混淆雙賓語和賓補，cut sb some slack 就費解

還記得習語 cry me a river 是一個什麼結構嗎？cut sb some slack 跟其是一樣的結構，也即雙賓語結構，若被誤解為是賓補結構，那麼整個意思都變了，它的字面意思差不多是」劃一些閑置部分給某人「，相當於 cub some slack for sb，可以意為」讓某人鬆一口氣，放某人一馬「等，寓意：

give additional freedom to someone

給某人額外的自由

not judge someone severely

不嚴厲地評判某人

give someone a break

讓某人休息一下

make some allowances for someone

為某人做些讓步

allow a person to something that is usually not allowed

允許某人做一些通常不被允許的事情

例如：

I know he is not up to the mark right now but let's cut him some slack. He's new to this environment and needs time to adjust.

我知道他現在不稱職，但我們還是讓他鬆口氣吧。他剛適應這種環境，需要時間來適應。

解析：up to the mark 表示達到標準，符合要求。

Teenagers have a mind of their own. It's best to cut them some slack and let them do what they are doing instead of enforcing things on them.

青少年有自己的想法。最好讓他們放鬆一下，讓他們做他們正在做的事情，而不是強迫他們去做。

解析：

1、slack 是不可數名詞，所以此處用 cut them some slack.

2、instead of 後面的事物或是動作是要被替代的，而 instead 中的動作是要去做的。

Had he explained the situation to me, I would have cut him some slack and not have been so hard on him.

如果他把情況向我解釋一下，我就不會對他那麼嚴厲了。

解析：此句是虛擬語氣，從句里含有 should, had, were 或其他助動詞，則可將從屬連詞 if 省去，將助動詞、情態動詞 be 或 have 放在句首形成部分倒裝。

I was really busy last week and couldn't finish the report. Cut me some slack and I'll do it by tomorrow.

我上周真的很忙，沒能完成報告。放我一馬，我明天就做。