有时候觉得，当父母真不容易。最近，我们同意女儿重新粉刷自己的房间，谁知她要刷黑色。明知她会不高兴，我们还是决定要打消她的这个念头。在英文里这叫：pour cold water on。
pour cold water on很容易理解，就是中文里面所说的“泼冷水”。
虽然我们同意让女儿自己选择房间的颜色，但是黑色已经超过了我们的容忍范围。
- You just have to pour cold water on that choice.
我女儿她虽然有些不高兴，但最后还是同意妥协。这才让我们长长地出了一口气。让我们一起看看下面这些人最近遇到了什么丧气的事情。
- A spokesperson for the company had announced that we'd all be getting raises at the end of the year. Unfortunately, she made the announcement before the board of directors reviewed our financial situation. Given our recent losses, they decided it was best to pour cold water on the increases for now. They didn't want to go ahead with a plan that made little sense.
公司发言人刚刚宣布，员工年底一律加薪。糟糕的是，她宣布这一消息赶在了董事会审查财政状况之前。由于公司最近亏损，董事会决定最好先不提涨工资的事。他们不愿意批准一项不合情理的计划。
如果公司亏损超过了预期，这种决定是可以理解的。我妹妹原来打算到哥斯达黎加去玩，谁知那里突发地震，她只好推迟行程。
- It poured cold water on her itinerary.
刚才说到，由于地震，我妹妹没能按计划到哥斯达黎加去玩，十分失望。下面例子里的一个男子本打算去拉斯维加斯玩个痛快，结果呢？
- My buddies and I organized a fun weekend in Las Vegas. But then my girlfriend poured cold water on the trip. She made it clear that she wasn't about to let me go to "Sin City." She was afraid that four guys together would get into too much trouble with all the casinos and bars there.
我们几个哥们儿准备好一起去拉斯维加斯痛痛快快过个周末。结果我女朋友搅局。她明明白白地告诉我，不让我去“罪恶之城”。她担心，那里到处都是赌场和酒吧，四个男人肯定会惹祸。
拉斯维加斯素有“sin city”罪恶之城的称号，不过，除了赌场和酒吧以外，那里也有很多超级享受的餐馆和演出。这倒让我想起，今年渡假可以到拉斯维加斯去，Don't you think my husband would pour cold water on this one? Oh, he probably would.
这个习惯用语是从救火来的。这一点恐怕不难理解。如果大家在学习习惯用语的过程中遇到任何困难，尽管跟我们联系，我保证，We are not going to pour cold water on your enthusiasm for learning. 不会给大家的学习热情泼冷水。
