我的小侄女很喜愛(ài)動(dòng)物，而且做事很認(rèn)真。最近她宣布，長(zhǎng)大后要當(dāng)獸醫(yī)! 我們都覺(jué)得這個(gè)職業(yè)蠻適合她的，不過(guò)她父母并不打算現(xiàn)在就開始為她成為獸醫(yī)做任何投資和計(jì)劃，因?yàn)楹⒆赢吘惯€小，很可能以后改主意! 她父母的這種做法讓我想到一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)，那就是:

Cross that bridge when one comes to it.

Cross that bridge when one comes to it 字面的意思是“到了橋邊再過(guò)橋”，其實(shí)就是指“等事情發(fā)生了再應(yīng)對(duì)”，“船到橋頭自然直”。我侄女的父母就是這個(gè)態(tài)度，They don't want to start thinking about how to finance their daughter's veterinarian training yet. They prefer to cross that bridge when they come to it. 他們不要現(xiàn)在就開始為孩子上獸醫(yī)學(xué)校準(zhǔn)備學(xué)費(fèi)，而是打算等孩子真上了再說(shuō)。在下面的例子中，有個(gè)女孩為自己的未來(lái)做打算，嗯，其實(shí)也可以說(shuō)是沒(méi)做什么打算。我們來(lái)聽(tīng)一聽(tīng):

"Carrie is determined to move to New York City next fall. At the moment, she doesn't know what she's going to do for a job once she gets there. Still, she's not worried. She says that she will CROSS THAT BRIDGE WHEN SHE COMES TO IT. The way she figures it, she'll be able to find work after she gets settled."

這段話意思是說(shuō)：[Carrie下決心秋天到了就搬到紐約去住。現(xiàn)在，她還不知道搬過(guò)去之后要做什么工作。不過(guò)，她也不擔(dān)心。她說(shuō)，船到橋頭自然直。等她到了紐約，一切都安頓好了，再找工作也不遲。]

這種隨遇而安的心態(tài)真不錯(cuò)，不過(guò)，很多人都沒(méi)Carrie這么大松心，不愿意走一步算一步。很多人都是盡量避免可能出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題，這樣的話，They don't have to cross that bridge when they come to it. 他們就不用等問(wèn)題發(fā)生了，再急切著想法子應(yīng)對(duì)了。

企業(yè)家常被人們認(rèn)為是務(wù)實(shí)、有遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)、有計(jì)劃的人，可實(shí)際上真是這樣么？咱們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)下面這段話：

"So far, the company presidents have agreed that they'll sign the contract with Mexico. Beyond that, they haven't really decided what they'll do next. The reality is that they'll deal with the situation when it happens. They're CROSSING THAT BRIDGE WHEN THEY COME TO IT."

這段話是說(shuō)：[到目前為止，公司總裁已經(jīng)同意和墨西哥方面簽合同，可除此之外，公司決策層并沒(méi)有決定下一步的工作。事實(shí)上，他們打算走一步算一步。他們的態(tài)度就是等問(wèn)題出來(lái)了再去想怎么辦。]

Cross the bridge when one comes to it 在口語(yǔ)里的另外一個(gè)說(shuō)法是Wing it. Wing it，也是“到時(shí)候再說(shuō)”、“隨機(jī)應(yīng)變”的意思。

相關(guān)閱讀

“潛力股”英語(yǔ)怎么說(shuō)？

如何用英語(yǔ)聊電影

“高檔貨”和“便宜貨”英語(yǔ)怎么說(shuō)

用英語(yǔ)聊聊各種夏日皮膚煩惱

鞋子“不合腳”英文怎么說(shuō)

（來(lái)源：VOA英語(yǔ)教學(xué) 編輯：丹妮）