雪鹰领主,欢乐颂小说在线阅读,好看的历史书籍推荐

Fish or cut bait

[ 2011-05-06 13:49]

字號

[大]

[中]

[小]

免費訂閱30天China Daily雙語新聞手機報：移動用戶編輯短信CD至106580009009

Reader's question:

You might tell someone to fish or cut bait if he repeatedly attempts to do something he is unable to do.

Could you explain "fish or cut bait"?

My comments:

In other words, do it or stop it altogether.

To fish one uses bait, the food one puts on the hook in order to attract fish.

When a fish takes the bait, you pull up the hook and you may catch the fish. Or you may not catch it, as the case may be.

And when you're done for the day, you cut the bait that's not eaten by any fish before packing for home.

Anyways, in the above example, you're advised to tell people who can't successfully finish a task to stop instead of keeping giving the impression that he's working.

Fish, or cut bait and go home. In other words, don't pretend to be doing something when all you do is waste everybody's time.

Related stories:

Gilt-edged

To do more with less

Right down the middle

Take my word for it

40-sometimes

Last but not the least

Call balls and strikes

Shove it under the carpet

the sky is the limit

hit it off

get my rib in my heart

With bells on

No harm, no foul

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

中國日報網英語點津版權說明：凡注明來源為“中國日報網英語點津：XXX（署名）”的原創作品，除與中國日報網簽署英語點津內容授權協議的網站外，其他任何網站或單位未經允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用，違者必究。如需使用，請與010-84883631聯系；凡本網注明“來源：XXX（非英語點津）”的作品，均轉載自其它媒體，目的在于傳播更多信息，其他媒體如需轉載，請與稿件來源方聯系，如產生任何問題與本網無關；本網所發布的歌曲、電影片段，版權歸原作者所有，僅供學習與研究，如果侵權，請提供版權證明，以便盡快刪除。