Stir the pot 挑撥是非

內容簡介

做飯時適當地攪動鍋裡的食材 “stir the pot”，可以使食材表面均勻受熱。但在日常生活中，如果某人 “stir the pot”，那這個人則是在 “搬弄是非，添油加醋，故意制造麻煩”。聽節目，學習這個表達的用法。

文字稿

（關於臺詞的備註: 請註意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。）

Feifei
大傢好，歡迎收聽 AYYBLOG英語教學的 “地道英語” 節目。I’m Feifei.

Neil
And I’m Neil. We have an expression which is about causing trouble or being provocative – it’s ‘stir the pot’.

Feifei
Stir the pot. 英語表達 “stir the pot” 的字面意思是 “攪和鍋裡的食物”，它實際用來表示 “挑撥是非，制造麻煩，引起爭論”。So, when could we use this?

Neil
OK. Let’s picture two people having an argument about who should come into the office on Saturday to finish off a project.

Feifei
Right. No one wants to do that, so I can see why they might be arguing about this. But how could someone stir the pot?

Neil
Well, if I just happened to walk over, and point out that person A had been really helpful and had come in to help me lots of times, while person B always left early, then I’d be stirring the pot. It might make the argument worse.

Feifei
I’m not entirely sure that’d help the situation. 如果兩個人本來就在爭吵，你還 “故意挑撥是非”，那就可以用表達 “stir the pot” 來描述你的這種行為。Would stirring the pot like that be a little immature?

Neil
It might well be, and I’m not really one to stir. But listen to these examples of people who love to stir the pot.

Examples
Oh, I don’t mind what you did. I’m just saying it here to stir the pot.

I’m not sure we should let Piotr in the group chat. He’s always trying to stir the pot and cause trouble.

Why are you here? You’ve got nothing important to say. You’re just stirring the pot.

Feifei
你正在收聽的是 AYYBLOG英語教學的 “地道英語” 節目。上面我們聽瞭三個使用瞭表達 “stir the pot” 的例句。表達 “stir the pot” 的意思是 “挑撥是非，制造麻煩，故意引起爭論”。

Neil
It might be easy to remember if you think of it as a metaphor. When you’re cooking, you put things in a pot, and when you stir them together, things happen.

Feifei
“Stir the pot” 這個表達非常形象，它比喻一個人 “像做飯時攪動鍋裡的食物一樣，給一件事情添油加醋，企圖讓壞事發生”。

Neil
Yes. If I’m trying to explain all the good reasons that I was late for work this morning, and then you come up very deliberately and ask me “How was the party last night?” in front of my boss, you’d be putting some ingredients into that conversation and stirring it until something bad happened!

Feifei
Don’t worry, I’m not a pot-stirrer. But how was that party anyway?

Neil
I’m saying nothing – see you next time!

Feifei
Bye-bye.

Neil
Bye.