The english we speak(BBC教學)第223期:To sleep on it 好好考慮
Neil is shopping for a new bed but when he tells Feifei he'll 'sleep on it' she seems surprised. Find out how sleeping on something doesn't just mean lying on a bed!
尼爾正在商店挑選新牀，不過當他告訴菲菲他要“再考慮一下”時，菲菲看起來非常驚訝。收聽節目，弄清楚sleep on something的意思與躺在牀上有什麼不同。Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript
注：文本和音頻並不完全對應Feifei: Hello, welcome to The English We Speak, I'm Feifei...
Neil: I'm Neil. Hello. We're out shopping today, aren't we, Feifei?
尼爾：……我是尼爾，大家好。我們今天外出購物了，對吧，菲菲？Feifei: Yes, Neil needs to buy a new bed — his old bed has broken. So Neil, look at all these beds — there are so many to choose from but which one do you want to buy?
菲菲：對，尼爾要買張新牀，他原來的牀壞了。尼爾，看看這些牀，有這麼多選擇，你想買哪張？Neil: Well, that one there is massive but it wouldn't fit through my front door!
尼爾：那張牀又大又結實，不過可能進不了我家的前門！Feifei: Hmm, that one there is quite cheap but... it doesn't look very well made.
菲菲：嗯，這張牀很便宜，不過看起來做工不太好。Neil: Hey look at this one... a water bed! Listen to the sound it makes!
尼爾：嘿，看看這張牀……這是一張水牀！聽聽它發出來的聲音！Feifei: Oh, there are too many beds to choose from!
菲菲：哦，有太多的牀可供選擇了！Neil: Well, Feifei, I'll have to sleep on it!
尼爾：菲菲，我要好好考慮一下！Feifei: Neil! You can't sleep on that water bed — you haven't bought it yet — and anyway, you haven't brought your pyjamas!
菲菲：尼爾！你不能睡在那張水牀上，你還沒付錢呢，而且你也沒有帶睡衣來！Neil: Relax Feifei — I'm not going to sleep here in the shop — that would be embarrassing! When someone says they're going to sleep on it, they mean they're going to spend some time thinking about something before making a final decision.
尼爾：放鬆，菲菲，我並不是說現在要睡在店裏的這張水牀上，要是那樣也太尷尬了！當人們說他們要sleep on it時，意思是在做最終決定前，他們要花些時間好好考慮一下。Feifei: Phew! So you make your final decision later — not now?
菲菲：哦！所以你要一會兒再做最終決定？不是現在？Neil: That's right! So I'm going to think about which is the best bed to buy and come back in the morning, OK? Let's hear some other examples of the phrase 'to sleep on it'...
尼爾：沒錯！我要考慮一下哪張是最值得買的牀，明天早上再過來，怎麼樣？我們來聽些例句，看看這個短語如何應用。Examples
例句We couldn't decide which car to buy so we decided to sleep on it — we didn't want to buy the wrong one!
我們無法決定要買輛車，於是我們決定好好考慮一下，我們可不想買錯！Thanks for your job offer but I need some time to think about it. Let me sleep on it and I'll give you an answer tomorrow.
謝謝您的工作錄用函，不過我需要些時間考慮。我要仔細考慮一下，明天給您答覆。He told me he'd have to sleep on it before he could agree to my request for a pay rise.
他告訴我，他要好好考慮一下是否同意我漲工資的要求。Feifei: To sleep on it... hmm... but why 'sleep' Neil?
菲菲：好好考慮一下……嗯……不過尼爾，爲什麼用sleep這個詞？Neil: Because usually you think about your decision overnight — you literally go to sleep before waking up the next day and deciding what to do, when you've had more rest.
尼爾：因爲通常你要考慮整晚之後才能做出決定，字面意思就是，你去睡覺，然後在第二天醒來之前做出決定，這個時間通常你有更多的休息時間。Feifei: It sounds like a good idea but hold on Neil...
菲菲：聽起來是個好主意，不過尼爾，等一下……Neil: What's wrong?
尼爾：怎麼了？Feifei: You can't 'sleep on it' overnight because you haven't got a bed to sleep on!
菲菲：你不能考慮一整晚的時間，因爲你今晚沒有牀睡覺了！Neil: Well, let's not lose sleep over it — you've got a spare bed haven't you?
尼爾：嗯，我們不要太擔心這個問題，你有張空牀，對吧？Feifei: What?!
菲菲：什麼？！Neil: It's another idiom Feifei, but I'll explain it another time. Come on let's go.
尼爾：菲菲，這是另一個習語，我以後再解釋。我們走吧。Feifei: Bye.
菲菲：再見。Neil: Bye.
尼爾：再見。
譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載
重點講解：
1. choose from 挑選；選擇；選取；
例句：There are several patchwork cushions to choose from.
有好幾種拼布工藝靠墊可供選擇。
2. sleep on it 好好考慮一夜；把…留待第二天再作決定；
例句：Don't say now if you'll take the job: sleep on it first.
你現在先別決定接受這項工作: 考慮一天再說。
3. wake up 醒；醒來；喚醒；弄醒；
例句：Jake wanted to wake up, but sleep held him back.
傑克想要醒來，但睡意使他又沉入夢鄉。
4. hold on 稍等；等一下；
例句：Hold on a minute till I put my coat on!
等一下，讓我穿上外套！
5. what's wrong 怎麼了？有什麼問題嗎？
例句：You're like a cat on hot bricks today. What's wrong?
你今天煩躁不安，出什麼事了?
6. lose sleep over sth. 對…十分擔心；爲…而睡不着覺；
例句：I didn't lose too much sleep over that investigation.
我並不太擔心那個調查。
