地道英语

Stir the pot 挑拨是非

内容简介

做饭时适当地搅动锅里的食材 “stir the pot”，可以使食材表面均匀受热。但在日常生活中，如果某人 “stir the pot”，那这个人则是在 “搬弄是非，添油加醋，故意制造麻烦”。听节目，学习这个表达的用法。

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.

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. 英语表达 “stir the pot” 的字面意思是 “搅和锅里的食物”，它实际用来表示 “挑拨是非，制造麻烦，引起争论”。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. 如果两个人本来就在争吵，你还 “故意挑拨是非”，那就可以用表达 “stir the pot” 来描述你的这种行为。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
你正在收听的是 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。上面我们听了三个使用了表达 “stir the pot” 的例句。表达 “stir the pot” 的意思是 “挑拨是非，制造麻烦，故意引起争论”。 

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” 这个表达非常形象，它比喻一个人 “像做饭时搅动锅里的食物一样，给一件事情添油加醋，企图让坏事发生”。

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.