03.13【每日一词】pitfall

pitfall n.

释义：a problem or difficulty that is likely to happen in a particular job, course of action, or activity

“pitfall”是可数名词，意思是“陷阱、隐患、坑”。由 pit 和 fall 两部分组成，pit 本身有“深坑”的意思，而 fall 有“落下”的意思，就像一个人不小心掉进坑里一样，可以用 pitfall 来替换 danger 和 trap。

例① 买二手车固然便宜，但其实里面有很多坑。

A used car is indeed a bargain, but there can be many pitfalls associated with the purchase of one.

例② 很多自由职业者喜欢在家办公，因为可以节省办公室租金，节省通勤时间，但其实这里面也有很多坑，比如难以形成一种高效的工作习惯、很容易被家里的事情分散注意力。

Many freelancers favor working at home because it saves rent and reduces commute time. However, pitfalls of this practice abound.

例③ 我们经常会读到“认知缺陷”或“认知陷阱”，对应的英文就是 cognitive pitfalls。我们就可以这样提醒自己：

We should be wary of cognitive pitfalls.

例④ 我几年前开始写公众号是为了提醒其他人英语学习中一些常见的坑，就可以说：

I started to blog about English learning because I wanted to warn other English learners of common pitfalls.

翻译：一个律师的任务就是用自己的专业技能帮助客户避开法律中的坑。

A lawyer's mission is to use expertise to help clients to evade pitfalls in the law.

（参考翻译：A lawyer's job is to use his expertise to help his clients to avoid legal pitfalls. ）