24. Put somebody to sleep

　　我去洗衣服的时候，通常会路过隔壁德国老太太的门口，她开门出来打招呼。她由于单身一个人，非常孤独，看见我女儿会“Honey(宝贝)长，Honey短的”。一个周日的晚上，她见到我， 便问：“Where is your little girl? I did not see her today.” 我答说：“Oh， I just put her to sleep.”她听罢，突然惊叫起来，“Ashley(我的名字)，What did you say?”

　　不等她说完，我立即意识到我说了一句天大的错话。我马上补充说：“I am sorry. I mean that I just put her to bed.”(我的意思是我刚哄她入睡了)。

　　英语中“put somebody to sleep”是指终止某人生命，是一种委婉的表达，也可以用作“(为动手术而用麻醉剂)使人失去知觉”的意思。常听老美说：“Oh， I had to put my dog to sleep. He suffered too much from his sickness”(我只好让我的狗安息，它饱受病痛的折磨!)