美语词汇掌故第 45 课：Easy As Falling Off a Log: Not Much Effort Involved!-2

It is hard to imagine why anyone would want to shoot fish in a barrel.

But, clearly, fish in a barrel would be much easier to shoot than fish in a stream. In fact, it would be as easy as falling off a log.

Sometimes, things that come to us easily, also leave us just as easily.

In fact, there is an expression -- easy come, easy go -- that recognizes this.

You may win a lot of money in a lottery, then spend it all in a few days. Easy come, easy go.

When life itself is easy, when you have no cares or problems, you are on easy street. Everyone wants to live on that imaginary street.

Another "easy" expression is to go easy on a person. It means to treat a person kindly or gently, especially in a situation where you might be expected to be angry with him.

A wife might urge her husband to go easy on their son, because the boy did not mean to wreck the car.

If it is necessary to borrow some money to fix the car, you should look for a friend who is an easy touch.

An easy touch or a soft touch is someone who is kind and helpful. He would easily agree to lend you the money.

And one last expression, one that means do not worry or work too hard. Try to keep away from difficult situations. Take it easy until we meet again.