只聽樓梯響,不見人下來;雷聲大,雨點小

英文:All sizzle and no steak (idiom)

說明:必須注意的是,並非所有使用 all sizzle and no steak 的地方都可以用「只聽樓梯響,不見人下來;雷聲大,雨點小」來翻譯。這個慣用語的字面意思為「只有煎牛排的滋滋聲卻沒有牛排」,相當於宣傳或吹捧得天花亂墜或說得很好聽,但實際上卻不是這麼回事或者實際上卻沒有任何作為或行動,因而比喻為「言過其實;名不符實;只聽樓梯響,不見人下來;雷聲大,雨點小」等意思。

All sizzle and no steak 此一慣用語來自有世界最偉大推銷員之稱的美國人艾爾默‧惠勒 (Elmer Wheeler) 1937 年所寫的一本有關推銷術的書《Tested Sentences that Sell》。書中有句話說:”Don’t sell the steak – sell the sizzle”。

例句:

  • The raise our boss promised us is all sizzle and no steak. (老闆答應我們的加薪只聽樓梯響,不見人下來)
  • The government promised that they would reduce taxes last year. However, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the promise was all sizzle and no steak. (政府去年承諾要減稅。然而,跡象越來越明顯,這項承諾是雷聲大,雨點小)
  • Don’t worry about not getting tickets to the concert. My sister saw them last night in Taipei and said the concert is all sizzle and no steak. (別為買不到演唱會的門票發愁。我姊姊昨晚已在台北看了演唱會,她說演唱會令人既失望又掃興)
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