懒惰是人类的天性，因此才总有人会在工作时“划水”。

 

“划水”，本意是指“用胳膊划的动作（make strokes with one's arms）”，延伸为“偷懒、怠工（work less hard than you usually do or should do）”，可以用“slack”表示。

 

这个词起初用于形容偷懒的船夫，当其他船夫在认真划船时，他们会浑水摸鱼把桨从一边拨到另一边（boatmen who would half-heartedly splash their oars¹ from side to side while their colleagues did the actual rowing），后来延伸到工作和学习领域。

 

例句：

 

那个女团成员舞蹈动作都忘了，明显是在划水。

That band member forgot all her dance moves. She is definitely slacking.

 

如果有人上班划水，比尔就会严厉地加以斥责。

If someone slacks off, Bill comes down hard.

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