节目梗概：
好多事情都会因为突发因素不能进行下去，英语中有句俗话 down the pan 特别 贴切。不过你知道这个 pan 是指什么吗？听 Neil 来说说吧。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 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。）

Helen
Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English. I'm Helen and joining me today is Neil.

Neil
Hello everyone. You know my friend Jeff the documentary maker?

Helen
Oh yeah.

Neil
Well he had this great story he was about to make a film about - the most expensive wedding in the UK.

Helen
So what happened? Is it finished?

Neil
He was due to film the wedding on Saturday. Then yesterday, he got a call from the bride.

Helen
Don't tell me the wedding is off. 

Neil
It is. After all that hard work, everything just went down the pan.

Helen
Gone down the pan? 掉到了平底锅里面？这是什么意思？What do you  mean?

Neil
It's an expression we use informally to say something disastrous has happened. It's not the cooking pan we are referring to here. It’s actually the toilet!

Helen
不会吧，你说的这个pan 原来不是指平底锅，而是指抽水马桶 toilet。听着就觉得情况很糟糕了。  

Neil
Just imagine, when you flush the toilet, everything gets washed down the pipe. That's what I mean – 'down the pan', everything's gone! Total disaster! Here are a few examples:

Examples
Jason had great dreams of becoming a football player, but they went down the pan when he broke his leg.

I'm afraid all that careful preparation we did for Jemma's surprise birthday party went down the pan when her brother told her about it.

He was ready to move into his new home, but everything went down the pan when the fire destroyed the house last night.

Helen
Yuck! 这么说，如果什么事情本来进行得很顺利，突然出现意外而变得无法挽救，这种情况就可以用 down the pan 来表示。就像冲马桶，全没了。也就是我们说的“泡汤了，完蛋了”。

Neil
That's right. Er, Helen, I think you forgot to press the record button in the studio.

Helen
Oh no. What a disaster. Neil, would you mind re-recording this?       

Neil
(Sigh). Helen, that's my tea break down the pan.