A watered-down plan, law, report or apology is one that has been made weaker than it first was. Someone took the strong version and softened it — cut out the parts that had teeth, removed the deadlines, dropped the punishments — usually because of pressure from people who did not want the strong version.

A watered-down plan, law, report or apology一份watered-down（被打了折扣）的計畫、法律、報告或道歉 is one that has been made weaker than it first was指的是被改得比原本弱的版本。 Someone took the strong version and softened it有人把原本強硬的版本拿去軟化—— cut out the parts that had teeth拿掉了有威力的部分、 removed the deadlines拿掉了期限、 dropped the punishments拿掉了處罰—— usually because of pressure from people who did not want the strong version通常是因為不想要強硬版本的人施加了壓力。

The word carries clear disapproval. If you call something watered-down, you are saying it has been robbed of its force and is now not much use.

The word carries clear disapproval這個字帶著明顯的否定意味。 If you call something watered-down如果你說某個東西watered-down， you are saying你等於是在說 it has been robbed of its force它的力道已經被拿走了， and is now not much use現在也沒什麼用了。

You see it constantly in news about politics and business: a watered-down version of the bill, watered-down sanctions, watered-down safety rules, a watered-down agreement that everyone could finally sign. Notice the last one — the reason things get watered down is usually that a weak agreement everybody accepts is easier to get than a strong one somebody blocks. Understanding that makes the word much easier to use correctly.

You see it constantly in news about politics and business政治和商業新聞裡常常看到： a watered-down version of the bill被打了折扣的法案版本、 watered-down sanctions被削弱的制裁、 watered-down safety rules被放寬的安全規定、 a watered-down agreement that everyone could finally sign一份大家終於都能簽下去、被妥協過的協議。 Notice the last one注意最後這個例子—— the reason things get watered down is usually東西會被watered down（打折扣）通常是因為 that a weak agreement everybody accepts is easier to get than a strong one somebody blocks大家都能接受的弱協議，比會被人擋下來的強協議更容易談成。 Understanding that makes the word much easier to use correctly懂了這一點，這個字就容易用對了。

The picture behind it is literal and very old: adding water to wine, milk or beer so there is more of it but it is weaker — historically a dishonest thing a seller did to cheat customers. That flavour of cheating still clings to the figurative use.

The picture behind it is literal and very old這個字背後的畫面很古老，也很字面： adding water to wine, milk or beer往酒、牛奶或啤酒裡加水 so there is more of it but it is weaker量變多了，但變淡了—— historically a dishonest thing a seller did to cheat customers以前是賣家用來騙顧客的不老實手法。 That flavour of cheating still clings to the figurative use這種騙人的味道，到現在的比喻用法裡都還在。

It also still works literally ('watered-down soup'), and it can be used of art or ideas that have been made blander for a wide audience — 'a watered-down version of the original film'. Use a hyphen before a noun (a watered-down proposal); after the verb you can write it either way, and the verb phrase is `water down` ('they watered down the report').

It also still works literally它也還是可以照字面用（'watered-down soup''watered-down soup'，加了水的湯）， and it can be used of art or ideas也可以用在藝術或想法上 that have been made blander for a wide audience指為了迎合大眾而被弄得平淡的東西—— 'a watered-down version of the original film''a watered-down version of the original film'（原版電影被沖淡後的版本）。 Use a hyphen before a noun放在名詞前面要加連字號（a watered-down proposal一個被打折扣的提案）； after the verb you can write it either way放在動詞後面時兩種寫法都可以， and the verb phrase is `water down`動詞片語是`water down`（'they watered down the report''they watered down the report'，他們把這份報告的內容打了折扣）。