pushing at an open door順水推舟

把政治轉機說成一扇虛掩的門：不是門鎖死，是時候未到。

Next time you will be pushing at an open door.

安慰別人下次會順利得多時用；也可說明時機成熟，正式或私下都行。

next time the door will already be open ／ you will be pushing against nothing

正式

pushing at an 連讀，open door 兩個重音詞分開。

With the board behind you, next time you will be pushing at an open door. 有了董事會撐腰，下次你一推門就開。

wish I had 把羨慕和遺憾壓進一句虛擬語氣，臨終的人只剩這一句實話。

At this moment, I wish I had your ...

羨慕別人有某種品質、又知道自己沒有時用；對親近的人坦白，語氣要低。

right now I wish I shared your faith ／ I envy you that belief

literary

wish I had 連讀，your faith 放輕，句尾下沉。

Before the exam, I wish I had your calm. 考試前，我真希望有你那份鎮定。

pathetically 一詞把自嘲和驕傲擰在一起，用一句玩笑交代兩人的來路。

Because we're so pathetically ...

自嘲式地解釋自己的固執或客氣時用；熟人之間開玩笑，正式場合少用。

because we are hopelessly well-mannered ／ because we cannot help being so British

口語

pathetically 重讀，English 前稍停，語氣自嘲。

We queued for an hour. So pathetically polite. 我們排了一小時隊，真是客氣得可笑。

病床前一句客套的轉述，下一句就是 Bull.，平靜的問候反而最扎心。

They tell me you're X, [name].

探病或轉述別人評價時用，語氣剋制；對剛遭遇不幸的人說要注意，別把安慰變成敷衍。

They say you're on the mend. ／ I hear you're doing better.

中性

They tell me 一滑而過，improving 稍頓，Billy 輕收。

They tell me you're getting stronger, but you don't look it. 他們跟我說你身體見好，可看著不像。