to play by ear Play就是玩的意思。可是，play by ear的意思并不是“玩耳朵”。这个词汇的来源和音乐有关系。它原来指的是那些会弹钢琴或某种乐器，但是却不会看五线谱的人。每当他们要弹奏某个曲调时，他们只能凭着上一回听到的记忆来弹。可是play by ear现在已经成为日常用语了，意思是做一件事不是事先有计划的，而是走着瞧，临时决定。例如，你被请到某处去讲话，可是又没有时间准备。你就可以对听众说：例句-3："I haven't had a chance to prepare any notes so all I can do is start talking and play it by ear."这话的意思是：“我今天没有什么准备，所以就只好讲到那儿就算那儿了。”下面一个例子是一个人在和朋友约会：例句-4:"I am not sure if my wife wants me to go shopping with her on Sunday. If she decides to go with her sister instead, then I can play tennis with you. Let's just play it by ear."他说：“我还不知道星期天我太太是否要我陪她去买东西。要是她决定和她姐姐一起出去，那我就能和你去打网球。我们就瞧着办吧!” pizza face 满脸痘痘