Vanessa: Why don't we just tell Serena you're not interested in being friends with Blair?
你干嘛不直接跟瑟琳娜說你不想跟布萊爾做朋友？

Dan: Oh, we just started hanging out again. I don't want to rock the boat.
hang out: 一起出來玩
啊，我和她剛剛開始重新交往。我可不想搞砸了。

——Gossip Girl

rock the boat: Do things differently to the point of causing an uproar in society
rock the boat 指的是:找麻煩,或者讓人感到厭煩,就像一個孩子站在一艘船當中,故意把船弄得搖搖晃晃,使得船上的人很害怕一樣。人們往往會勸別人不要去找麻煩。下面是兩個人在辦公室里談論一個很偷懶的同事。

例句:"Sure, I agree Smith isn't worth the big salary he gets, but I wouldn't tell the boss if I were you. Smith is one of his favorites, and he'll think you're just rocking the boat and making trouble."

這個人說:“當然,我同意斯密斯根本沒有資格拿那末高的工資。但是,要是我是你,我就不會把這種想法去告訴老板。斯密斯是他的親信之一。你要告訴他的話,他會以為你想找麻煩呢。”

每當暑假來臨,美國的學生就開始計劃怎么來安排這三個多月的時間,有不少人動手找工作,賺錢為下一年的學費做準備,有的計劃先出去旅行,輕松一番再做打算。下面是一個學生在跟他的妹妹談他和幾個同學的暑期計劃。

例句:"After much discussion, five of us in the class have finally decided to go to Europe for three weeks. Preparation is already underway. Please don't rock the boat by telling mother, because I’m sure she wouldn't agree."

這個學生對妹妹說:“我們班上五個同學討論了好久,最后終于決定去歐洲三個星期。準備工作已經開始了。我肯定媽是不會同意的,所以請你千萬不要告訴媽媽,那樣會破壞我們的計劃的。”