美國習(xí)慣用語：859 quit while one's ahead

這么多年來我最喜歡的一家冰激凌店居然要關(guān)門了。我問經(jīng)理是怎么回事，經(jīng)理說本來公司經(jīng)營得很好，結(jié)果拓展業(yè)務(wù)，增加商品，反倒失去了很多老顧客。這讓我想起了今天要學(xué)的習(xí)慣用語，叫：quit while one's ahead.

Quit, 在中文里是停止、放棄的意思。ahead意思是在前面。Quit while one's ahead, 就是中文里所說的見好就收。

就說我喜歡的那家冰激凌店吧。本來賣冰激凌挺賺錢的，可偏偏要增加產(chǎn)品種類，結(jié)果反而造成了服務(wù)和產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量的下降。They should have quit while they were ahead。他們本該見好就收才對(duì)。下面例句里玩撲克牌的人就明白這一點(diǎn)。我們一起聽。

例句-1：I'm not the greatest poker player. But so far tonight, I've managed to win about $500. If I stay in the game, I stand to make even more. But I also risk losing it. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. That way, I'm sure to walk out with a nice pot of money I hadn't expected.

這個(gè)人說：我打牌不是最厲害的，但是今天晚上已經(jīng)贏了五百美元。如果繼續(xù)打下去，我可能會(huì)贏更多，但也有輸錢的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。我覺得最好是見好就收。這樣一來，我就能帶著一筆不小的外財(cái)離開這里。

我老爸告訴過我，他年輕時(shí)有一次剛領(lǐng)了工資就被朋友拉著去賭場，一上來贏了不少，可是, he didn't quit while he was ahead. 最后輸了個(gè)精光，整整吃了一個(gè)月的方便面。

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我特別喜歡看電影，特別是老片子。上星期，我又把七十年代的幾部經(jīng)典影片拿出來看。大家一定看過 Godfather《教父》，如果沒有的話，請(qǐng)聽下面這段介紹。

例句-2：Have you watched The Godfather, a thriller about the lives of a fictional Italian-American crime family? It's ranked as the second greatest film in our country's cinematic history. After it won several Academy Awards, a sequel was planned. Although producers considered quitting while they were ahead, they soon went on to make The Godfather, Part II. It also received Oscars, including one for Best Picture.

這個(gè)人說：你看過《教父》嗎?教父是一部關(guān)于意大利裔美國人犯罪家庭的驚險(xiǎn)片，是美國電影史上第二大經(jīng)典影片，拿了很多項(xiàng)奧斯卡獎(jiǎng)，后來有人計(jì)劃排續(xù)集。雖然制片人也考慮見好就收，但最后還是選擇拍了教父第二部，又贏得了包括最佳影片在內(nèi)的多項(xiàng)奧斯卡獎(jiǎng)。

你也許會(huì)問，那排名第一的電影是哪部?排名第一的電影就是Citizen Kane《公民凱恩》。