Sleep on it 睡一觉 考虑一下

Would you need to think about sleeping on this bed?

The script of this programme 本节目台词

Feifei: 大家好，欢迎收听由 BBC 英语教学制作的《地道英语》节目。我是冯菲菲。

Neil: ...and I'm Neil. Hello. We're out shopping today, aren't we Feifei?

Feifei: Yes Neil, Neil 的床坏了，让我陪他一起去买张新床。家具店里有这么多款式的床，我都看花眼了。So Neil, look at all these beds - there are so many to choose from but which one do you want to buy?

Neil: Well, that one there is massive but it wouldn't fit through my front door!

Feifei: 那边那张床挺便宜的，不过看起来好像不很结实啊。

Neil: Hey, look at this one... a water bed! Listen to the sound it makes!

Feifei: 水床？哎呀，别开玩笑了。但这你说这么多不同款式，对于我这样有选择困难症的人来说好难呀。我看还得你自己拿主意了。

Neil: Well, Feifei, I'll have to sleep on it.

Feifei: Neil! You can't sleep on that water bed - you haven't bought it yet - 你说你，想在水床上睡一觉，体验一下，这有点儿怪吧，and anyway, you haven't brought your pyjamas!

Neil: Relax Feifei - I'm not going to sleep here in the shop - that would be embarrassing! When someone says they're going to sleep on it, they mean they're going to spend some time thinking about something before making a final decision.

Feifei: 我就说吗，怎么能在公众场合说躺下就躺下呢。原来，英语表达 to sleep on it 用来表示把一个尚需解决的问题暂时搁放，等花时间仔细考虑清楚后再做最后决定。

Neil: Right! So I'm going to think about which is the best bed to buy and come back in the morning, OK? Let's hear some other examples of the phrase 'to sleep on it'...

Examples

• We couldn't decide which car to buy so we decided to sleep on it - we didn't want to buy the wrong one!
• Thanks for your job offer but I need some time to think about it. Let me sleep on it and I'll give you an answer tomorrow.
• He told me he'd have to sleep on it before he could agree to my request for a pay rise.

Feifei: 形象的来说就是“睡一觉，考虑清楚再做决定” to sleep on it... hmm... but why 'sleep'?

Neil: Because usually you think about your decision overnight - you literally go to sleep before waking up the next day and deciding what to do, when you've had more rest.

Feifei: 之所以用 sleep on it 是因为很多时候当我们举棋不定，拿不定注意的时候，都会暂时不做决定，睡一觉等第二天考虑清楚了后才 make a final decision 做最后决定。It sounds like a good idea but hold on Neil...

Neil: What's wrong?

Feifei: You can't 'sleep on it' overnight because you haven't got a bed to sleep on!

Neil: Let's not lose sleep over it - you've got a spare bed haven't you?

Feifei: What?!

Neil: It's another idiom Feifei but I'll explain it another time. Come on let's go.

Both: Bye.