Close menu

地道英语

中级

Side quest 让人分心的支线小插曲

Episode 260721 / 21 Jul 2026

节目简介

明明是要出去买菜，却被突然冒出的想法或路上看到的新鲜事所吸引，结果做了许多计划之外的事情……在英语中，这种生活或工作中 “让人分心的小插曲” 被称为 “side quest”。“Side quest” 虽然会让人暂时偏离原本的计划，却往往充满趣味，甚至带来意想不到的收获。听节目，跟主持人菲菲和 Phil 一起学习这个流行表达的用法。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English, where we explain phrases and expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I'm Feifei, and here comes…

Phil
… I'm Phil. How are you doing, Feifei?

Feifei
Where were you?

Phil
Sorry, I just went shopping to buy something for dinner. I say I went to buy something for dinner, but then I ended up on a side quest and bought a load of records.

Feifei
And got back here late, I see. I would be annoyed, but actually that expression 'side quest' would be a good one to learn.

Phil
OK. Yeah, good idea. To explain this one, we have to talk about video games. In many games, you have a main quest. That's the main thing that you have to do in the game. A side quest is not the main thing you have to do. It's something else you can do that's often short and fun.

Feifei
Right, that's in a video game. But in your shopping trip today, your main quest was to buy something for dinner. But then you got distracted by something more fun and went to buy records. That was your side quest.

Phil
Yes, that's right. We can use 'side quest' to talk about things that you do that aren't the most important thing. And yes, they're often something that you enjoy doing.

Feifei
Well, I'm glad you had fun! Let's hear some other people using 'side quest'.

Examples
We've always wanted to visit Belfast for the scenery, but there were just these beautiful museums that we found on a side quest wandering around the city.

I was on my way to a concert, and I had loads of free time, so I went on a bit of a side quest to a bookshop.

I had loads of things to prepare for a presentation at work, but then I realised the painters were out of ink, so I went on a bit of a side quest to try and get that fixed first.

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “地道英语” 节目。在本期节目中，我们在学习流行语 “side quest” 的用法。“Side” 的意思是 “一旁的，侧面的，次要的”。“Side quest” 原本指的是 “某个电子游戏或故事的剧情中与 ‘main quest（主要任务，主要情节）’ 无关的支线剧情或小插曲”。而现在，不少人也会略带调侃地用 “side quest” 来形容那些 “跟原本要做的事情无关，让人分心、甚至忘记正事的日常琐事” 或 “小插曲”。

Phil
Yes, we have quite a few expressions where we use the word 'side' to talk about something less important. A side dish is something that you eat that goes with the main dish. A side hustle is a job that you do that's not as important as your main job, and it might give you a side income.

Feifei
在英语中，单词 “side” 还可以用来形容其它 “次要的、辅助性的” 事物。比如，“side dish” 指的就是 “和主菜相搭配的配菜”；“side hustle” 通常指 “主业之外的兼职” 或 “副业”；而 “side income” 指的就是一个人的 “额外收入” 或 “副业收入”。

Phil
OK. That's it for this programme, but join us next time to make sure that your English learning is more than just a side quest.

Feifei
See you then!

Phil
Bye!

最新 地道英语

下载

下载文字稿
下载音频

播客

地道英语