节目简介

当我们面前有一件棘手的事情，但又不想马上处理时，往往会产生 “kick the can down the road” 的念头。“Kick the can down the road” 的字面意思是 “把易拉罐沿路踢出去”，形象地比喻了 “为了逃避眼前的难题而采取权宜之计，通过推延决策，将问题留到未来再解决” 的做法。听节目，跟主持人菲菲和 Phil 学习这个表达的用法。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei 
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English, where we explain phrases and expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I'm Feifei.

Phil
And I'm Phil.

Feifei
You are a bit late.

Phil
Yeah. Sorry, I've been getting my car fixed – It's very old and it wouldn't start.

Feifei
Oh, not again! Why don't you just get a new car?

Phil
I mean, I probably should, but it's very expensive so I'm going to kick the can down the road and just keep getting it fixed. I can probably make it last a few more years.

Feifei
And you'll end up spending as much as you would on a new car. Anyway, let's learn that expression you just used – 'kick the can down the road'.

Phil
Yes. When we talk about kicking the can down the road, it means we delay doing something. It might mean that we'll have to deal with it in the future, or we might be able to delay it long enough that it becomes someone else's problem.

Feifei
Yes, for example if you know you're leaving a job, you might want to delay some problems for someone else to deal with. So you might just kick the can down the road.

Phil
Let's hear some other people using the expression 'kick the can down the road'.

Examples
I need to get some building work done on my house, but I keep kicking the can down the road because I think it'll be a bit stressful.

Ugh, I've got some paperwork to do for the bank, but the task is just so boring, I keep kicking the can down the road.

My aunt really wants to have a video call with me, but whenever I speak to her on the phone, we end up talking for hours. So I've been avoiding it and I keep kicking the can down the road.

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “地道英语” 节目。在本期节目中，我们正在学习表达 “kick the can down the road” 的用法。“Kick the can down the road” 是一个十分有画面感的表达：想象一下你在路上看到了一个空的 “can（易拉罐）”，你想把它捡起来但是又懒得弯腰，于是就 “kick the can down the road（把易拉罐向前踢了一脚）”，这样就不用现在把它捡起来了。所以，这个表达的意思就是 “拖延处理一件麻烦事，把烦恼留到未来再解决”。

Phil
Yes, a similar expression with the same meaning is to 'kick something into the long grass'. It means the same – when you kick something into the long grass, you delay dealing with it.

Feifei
是的。在英语里还有一个和 “kick the can down the road” 意思相同的表达就是 “kick something into the long grass”。它们都能表达 “拖延、推迟处理一件事”。

OK. That's it for this programme, but join us next time to learn more English phrases and expressions.

Phil
Don't kick learning the next expression into the long grass. Learn it with us next time!

Feifei
That's right! See you then.

Phil
Bye!