地道英语

Sound out 探口风，打听

内容简介

在工作和生活中，有时需要在行事前先探探他人的口风，从而了解对方对一件事情的真实看法。“探口风” 的地道英语表达是 “sound out”。听节目，学习这个短语的具体用法。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。I'm Feifei.

Phil
And I'm Phil. We have a phrase that is about trying to find out what someone thinks – often without them knowing – it's 'sound out'.

Feifei
Sound out. 这个短语的意思是 “探口风，试探”。

Phil
I've got an idea for a new podcast. I need to sound the boss out about it.

Feifei
你想制作一个新的播客节目，但你并没有直接向老板征得同意，而是先试探性地询问了一下他。You need to sound the boss out.

Phil
I'm going to ask some questions to see if he's looking for something new, and what he might be looking for – then I'll be able to tell if my idea could work, or if I should change it a bit. I don't want to just ask because I'm not sure if my idea is a good one or a bad one yet.

Feifei
所以，当我们想用英语表达 “通过问问题来试图了解一个人对某件事情的看法” 时，就可以说 “sound someone out about something” 或者 “sound out someone about something”。

Phil
If you're coming up with a plan, it's a good idea to sound out what the people it will affect think about it. Then you can adjust your plan before presenting it to them. Have a listen to these examples.

Examples
Before we start working on anything new, we should sound out what our customers think about our existing products.

They sounded me out about the job before they actually offered it to me.

I sounded out some of her friends about what she liked before asking her out.

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。以上我们介绍了短语 “sound out” 的含义和用法，它的意思是 “探口风，通过询问打探来间接地了解一个人对某件事情的看法”。

Phil
It can be indirect, but it isn't always.

Feifei
是的，在日常会话中，你也可以直接用 “sound you out” 来表达自己想要 “打听一件事情”。Phil, Didn't you use to live in Oxford? I'm going there soon. I need to sound you out about the best places to go.

Phil
I can give you all the details! And you keep saying that the restaurants are great near where you live – I need to sound you out about the best ones.

Feifei
I also need to sound you out about what we're going to cover in the next episode – because we've come to the end of this one. See you soon!

Phil
Bye!