BBC Learning English - The English We Speak: Cut corners

Episode 260309 / 09 Mar 2026

中文概要：本集节目讲解英语表达 “cut corners” 的用法。这个表达源自赛跑中的字面义（抄近道跑弯道），引申为做事偷工减料、走捷径、省事省力但结果不佳。Feifei 和 Georgie 通过装修、招待客户、健康安全等生动例子，展示了如何在日常生活中使用这个地道短语，并对比了反义表达 “go the extra mile” 和 “go above and beyond”。

核心内容 Transcript Highlights

对话场景

Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak… I’m Feifei, and I’m joined by Georgie. How are you?

Georgie: I’m very well, thank you, Feifei. How are you?

Feifei: Well, I’m a bit annoyed. I had some decorators paint the living room, but there are bits missing and they’ve not done a great job tidying up either. They really cut corners.

Georgie: Oh, that is so annoying. But Feifei, you’ve just used an interesting phrase – cut corners. So why don’t we learn that in this programme?

Feifei: Let’s do it, Georgie. Well I think it would be useful to first think about this phrase literally, don’t you think?

Georgie: Yes, I agree. So, let’s imagine an athletics track – it’s oval-shaped with multiple lanes. Now, if you’re running in the outside lane, you run a longer distance, don’t you?

Feifei: That’s right. So, after the start of a race, runners usually want to cross to one of the inner lanes so that they can run the shorter distance and make it easier – they take a shortcut – and the best place to do that is in the corner of the running track.

Georgie: Exactly, so the runners are cutting corners to make things easier. So that’s the literal use, what about metaphorical?

Feifei: Well, it’s similar. If you cut corners when doing a task, you take a metaphorical shortcut – you do it in an easier, quicker or cheaper way. But often, this means that the result is not as good, like what happened with my decorators.

Georgie: Yes, cutting corners has quite negative connotations, like you’re not doing something properly. Let’s hear some more examples.

例句 Examples

重要客户招待：

The client we’re hosting this reception for is really important to us, so we can’t cut corners on this. It has to be perfect. 我们招待的这个客户非常重要，所以我们不能马虎/偷工减料。必须完美无缺。
健康安全：

You can’t cut corners with health and safety. You need to do things properly or someone could get hurt. 健康安全问题上不能走捷径/偷工减料。必须按规矩办事，否则有人会受伤。
时间压力：

I was under a lot of time pressure for this project, so I had to cut a few corners. I hope that’s OK. 这个项目时间很紧，所以我不得不稍微走个捷径/省省事。希望没问题。

反义表达

Feifei: So, cutting corners is about taking the easy, quick or cheap route, which means that sometimes the job is not done properly. Are there any phrases which mean the opposite?

Georgie: There are. So instead of cutting corners, you can ‘go the extra mile’ or ‘go above and beyond’. Both of these mean more than just doing things properly, they mean you do more than what’s expected of you.

Feifei: Well, we hope our listeners feel that we go above and beyond with our English language teaching. Let’s recap. We learnt ‘cut corners’, which means you choose the easiest, quickest or cheapest way of doing something, which sometimes means you don’t do it properly.

词汇表 Vocabulary

单词/短语	英文解释	中文解释	示例句子
cut corners	do something in the easiest, quickest or cheapest way, often badly	偷工减料；走捷径；省事但质量不佳	The decorators cut corners* – the paint job is messy.*
shortcut	a shorter/quicker way to do something	捷径；近道	Runners take a shortcut* by cutting corners on the track.*
metaphorical	figurative, not literal	隐喻的；引申义的	It’s a metaphorical* shortcut – not a real one.*
connotation	an implied meaning/association	含义；言外之意	Cut corners has negative connotations.
go the extra mile	make more effort than expected	多付出努力；超额完成	She always goes the extra mile* for her clients.*
go above and beyond	do more than required	超额完成；尽心尽力	The team went above and beyond* to finish on time.*
decorator	person who paints/decorates houses	装修工；油漆工	The decorators* cut corners on the living room.*
health and safety	workplace safety regulations	健康与安全（法规）	You can’t cut corners with health and safety.

学习重点 Key Learning Points

1. 字面义 → 引申义：词源解释

字面：赛跑时在弯道处抄内道跑近路 → cutting the corner
引申：做任务时走捷径、偷工减料、省时省力但牺牲质量

2. 语法形式 Grammar Forms

形式	例句
cut corners (动词短语，原形/现在时)	Don’t cut corners* on this project.*
cutting corners (动名词/现在分词)	Cutting corners often leads to poor results.
cut corners (过去式，同形)	They cut corners* and the roof leaked.*

3. 常见搭配 Collocations

cut corners on + 名词 —— 在某方面偷工减料
- We can’t cut corners on quality.
cut a few corners —— 稍微走捷径（较委婉）
- I had to cut a few corners to meet the deadline.
never cut corners —— 绝不偷工减料
- Professionals never cut corners.

4. 反义/对比表达 Antonyms & Contrasts

表达	含义	语气
go the extra mile	多付出努力，超额完成	正面，赞赏
go above and beyond	做得比要求更多，尽心尽力	正面，强烈赞赏
do a thorough job	做事彻底/细致	中性偏正面
leave no stone unturned	无所不尽，彻底完成	较正式

5. 语用色彩 Pragmatics

⚠️ 负面色彩：通常指责/批评某人做事不认真
💼 职场常用：项目管理、质量控制、客户服务语境高频
🗣️ 口语通用：非正式场合也常用，如装修、做饭、写作业等

批判性思考题 Critical Thinking Questions

词源认知：为什么 “cut corners” 从田径赛跑演变为"偷工减料"？这种空间隐喻（跑近路→省工夫）在英语中还有哪些例子？（如 cut to the chase, corner-cutting）
语境判断：什么情况下说 “I had to cut a few corners” 可以被接受？什么情况下绝对不能接受？（对比：原型设计 vs. 医疗手术/桥梁建设）
文化对比：中文里的"偷工减料"“走捷径"“马虎了事"“凑合"与 cut corners 有何异同？哪个词最对应？
管理视角：作为项目经理，如何平衡 “deadline pressure”（赶工期）与 “don’t cut corners”（保质量）？有哪些英语表达可用于这种沟通？
反义升华：go above and beyond 比 go the extra mile 程度更深，体现了英语中 “above” (超越) + “beyond” (超出) 的空间隐喻。试举出 3 个职场场景分别适用这两个表达。

完整对话记录 Full Transcript

Transcript

Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them, too! I’m Feifei, and I’m joined by Georgie. How are you?

Georgie: I’m very well, thank you, Feifei. How are you?

Feifei: Well, I’m a bit annoyed. I had some decorators paint the living room, but there are bits missing and they’ve not done a great job tidying up either. They really cut corners.