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汉语中常说“把……扼杀在摇篮里”，意思是“在某种事情发生或者某种势力发展起来之前，就将其消灭掉”，在萌芽状态将其遏止（suppress or destroy something at an early stage）。与英文俚语“nip something in the bud”同义，表示“stop, cease, or prevent something at the beginning or early phase, before it becomes too difficult or unmanageable”。
例句：
wǒ xiǎng bǎ nà diǎn gǎn qíng è shā zài yáo lán lǐ
我想把那点感情扼杀在摇篮里。
I wanted to nip that little romance in the bud.
wèi shén me bù zài zhè gè wèn tí kāi shǐ yǐng xiǎng dào zhěng gè yòng hù qún zhī qián bǎ tā è shā zài yáo lán lǐ ne
为什么不在这个问题开始影响到整个用户群之前把它扼杀在摇篮里呢？
Why don't you nip the issue in the bud before it starts affecting the entire user base?
Editor: Jade
来源：chinadaily.com.cn