Helen: 大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 地道英语节目，我是 Helen.

William: Hi, I'm William. Today Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is opening.

Music, birdsong

Helen: Oh, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 世界上最大的花展！我在新闻上看到过。If only I had a garden!

William: Ah yeah, you live in an apartment, don't you Helen?
你住在公寓中，对吧？

Helen: That's right. So William, let me guess, today we are going to do a phrase relating to flowers and gardening.
是的。William，让我猜下，今天我们要学一个与花和园艺有关的短语。

William: Exactly.
完全正确。

Helen: So...? What's the phrase?

William: Er... Well... How about... er... no... it's gone. It's no good, Helen. I can't think of a phrase right now.

Helen: Oh well. 我反正也不是很想学新短语，我们聊聊天算了吧。

William: So how are you Helen? How are the kids?
Helen你最近如何？孩子们还好吧？

Helen: Yeah, they're both really well. My little boy eats too much chocolate though!
他们都很好，但是我的儿子吃得巧克力太多了。

William: Oh really? Well, you want to nip that in the bud.
真的吗？你想防患于未然？

Helen: Eh? Nip it in the bud?

William: Nip it in the bud. If you nip something in the bud, you stop it before it becomes a problem.

Helen: To nip something in the bud 意思就是在什么事情成为问题之前，早早地消灭于萌芽状态， 防患于未然。

William: Listen to this example from a business context:

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Example

Man: The last few deliveries we've had from this company have all had broken parts in them!
这个公司邮递来的最后几个包裹里面都有坏的部件。

Woman: Well we need to nip that in the bud! Tell them that unless their service improves, we're going to look for another supplier.
是啊，我们需要防患于未然。告诉他们如果他们不提高服务质量，我们就找别的供应商了。
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Helen: 那么刚才这个例子中，那位先生抱怨供应商服务态度不好，他的同事认为应该 nip it in the bud, 她想早点采取行动以防问题变得更糟。 那么 William 这个短语 to nip something in the bud 是从哪里来的呢？

（Music, birdsong）
William: Well actually, it comes from gardening Helen. A bud is the part of a plant that becomes a flower, leaf or stem.
事实上，它来自园艺。芽是植物的一部分，它能变成花，叶或茎。

Helen: Ah, a bud 就是植物刚刚冒芽的那一部分。

William: So if you nip something in the bud, you cut the bud off the plant.

Helen: To nip something in the bud 直接的意思就是在植物刚长芽的时候就把这个萌芽给剪掉。That's not very nice!

William: Well, gardening is a tough game, Helen. You have to nip things in the bud sometimes. You also have to kill slugs and snails.
园艺是个累活。Helen，你有时候需要把发芽见到。你也需要杀死鼻涕虫和蜗牛。

Helen: Eugh! I'm glad I don't have a garden.

William: Bye!

Helen: Bye!