中国人常说，“为人处世，要留三分余地”。“留余地[liú yú dì]”字面意思是“leave some room”，“余地”指“the freedom that someone has to take the action they want to or to change their plans”，英文翻译为“leeway”。

“留余地”比喻不把话说死或不把事办绝，留下进退回旋的地步（leave some leeway，allow for some unforeseen circumstances）。常见用法为“留有足够余地（leave adequate leeway）”。

例句：

说话、办事时一定要给自己留余地。
We must leave some leeway when we talk about or do something.

制订预算时要留余地。
Leave some leeway when preparing the budget.