BBC地道英语:Easy Tiger! 放松点儿！

Rob: Hello, I'm Rob. And here comes Helen. Wow, she's changed her hair colour! Well, it looks very different. Hi Helen I like your hair.

Helen: Don't say a word!

Rob: Whoa!

Helen: I don't want to talk about it! 别惹我。

Rob: About what? The fact you've dyed your hair?

Helen: Enough!

Rob: Oh, OK, easy tiger!

Helen: I don't look like a tiger! 我可不是只老虎。

Rob: Well, I never said you did. It's just an expression. Though come to think of it, your hair is kind of stripy orange now, like a tiger!

(Helen starts sobbing)

Does Helen look like a tiger?

Rob: OK, OK, you don't really look like a tiger. I said "easy tiger!" which is just a way of saying "calm down".

Helen: 这都是理发师傅的错。他说帮我弄点挑染，红色的，结果你看就这样了。全成橘黄色，跟野生动物一样。

Rob: No, no, you don't look like a jungle animal. Now listen to me. We say "easy tiger" when we want someone to calm down, to not get over-emotional, or not to rush into something.

Helen: Oh. 你说 easy tiger 是让我平静下来，不是说我样子长得和老虎一样。Easy tiger 就是说放松点。

Rob: That's right. It's usually used in informal situations, between friends. Here are some other examples.

Girl 1: I've just met the perfect man – he's tall, handsome, kind... I'm going to marry him and have children – we'll live together in a house by the sea, we'll -

Girl 2: Easy tiger! Do you even know his name?

Man: Right, this food is disgusting, we're leaving the restaurant right now!

Woman: Easy tiger! I quite like it here. Let's wait until the main course comes.

Helen: I understand now. 说不定我的发型没那么糟糕。Maybe my hair isn't so bad after all.

Rob: No, just unusual. It doesn't make you look like a tiger... I'd say more of an orangutan than a tiger...

Helen: What! 红毛猩猩!

Rob: Orangutans are very handsome creatures; I mean, they're kind of rich auburn-copper coloured.

Helen: How dare you!

Rob: Don't bare your teeth like that, it's scary. Please…

(Sound of real tiger growling!)

Rob: Easy tiger, easy!

(Tiger growling and huge roar).