keep people guessing 卖关子

“卖关子”，原指说书人（pingshu performer）说长篇故事，每次总在说到重要关节处停止，借以保持悬念（stop a story at a climax¹ to keep the listeners in suspense），吸引听众接着往下听。

 

现在用来比喻说话、做事在紧要的时候，故弄玄虚，让人着急，英文可以翻译为“deliberately mystify something at a crucial point in the talk or in doing business”，或“keep people guessing”。

 

例句：

 

别卖关子了，快告诉我们那场足球赛的结果。

Don't keep us guessing. Tell us the result of that football match.

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