美国习惯用语第857:quit while one's ahead

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quit while one's ahead

这么多年来我最喜欢的一家冰激凌店居然要关门了。我问经理是怎么回事，经理说本来公司经营得很好，结果拓展业务，增加商品，反倒失去了很多老顾客。这让我想起了今天要学的习惯用语，叫：quit while one's ahead.

Quit, 在中文里是停止、放弃的意思。ahead意思是在前面。Quit while one's ahead, 就是中文里所说的见好就收。

就说我喜欢的那家冰激凌店吧。本来卖冰激凌挺赚钱的，可偏偏要增加产品种类，结果反而造成了服务和产品质量的下降。They should have quit while they were ahead。他们本该见好就收才对。下面例句里玩扑克牌的人就明白这一点。我们一起听。

例句-1：I'm not the greatest poker¹ player. But so far tonight, I've managed to win about $500. If I stay in the game, I stand to make even more. But I also risk losing it. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. That way, I'm sure to walk out with a nice pot of money I hadn't expected.

这个人说：我打牌不是最厉害的，但是今天晚上已经赢了五百美元。如果继续打下去，我可能会赢更多，但也有输钱的风险。我觉得最好是见好就收。这样一来，我就能带着一笔不小的外财离开这里。

我老爸告诉过我，他年轻时有一次刚领了工资就被朋友拉着去赌场，一上来赢了不少，可是, he didn't quit while he was ahead. 最后输了个精光，整整吃了一个月的方便面。

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我特别喜欢看电影，特别是老片子。上星期，我又把七十年代的几部经典影片拿出来看。大家一定看过 Godfather《教父》，如果没有的话，请听下面这段介绍。

例句-2：Have you watched The Godfather, a thriller² about the lives of a fictional³ Italian-American crime⁴ family? It's ranked as the second greatest film in our country's cinematic history. After it won several Academy⁵ Awards, a sequel was planned. Although producers considered quitting while they were ahead, they soon went on to make The Godfather, Part II. It also received Oscars, including one for Best Picture.

这个人说：你看过《教父》吗？教父是一部关于意大利裔美国人犯罪家庭的惊险片，是美国电影史上第二大经典影片，拿了很多项奥斯卡奖，后来有人计划排续集。虽然制片人也考虑见好就收，但最后还是选择拍了教父第二部，又赢得了包括最佳影片在内的多项奥斯卡奖。

你也许会问，那排名第一的电影是哪部？排名第一的电影就是Citizen Kane《公民凯恩》。

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