【话匣子英语】试水

什么是“试水”，我们理解这个俚语的意思不能单独从字面去理解，它还可以表示下决定前的询问等等.......

Andrew: So, our first expression is to test the waters.

 

Harp¹: Yes. To test the waters.

 

Andrew: Mmhmm. Plural², right? Waters.

 

Harp: Yes. I’ve heard some people say to test the water, but normally it’s to test the waters.

 

Andrew: Mmhmm. And what does to test the waters mean?

 

Harp: So basically, to test the waters means when you’re not really sure about an action so you’re approaching it very cautiously. You’re not making a rash decision. You’re being very cautious about it.

 

Andrew: Exactly. You’re testing something out, right?

 

Harp: Exactly. So you’re… You’re kind of maybe talking to some friends about an action and seeing how they’re going to react. Or you’re talking to your boss about a new project. You’re… You’re testing the waters to see if this is a good idea, a good action to take.

 

Andrew: Exactly. Because committing 100% to doing something right from the start sometimes is a foolish idea. You need to try things slowly.

 

Harp: Yup. You need to get all the information you can, get a lot of reactions from people before you make a final decision to act on something.

 

Andrew: Exactly. And so this is testing the waters. And this expression… I think it has an interesting origin.

 

Harp: Oh yeah? Tell me about it.

 

Andrew: Well, if you think, you know… Sometimes before you go swimming, you wanna put your hand or your foot into the water to test the temperature before you jump in, right?

 

Harp: Yes.

 

Andrew: And so, this is just literally³ an extension of that idea. Putting your finger in the water to test the temperature is the same thing as trying out something before you commit fully⁴ to that thing.

1 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

2 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。