说谎的“滑坡效应”

大错误往往从小错误开始。人说一句谎话，可能需要用十句谎话来圆。于是，“滑坡效应”开始了。

Slippery slope is a process or series of events that is hard to stop or control once it has begun and that usually leads to worse or more difficult things.
“滑坡效应”指的是一旦开始便难以阻止或驾驭的一系列事件或过程，通常会导致更糟糕、更困难的结果。

Telling little fibs leads down a slippery slope to bigger lies — and our brains adapt to escalating dishonesty, which makes deceit easier, a new study shows. |
根据一项最新研究，撒个小谎往往会导致“滑坡效应”，从而说下更大的谎言。我们的大脑也会适应这种谎越撒越大的情况，使得撒谎变得更容易。

“滑坡效应”也被称为“滑坡谬误”，这在生活中很常见。

If you break your diet and have one cookie tonight, you will just want to eat 10 cookies tomorrow, and before you know it, you will have gained back the 15 pounds you lost.
比如如果你今晚破坏节食计划，吃一块饼干，你明天就会想吃十块，还没等你反应过来，你就会把减掉的那15磅肉长回来。

所以明智的选择是，从一开始就不要踏上斜坡。

***on a slippery slope***

如果用on a slippery slope 来形容某人或某事所处的状态，意思就是情况越来越糟，急剧下滑，如果不及时采取措施就会变得更糟 (有时也可以说 going downhill 滑坡) 。

例如

With his big drinking problem he was on a slippery slope to bad health.
他酗酒很严重，健康状况越来越糟。

如果某人被形容为 as slippery as an eel 意思就是此人奸诈狡猾，说明此人是靠不住的、不诚实的，而且很难捉住这个人的破绽。

例如

I wouldn't recommend doing business with Bob; he's as slippery as an eel.
我不推荐和鲍勃做生意，他很狡诈。

（中国日报网英语点津 yaning）