The english we speak(BBC教學)第109期:Easy tiger 放輕鬆
Rob: Hello, I'm Rob. And here comes Helen. Wow, she's changed her hair colour! It looks, well, different. Hi Helen I like your hair.
羅布：大家好，我是羅布。海倫來了。哇，她換了髮色！看起來，有點兒不同。海倫，你好，我喜歡你的髮型。Helen: Don't say a word!
海倫：什麼都別說！Rob: Whoa!
羅布：哇！
Helen: I don't want to talk about it.
海倫：我不想談這個。Rob: About what? The fact you dyed your hair?
羅布：談什麼？你染髮了這件事？Helen: Enough!
海倫：夠了！Rob: Whoa! Easy tiger!
羅布：哇！放輕鬆！Helen: I do not look like a tiger!
海倫：我看起來可不像老虎！Rob: I never said you did. It's just an expression. Though come to think of it, your hair is kind of stripy orange now.
羅布：我可沒說過你像老虎。這只是個表達方式。雖然想一下的話，你現在的頭髮是有點兒像桔黃色條紋。(Helen starts sobbing)
（海倫開始抽泣）Rob: OK, you really don't look like a tiger though. I said "easy tiger!" which is just a way of saying "calm down".
羅布：好啦，實際上你並不像老虎。easy tiger的意思是冷靜下來。Helen: It's all the hairdresser's fault. He told me I would look beautiful with copper highlights, then he did this to me. Now I have orange stripes, I look like a jungle animal.
海倫：這全是理髮師的錯。他告訴我要是把頭髮染成銅色我會看起來很漂亮，然後他就這麼做了。可是現在我頭髮上是橙色的條紋，我看起來像是野生動物。Rob: No, you don't look like a jungle animal. Listen to me. We say "easy tiger" when we want someone to calm down, to not get over-emotional, or not to rush into something.
羅布：不，你看起來並不像野生動物。聽我說，我們說easy tiger，意思是我們需要某個人冷靜，不要情緒化，不要草率行動。Helen: Oh. You're talking about tigers because of the way I'm behaving, not because of my hair?
海倫：哦。你談到老虎只是因爲我的行爲，而不是因爲我的頭髮嗎？Rob: That's right. It's an expression that's usually used in informal situations, between friends. Here are some more examples.
羅布：沒錯。這是通常用於非正式場合的表達方式，通常在朋友之間使用。這裏有更多的例子。Girl 1: I've just met the perfect man–he is tall, handsome, kind... I'm going to marry him and have children-we'll live together in a house by the sea, we'll -
女孩1：我剛剛遇到了一個完美男人——他身材高大、英俊、善良……我要和他結婚並生兒育女，我們要一起生活在海邊的房子裏，我們要……Girl 2: Easy tiger! Do you even know his name?
女孩2：慢慢來！你知道他的名字嗎？Man: Right, this food is disgusting, we're leaving the restaurant right now!
男：這個食物真令人噁心，我們現在就要離開這個餐廳！Woman: Easy tiger! I quite like it here. Let's wait until the main course comes.
女：放輕鬆！我非常喜歡這裏。我們等主菜上來吧。Helen: I understand. Maybe my hair is not so bad after all.
海倫：我明白了。也許我的頭髮還不是那麼糟。Rob: No, it's just unusual. It doesn't make you look like a tiger... I'd say more of an orangutan than a tiger...
羅布：對，只是有點特別。你的頭髮看上去並不像老虎……我覺得比起老虎，更像猩猩……Helen: What! An orangutan!
海倫：什麼？猩猩！Rob: Orangutans are very handsome creatures; they're a kind of rich auburn-copper colour.
羅布：猩猩是非常帥氣的生物；猩猩是紅褐色的。Helen: How dare you!
海倫：你怎麼敢！Rob: Don't bare your teeth like that, that's scary. Please…
羅布：別像那樣呲牙，那很可怕。請……(Sound of a real growling tiger!)
（聽起來像真的老虎在咆哮）Rob: Easy tiger, easy!
羅布：放輕鬆，輕鬆點！(Tiger growling and huge roar).
（老虎咆哮發出巨大的吼聲）重點講解：
1. think of
想到；想起；想出；
eg. Let's think of some questions about life.
讓我們對生活設想一些問題吧。
eg. I couldn't think of the name of that man anyhow.
我怎麼也想不出那人的名字來了。
2. calm down
（使）平靜下來；（使）鎮定下來；
eg. I told myself to calm down.
我告誡自己要冷靜下來。
eg. In truth, everyone should take a deep breath and calm down.
實際上，所有人都應該深呼吸。讓自己冷靜下來。
3. rush into sth.
（未經充分考慮而）匆忙做，倉促做，草率地做；
eg. He will not rush into any decisions.
他不會草率作出任何決定的。
eg. Ministers won't be rushed into a response.
部長們不會急於迴應的。
4. ...
更像（前者）地；與其說（是）…，倒不如說（是）；
eg. Sue screamed, not loudly, more in surprise than terror.
休尖叫起來，聲音不大，吃驚多於恐懼。
eg. He's more like a film star than a lifeguard, really.
真的，與其說他像救生員，不如說他更像電影明星。
