零起点美语-Think Before You Speak

Think Before You Speak

Sometimes we say things without thinking. Very often a thoughtless remark may hurt others' feelings or cause a misunderstanding or an embarrassment. We must, therefore, always think before we speak.
　　Once I told an old friend how beautiful his girlfriend looked when I saw them together at a movie theater the other day. Unfortunately, I made a mistake. It happened that she wasn't with my friend. She was with someone else. I had let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. I'd never been so embarrassed in my life. I certainly learned my lesson, but at a very high price. His girlfriend never spoke to me again! And to make matters worse, it is rumored that they eventually broke up.

　　有时候我们说话没有经过思考。一段欠缺考虑的话往往会伤害到别人的感情, 或造成误会甚至尴尬的情况。因此, 我们说话前必须先思考。
　　有一次我告诉一位老朋友我前几天在电影院看到他们在一块儿, 而他女朋友看起来美极了。很不幸地, 我弄错了。恰巧她不是跟我朋友在一起；她是跟别人。我可以说是无意中泄漏了秘密。我这一辈子从来没有那么尴尬过。我的确学到了教训, 但是付出了很大的代价。他的女朋友再也没有跟我讲过话！更糟的是, 谣传他们最终分手了。