To nip something in the bud
Helen: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Helen.
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC日常英语节目，我是 Helen.
William: Hi, I'm William. Today Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is opening.
大家好，我是William。今天Hampton Court Palace Flower Show将要开展。
Music, birdsong
音乐声鸟声起。
Helen: Oh, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show – the world's largest flower show! I've seen it on the news before. If only I had a garden!
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 世界上最大的花展！ 我在新闻上看到过。 我要有个花园该多好啊！
William: Ah yes, you live in an apartment, don't you Helen?
啊，对了，你是住公寓的吧，Helen？
Helen: Yeah. So William, let me guess, today we are going to do a phrase relating to flowers and gardening?
没错。William，我猜，我们今天是要学一个跟花和花园有关的词对吗？
William: Exactly.
对。
Helen: So...? What's the phrase?
那，是哪个词呢？
William: Er... Well, how about... how about... er. No, it's gone. It's no good. I can't think of a phrase right now.
嗯……不如学……呃……想不起来了。 不行，Helen，我现在想不起任何词语来。
Helen: Oh well. Let's just have a chat instead. I'm tired of learning new phrases anyway.
嗯，我反正也不是很想学新短语，我们聊聊天算了吧。
William: OK. Well, how are you Helen? How are the kids?
最近还好吧Helen？你的小孩怎么样了？
Helen: Oh they are both really well. My little boy eats too much chocolate though!
嗯，都还好。只是，我的小儿子太爱吃巧克力了。
William: Oh really? Well, you want to nip that in the bud.
是嘛？那你可得“nip thagt in the bud”呀。
Helen: Eh? Nip it in the bud?
吓 ？Nip it in the bud?
William: Nip it in the bud. If you nip something in the bud, you stop it before it becomes a problem.
防范于未然。 这个短语是指是在什么事情成为问题之前，早早地消灭于萌芽状态， 防患于未然。
Listen to this example from a business context:
先听这个短语在生意场上的用法：
Man: The last few deliveries we've had from this company have all had broken parts in them.
上几批我们从这家公司拿到的货物都有些损坏。
Woman: Well, we need to nip that in the bud. Tell them that unless their service improves, we're going to look for another supplier.
那，我们应该把这个问题彻底解决了才是。 告诉他们，如果他们的服务质量还不改善的话，我们会另找供应商。
Helen: So in that example, the man was complaining about poor service from a supplier. The woman wanted to nip it in the bud.
那么刚才这个例子中，那位先生抱怨供应商服务态度不好。 那位女士认为应该 nip it in the bud。
William: That's right. She wanted to take steps to improve the service before it got even worse.
没错。她想早点采取行动以防问题变得更糟。
Helen: So where does this phrase come from William – to nip something in the bud?
那么 William 这个短语 to nip something in the bud 是从哪里来的呢？
Birdsong and music
鸟声歌声起。
William: Well, it comes from gardening, actually. A bud is the part of a plant that becomes a flower, a leaf or stem. If you nip something in the bud, you cut the bud off the plant before it has time to grow.
实际上这个表达来自园艺。 花苞是指植物身上会变成花，叶子或是主干的那一部分。 直接的意思就是在植物刚长芽的时候就把这个萌芽给剪掉。
Helen: Oh. That's not very nice.
唔，这可不好。
William: Well, gardening is a tough game, Helen. You have to nip things in the bud sometimes. You also have to kill slugs and snails.
哈，管理花园可没有那没容易呀Helen。 你有时候得摘除一些花苞。 还得清除蛞蝓和蜗牛一类的虫子。
Helen: Eugh! I'm glad I don't have a garden.
呀，还好我没有花园。
William: Bye!
再会！
Helen: Bye!
再会 ！