We took a shortcut through a quiet by-street to avoid the traffic on the main road.

by-street 是由前缀 by-（表示"旁边的、次要的"）和 street（街道）组成的复合词，字面意思是"旁边的街道"。 by-street 指与主干道平行或相邻的小街道，通常比较安静，车流量较少，中文常译为"小巷"或"支路"。