Scratch the surface 隻觸及事物表面，不夠深入

內容簡介

單詞 “surface（表面）” 不但可以指 “某樣東西的表面”，比如地面或者海面等等，還可以指 “某個抽象事物的表面”。表達 “scratch the surface” 的意思就是 “隻觸及事物表面”。我們可以用這個表達來暗示 “對某事瞭解得非常淺顯，不夠深入”。聽節目，跟主持人菲菲和 Georgie 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
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English, where we explain expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too! I’m Feifei, and I’m joined by Georgie. How are you?

Georgie
I’m very well, thank you, Feifei. How are you?

Feifei
Quite stressed actually! I’ve got so many things on my to-do list, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.

Georgie
Oh, that’s a rubbish way to start the week. Well, ‘scratch the surface’ is the phrase we’re looking at in this programme. What does it mean, Feifei?

Feifei
Well, let me paint a picture in your mind. Imagine you want to dig a deep hole in the ground. I arrive five minutes later, after you start, see you haven’t made much progress, and say, “You’ve barely scratched the surface!” What am I telling you?

Georgie
Well, in other words, I’ve only broken up the surface of the ground and I’ve still got a long way to go if I want to dig a deep hole!

Feifei
Right. Now, that’s a very literal way of thinking about this phrase. We mostly use it metaphorically. If you’ve only scratched the surface of a subject or a problem, you’ve dealt with it only in a very superficial way, without going into it deeply.

Georgie
That’s right. Let’s hear some more examples from our AYYBLOG Learning English colleagues.

Examples
I’m supposed to clean the flat in time for a dinner party tonight. I’ve hardly scratched the surface. I’ve got loads to do.

I’ve been researching a holiday for next year. I want to go somewhere hot and sunny, but I’ve just scratched the surface so far. I’ve got lots more places to look at.

I went to a talk last night on climate change in Australia. It’s such a big topic and I feel like they barely scratched the surface.

Feifei
你正在收聽的是 AYYBLOG 英語教學的 “地道英語” 節目。剛剛我們一起學習瞭表達 “scratch the surface” 的用法。“Scratch the surface” 的字面意思是 “抓瞭表面”，實際意思是 “隻觸及瞭一個事物的表面”，人們往往用它來比喻 “僅僅完成或理解瞭事物的一小部分，不夠深入”。

Georgie
Yes, and if you want to exaggerate and express that you haven’t made much progress at all, you can use the words ‘barely’ or ‘hardly’. Like you said at the beginning, you’ve barely scratched the surface on all those tasks on your to-do list.

Feifei
註意在使用這個表達的時候，我們可以通過搭配表示程度的副詞，比如 “barely” 或者 “hardly”，來強調 “剛剛開頭做一件事情” 或者 “隻理解瞭某件事情的一小部分”。

Georgie
OK, let’s recap. We learnt ‘scratch the surface’ which means to deal with a topic or problem only in a superficial way.

Feifei
Thanks for joining us. Bye!

Georgie
Goodbye.