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第98講:put on the back burner; drag ones feet
我們經(jīng)常說(shuō)做事要看輕重緩急,有的時(shí)候不得不把正在做的事或計(jì)劃要做的事先擱置一邊。美國(guó)人把這叫做:to put on the back burner。
Back就是后邊,而burner在這兒的是指做飯的爐子。美國(guó)的廚房里,爐臺(tái)上一般都有四個(gè)爐口,前面兩個(gè),后面兩個(gè)。人們往往把很快能煮好的東西放在前面爐子上煮,把一些要慢慢煮的東西放在后面的爐子上。這就是to put on the back burner這個(gè)俗語(yǔ)的來(lái)源。下面這個(gè)例子是一個(gè)廣告公司的老板在給會(huì)計(jì)下指示:
"Joe, I know you're working on the Anderson contract, but let's put it on the back burner for now. We need your help on the new Jones contract--it's worth more than five million dollars."
這個(gè)老板說(shuō):“喬伊,我知道你現(xiàn)在正在處理安德森合同的事情,但是,讓我們先把它放一放。我們要你來(lái)幫忙處理和瓊斯簽訂的新合同。這個(gè)合同價(jià)值達(dá)五百萬(wàn)美元!
每個(gè)家庭也經(jīng)常會(huì)把馬上想干的事推遲一段時(shí)間。下面是一個(gè)丈夫在對(duì)妻子說(shuō)話:
"Honey, the boss told me today he can't give me that pay raise I was expecting. I'm afraid that means we'll have to put our plans to buy a bigger house on the back burner until next year."
這個(gè)丈夫說(shuō):“親愛(ài)的,老板今天告訴我他不能滿足我的愿望給我加工資。所以我們想買(mǎi)棟大房子的計(jì)劃恐怕不得不等到明年再說(shuō)了!
好多人在做一些事的時(shí)候會(huì)表現(xiàn)出拖拖拉拉,很不愿意的樣子。美國(guó)人把這種現(xiàn)象稱為:to drag one's feet。你聽(tīng)了下面這位母親的話就會(huì)明白什么是to drag one's feet了:
"Billy and Sally always drag their feet when I tell them it's bedtime. They love to watch TV after dinner and they'd stay up till midnight if I didn't chase them off to bed."
這位母親說(shuō):“每當(dāng)我叫比利和薩利上床睡覺(jué)的時(shí)候,他們總是拖拖拉拉。他們喜歡吃完晚飯后看電視,要是我不催著他們上床的話,他們可以一直看到半夜。”
下面的例子是一個(gè)百貨公司的雇員正在罷工,要求增加工資。這個(gè)公司的經(jīng)理說(shuō):
"The union is dragging its feet on agreeing to a settlement. They think the company is getting desperate to get people back to work because Christmas is coming and that's our busiest time of year."
他說(shuō):“工會(huì)拖拖拉拉地不肯就解決方案達(dá)成協(xié)議。他們認(rèn)為,公司一定會(huì)迫不及待地要雇員回去工作,因?yàn)槭フQ節(jié)快來(lái)了,這是我們一年最忙的時(shí)候!
這回我們給大家介紹了兩個(gè)俗語(yǔ),它們是:to put on the back burner和to drag one's feet。
To put on the back burner是先擱置在一邊的意思;to drag one's feet是拖拖拉拉的意思。
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