slam on the brakes用法解析

“slam on the brakes”是英语中极具动作画面感的惯用短语，其词源与近代汽车工业的发展直接关联。“slam”本义为“猛力撞击、猛摔”，最初描述重物撞击的动作；19世纪末汽车普及后，“brake（刹车）”成为日常交通术语，二者结合形成该短语，最初专指驾驶场景中猛力、急促地踩下刹车踏板的动作，相较于近义短语“jam on the brakes”，“slam on the brakes”更强调制动动作的猛烈性、突发性与仓促感。

20世纪初，该短语逐渐衍生出比喻义，首次在《芝加哥论坛报》的社会评论中被用于非交通场景，至此其语义形成两层核心内涵：字面义为猛踩刹车，侧重驾驶中突发状况下的急促制动；比喻义为紧急叫停、突然中止计划、关系或进程，语域以口语为主，亦可用于非正式书面语境，隐含“突发状况下的果断止损，且动作带有仓促感”的意味，是英语中表达“紧急中止”的高频短语。

如：

A deer ran out in front of the car, and I slammed on the brakes.

一只鹿突然冲到车前，我猛踩了刹车。

She slammed on the brakes when she found out her boyfriend had been lying to her about his job.

发现男友在工作的事上一直骗自己后，她果断中止了这段恋情。

The central bank slammed on the brakes after the country's inflation rate hit a 10-year high.

该国通胀率创下10年新高后，央行紧急叫停了宽松的货币政策。

Congress slammed on the brakes on the new spending bill amid public concerns about rising debt.

出于公众对债务攀升的担忧，国会紧急叫停了这项新的支出法案。

The tech giant slammed on the brakes on its global expansion after reporting a $2 billion loss in the Asian market.

这家科技巨头在报告亚洲市场亏损20亿美元后，对其全球扩张计划紧急叫停。

He was moving too fast to propose, so she slammed on the brakes and said they needed more time.

他急匆匆地想要求婚，她便及时叫停，说两人还需要更多时间。

The two nations slammed on the brakes on their border cooperation talks after a diplomatic dispute.

一场外交争端后，两国突然中止了边境合作谈判。

The general slammed on the brakes on the military exercise after receiving reports of unexpected regional tensions.

收到地区局势突发紧张的报告后，将军紧急叫停了军事演习。

The school slammed on the brakes on the overseas exchange program due to sudden travel restrictions.

因突发的出行限制，学校紧急中止了海外交流项目。

When she realized their values were completely different, she slammed on the brakes and stopped seeing him.

意识到两人的价值观完全相悖后，她果断止损，不再和他见面。

They slammed on the brakes on their divorce proceedings and decided to try couples counseling one more time.

他们突然中止了离婚程序，决定再尝试一次婚姻咨询。

I slammed on the brakes on our friendship when I found out he had been talking about me behind my back.

发现他在背后说我坏话后，我立刻疏远了他，中止了这段友谊。

You can't just move in with him after dating for a month!

You're right, I need to slam on the brakes before I make a mistake.

你才和他约会一个月，不能就搬去一起住！

你说得对，我得及时叫停，免得犯傻。《老友记》

If we continue with this campaign strategy, we'll lose the midterms. Then we slam on the brakes and rewrite the whole plan tonight.

如果继续用这个竞选策略，我们会输掉中期选举。

那我们就紧急叫停，今晚重新拟定整个计划。《纸牌屋》

He’s only with you because of your father’s company.

I know now, and I slammed on the brakes on everything between us.他和你在一起，只是因为你父亲的公司。

我现在知道了，我已经和他彻底中止了所有关系。《绯闻女孩》

When a cyclist suddenly cut in, the experienced driver slammed on the brakes and avoided a collision at the last second.

骑行者突然加塞，司机在最后一秒猛踩刹车紧急制动避免碰撞。（2025年全国高考英语新课标I卷）

After realizing that the cooperation project had major risks, the company's senior management slammed on the brakes on all the relevant preparatory work.（2023年考研英语二汉译英）

意识到该合作项目存在重大风险后，公司高层紧急叫停了所有相关的筹备工作。（要求使用短语slam on the brakes）

解析：本题考查短语的汉译英应用，核心考点为比喻义的搭配与使用。中文“紧急叫停”与该短语的比喻义完全匹配，需注意“slam on the brakes on sth”的固定搭配，且主语“公司高层”与短语的搭配逻辑合理，时态为一般过去时贴合语境。