核心畫面

Picture an afternoon, a low table, a pot of tea and a plate of small cakes, with four or five people sitting round it. Nobody shouts, nobody is in a hurry, and everyone passes things carefully and says thank you. It lasts an hour or two and is over before dinner. That gentle, careful hour is the whole of the word. Children copy it with empty cups, and grown-ups hold it up as the picture of an easy afternoon, so that they can point at a hard job and say it is not this.

可以想成一個下午,一張矮桌,一壺茶,一盤小蛋糕,四五個人圍著坐。沒有人大聲說話,沒有人趕時間。東西小心地傳來傳去,說更多收起可以想成一個下午,一張矮桌,一壺茶,一盤小蛋糕,四五個人圍著坐。沒有人大聲說話,沒有人趕時間。東西小心地傳來傳去,說著謝謝。一兩個小時就結束,晚餐前散場。整個字就是這段溫和又客氣的時間。小朋友會拿空杯子照著演一遍。大人則把它舉起來,當作「輕鬆下午」的代表,好用來指著一件苦差事說:這件事可不是那樣。

Two branches

真的坐下來喝茶的那場聚會

核心畫面本身,以及小朋友把它整套搬進遊戲裡的版本。

noun · B1

A small, fairly polite party held in the afternoon, where tea is served with cake, biscuits, small sandwiches or other light food.

午後茶會

拿茶會當「輕鬆」的代表,再否定掉

同一個溫和畫面,被拿來當比較的基準,用在否定句裡。

noun · B2

If something is no tea party, it is very hard or unpleasant to do; the expression is used to say that a job will be tough, not gentle or easy.

可不輕鬆、不好受