Take the wheel 把持方向，擔起責任

內容簡介

表達 “take the wheel” 的字面意思是 “掌握方向盤，開車”。但在日常英語交流中，“take the wheel” 還可以被用來比喻 “負起責任，做主”。聽節目中主持人 Georgie 和菲菲介紹這個表達在生活和工作中的用法。

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。在每期節目中，我們都會介紹一個英語母語人士或講英語流利的人會用到的表達。I’m Feifei.

Georgie
And I’m Georgie. Feifei, tell me. How are you, and what is the phrase we’re learning in this programme?

Feifei
I’m well, thank you. The phrase we’re learning is about taking control of a situation. But, first of all, can you take the wheel for the introduction?

Georgie
Smooth introduction, Feifei, to the phrase we’re looking at in this programme. And sure, I’ll take the wheel, and you can rest for a few seconds. We’re learning ‘take the wheel’, which means take control of a situation. It comes from the literal sense, when you take control of the steering wheel of a car, or ‘wheel’ for short. So, imagine we’re in a car – I’m driving, you’re the passenger, and there’s an emergency. I might say to you, “quick – take the wheel!” and I’m asking you to put your hands on the steering wheel, to take control of the car.

Feifei
Well, that sounds a little stressful! But the meaning we’re looking at is more metaphorical, isn’t it? So, for example, my family is talking about going on holiday together, but no one is actually organising it. So, I’ve decided to take the wheel to organise the holiday.

Georgie
That’s a great example. Let’s hear some more examples of ‘take the wheel’ in use.

Examples
When I worked as a teacher, I often had to cover classes of teachers that were suddenly sick. I just had to take the wheel and teach without being able to prepare anything in advance.

There’s this massive project at work. I just don’t have any time I can spend on it. Can I ask you to take the wheel on this one?

I think I’ll take the wheel on the decorations for the party, but could you organise the food?

Feifei
So, this phrase is quite flexible and can be used like any normal verb, so I can use it in the past, for example, “I took the wheel”, as a request “Can you take the wheel?” or “He’s always taking the wheel”, and lots more. Is there anything else we can say about this phrase, Georgie?

Georgie
Well, it’s interesting, actually, that a lot of expressions we use to talk about control and power are related to driving, like this one, or even riding horses. Similar to ‘take the wheel’, we have ‘take the reins’ – which are those things like straps attached to a horse’s mouth that we use to control them when riding them.

Feifei
Oh yes, and if someone is in full control of a situation, we can say that they’re in the driving seat. You’re right, Georgie. I hadn’t thought about that.

Right, so, let’s recap.“Take the wheel” 的字面意思是 “掌握方向盤，開車”，除瞭它原本的意思外，在交流中，我們還可以用 “take the wheel” 來比喻 “把持方向，負起責任，做主”。就像在節目一開始，我對 Georgie 說 “Can you take the wheel for the introduction?”，意思就是 “你來負責介紹這期節目中要學的表達，好嗎？”

Georgie
Now that we’ve taught you this expression, it’s your turn to take the wheel of your English learning and practise using it!

Feifei
是的，希望大傢多多練習使用 “take the wheel”。We’ll be back next time with another useful English phrase. See you then.

Georgie
Bye!