The test was child's play to those who took good notes. 对那些做好笔记的人来说,这次考试轻而易举。Mending the lamp was child's play for an experienced electrician like him. 对像他这样有经验的电工来说,修灯是小菜一碟。
在英剧《神探夏洛克》中,夏洛克藐视对手时,就用到了这个表达: Old man: Just before you go, did you figure it out? Which one's the good bottle? Sherlock: Of ourse. Child's play. -在你走之前问一句,你想出来了吗?哪个是好瓶子? -当然,小菜一碟。
要表示“小菜一碟”,这个表达也很常见:
piece of cake.
一起来看两个例句: The exam was a piece of cake. 这次考试是小菜一碟。 Her family have 5 children, so looking after 2 will be a piece of cake for her. 她家有5个孩子,所以照顾2个孩子对她来说是小菜一碟。
此外,下边这个短语也能表示“易如反掌,小菜一碟”:easy peasy 发音是 /ˌiːzi ˈpiːzi/,我们来看两个例句: After so many years as an accountant, doing taxes is easy peasy for me. 做了这么多年的会计,报税对我来说易如反掌。 Don't worry, after some lessons and a bit of practice, driving will be easy peasy! 别担心,学习一些课程再多加练习,开车很简单的!