soft pedal
soft pedal — 名詞
1. on a standard piano, the foot pedal on the far left that produces a softer, more
弱音踏板
鋼琴上讓音量變小的腳踏板
on a standard piano, the foot pedal on the far left that produces a softer, more muffled tone by reducing the force with which the hammers strike the strings
Yuki pressed the soft pedal with her left foot to make the melody sound gentle.
Yuki 用左腳踩下弱音踏板，讓旋律聽起來更柔和。
collocation: press the soft pedal
The old piano's soft pedal was stuck, so every note came out at full volume.
那台老鋼琴的弱音踏板卡住了，所以每個音符都以最大音量彈出。
During the quiet section of the sonata, the pianist held the soft pedal down.
在奏鳴曲的安靜段落中，鋼琴家一直踩著弱音踏板。
Mei's piano teacher taught her to balance the soft pedal and the sustain pedal.
Mei 的鋼琴老師教她平衡弱音踏板和延音踏板。
Without the soft pedal, the baby would wake up every time James practiced his scales.
少了弱音踏板，James 每次練習音階時，嬰兒都會被吵醒。
- una corda pedal
the technical name for the same mechanism on grand pianos
- sustain pedal
the rightmost pedal that holds notes longer
文法句型
the soft pedal
press/use/hold the soft pedal
用法筆記
The soft pedal is the leftmost of the three pedals on a standard piano. It reduces the volume but does not completely silence the instrument.
常見錯誤
soft pedal — 動詞
- soft pedalpresent simple I / you / we / they
- softs pedal3rd person singular
- softing pedal-ing form
- softed pedalpast simple
1. to describe a problem or negative situation as less serious or important than th
輕描淡寫
故意減輕問題的嚴重性
to describe a problem or negative situation as less serious or important than the true facts would suggest
The manager soft-pedalled the news of the layoffs during the team meeting.
經理在團隊會議上低調處理了裁員的消息。
pattern: soft-pedal + noun phrase (bad news)
Kwame did not soft pedal his anger when the contractor missed the deadline.
Kwame 並沒有淡化他對承包商錯過截止日期的憤怒。
register: informal; common in negative constructions
The company report soft-pedalled the environmental damage caused by the new factory.
那份公司報告淡化了新工廠對環境造成的破壞。
Sophie wished her brother would stop soft-pedalling the seriousness of his illness.
Sophie 希望哥哥不要再淡化他病情的嚴重性。
Doctors sometimes soft pedal the side effects of a treatment to avoid frightening patients.
醫生有時會淡化治療的副作用，以免嚇到病人。
- downplay
more common and neutral; 'soft pedal' is more informal
- play down
phrasal verb, same meaning, equally informal
- understate
more formal; implies deliberate restraint rather than covering up
文法句型
soft-pedal + noun phrase
soft-pedal + the fact that…
用法筆記
Frequently used in negative constructions (e.g., 'did not soft pedal') to emphasise that someone was direct and honest. Often hyphenated as 'soft-pedal' in verb form.