缓兵之计

    这个短语的字面解释是“把罐子沿路踢下去”。这是什么意思呢？请看对话：

    A: The residents who live along the route of the newly planned maglev train are fiercely against the scheme.

    B: Yeah, they have taken to the street and spoken in public against the plan.

    A: I guess the officials will just kick the can down the road and let the next administration decide how to proceed with it.

    Note: If you kick the can down the road, you delay a decision in hopes that the problem or issue will go away or somebody else will make the decision later. This ubiquitous phrase in American politics over the last few years is not a reference to the game of kick-the-can. The phrase first showed up in the 1980s, though of course it’s not nearly as old as the game kick-the-can, which has been mentioned in print since the late 1800s.