表达 “too many cooks spoil¹ the broth² 厨子太多烧坏汤” 用来比喻 “因参与的人过多而导致不好的结果”，也就是汉语里常说的 “人多误事”。

 

这个习语被用来感叹由于考虑了太多人的观点和意见，最终任务没有做好。虽然这个表达中含有单词 “肉汤 broth”，但它不仅限于在谈论做饭的语境中使用，而同样适用于谈论工作和生活的场景中。

 

例句

There were 15 people in our meeting this morning, all from different departments and each with different opinions. We didn't manage to complete any of the tasks we had planned. Too many cooks spoil the broth!

今早的会议有15个人参加，他们都来自不同的部门，而且意见迥异。我们没有完成任何原本计划达成的目标。真是人多反倒误事！

 

Every member of the department was involved in the planning stage of the project. When it came to the execution³ of the plan, nobody had a clear idea of what they were supposed to do. It was a clear case of ‘too many cooks spoil the broth!'

全部门的人都参与了项目规划阶段。但到了该执行计划的时候，却没有一个人清楚应该做什么。这是个明显的 “人多误事” 的例子！

 

The children wanted to do a good science project together, but they could not agree on anything. Too many cooks spoil the broth!

孩子们本想一起好好做一个科学项目，但他们却无法在任何事情上达成一致。人多误事！

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