。李华会从Larry那儿学到两个常用语：go easy on和 go cold turkey。

LH: 哎！这些学生！看看他们的考卷儿，简直糟透了！也不知道他们是不是真想学中文。

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: 你说什么？你要我把中文课改得再容易一点儿？

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，就是别这么厉害，别那么恼火。可是Larry, 他们每天才学五个单词，要是你问我啊，I am going easy on them.连这点最基本的中文都考不好，那还有什么希望呐！

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: 我这几天是情绪不好，没耐心，也不知道是什么原因，可能是因为咖啡喝得太多，晚上睡不好觉的缘故吧。

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, 刚才你让我对学生要客气点儿 - go easy on my students，现在又说我应该go easy on the coffee，这又怎么解释呢？

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, 就是让我少喝点儿咖啡。可是，go easy on the students就是要对学生客气点。我不是太清楚，Larry, 你能不能再给我举个例子？

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

LH: 对呀，每次参加party 的时候我都劝你别喝那么多啤酒，喝醉了会出洋相的！哎哟，Look at this! 这个学生，五道题里只回答了一道，我只能给她不及格了。

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，我已经三天没喝咖啡了，晚上睡觉是好多了，可是白天我怎么老是觉得精力不够、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? 你在说什么呀？你让我少喝咖啡，多吃冷火鸡呀？

LL: No, I said you went cold turkey. That means to suddenly quit doing or consuming something that is addictive.

LH: 噢，原来go cold turkey不是 “吃冷火鸡”呀！Go cold turkey是“突然停止做那些习惯做的事，一下子戒掉原来上瘾的习惯”。哎，Larry, 你觉得我过去喝咖啡到上瘾的程度了吗？

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，突然一下子一点儿咖啡都不喝了，是够难的，怪不得我老没精神呢！不过Larry, 要把戒咖啡和戒烟相比，我看，戒烟恐怕更难吧？

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，说戒烟一下子就戒掉了。我记得我叔叔也试过一下子戒掉 - go cold turkey on cigarettes，可是他试了三次都没成功，不过他现在抽得比以前少多了。

LL: I'm glad your uncle is going easy on cigarettes.

今天李华从Larry那儿学到了两个常用语。一个是go easy on someone 就是“对某人客气些”，要是说go easy on something，那就是“有节制地使用某件东西”。李华学到的另一个常用语是go cold turkey on something, 意思是“突然停止做某件事”。