Don't drop the ball 別丟了球

Have you ever worked in a group or on a team? If you have, you know that it's important for everyone to do his or her job in order for the group to succeed. If one person makes a mistake, you can say that that person “dropped the ball.”

Dropping the ball isn't just making a mistake. Think about a sports team. It's easy to make mistakes, like not catching a ball or not running fast enough. But if you drop the ball, you made a mistake that should have been really easy not to make, and will probably make your whole team mad.

This idiom is just like that, so it's easy to remember. If you need people to do their job well, but you are worried they might make a mistake, you can warn them “Don't drop the ball.”

Look at the dog in this picture. Does he look like he might drop the ball he's holding? Not likely; he looks like he's having too much fun playing a game. (Kayleen Hartman, Staff Writer)

你曾經參加過團體或團隊嗎？假如你有，你知道為了達成團體目標，每個人分工合作是很重要的。假如有人犯錯，你就可以說那個人是「dropped the ball」。

「dropping the ball」不只是犯錯而已。想一想一支體育隊伍。人們很容易犯下像是沒接到球、或跑得不夠快的過失。不過，假如你「drop the ball」，你就是犯下不該犯的錯，可能讓整支隊伍抓狂。

這個片語就像這樣，所以很容易記。假如你希望人們把事情做好，但你又擔心他們可能會有過失，你可以警告他們「don't drop the ball」。

看看照片中的狗。他看起來像是會把所掌握的球丟了嗎？不太可能，他看起來對這遊戲似乎玩得不亦樂乎。 （翻譯︰賴美君）