美國之音之流行美語to be canned / to kiss up to

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LESSON 52

to be canned

to kiss up to

今天Michael和李華下了班以后就去逛街。他們邊走邊聊，李華會學到兩個常用語：to be canned和to kiss up to。

M: Man, it was crazy at work today!

L: 真的？你們辦公室今天發(fā)生什么事啦？

M: My friend George was late again, so the boss canned him!

L: 你的朋友George今天上班遲到，你們老板對他怎么了？對他大喊大叫嗎？

M: No, it's much worse than that. The boss canned him. In other words, the boss fired him!

L: 什么？你是說George被解雇了。所以To be canned就是被解雇的意思??？

M: Yeah, here, "canned" is the past form of "to can," which means "to put something in a can," or slang for "to throw something in the trash can".

L: 噢，這里canned就是把什么東西扔到垃圾桶?？蛇@跟解雇人有什么關系呢？

M: Hehheh, when your boss "cans" you, he's getting rid of you. It is like he is throwing you in the trash can.

L: 原來這是一種比喻啊。不過這種說法聽起來挺嚇人的。Michael, 你覺得George應該被解雇 嗎？

M: To tell the truth, George was not a very good employee. If I were the boss, I would have canned him too.

L： 哎呀，Michael，你這么說你的朋友未免太過份了吧！George又沒做壞事，為什么要解雇他 啊？

M: Well, George was often very late to work. This month, he came in late a least four times. The boss warned George many times before he finally canned him.

L: 看來你一點也不同情George。要是我的朋友碰上這種倒霉事，我至少也會替他難過啊。

M: Hmph. When George was late, it caused me and the other employees a lot of trouble. No one is really sad that he was canned.

L: 也許你說得沒錯。如果每個人都象George這樣老遲到，那會給其他人造成多大的麻煩啊。

M: Well, you are right and wrong. Because George was canned, we all have a lot more work to do right now.

L: 對，希望你們公司會趕快雇一個人來接替George的工作。

M: I'm sure they will.

音樂間隙

L： 哎，Michael，你有沒有擔心過自己有一天會被老板解雇呢？

M: Me? Not at all. I'm a good worker, and I kiss up to the boss all the time.

L: 你說你工作表現(xiàn)很好，而且你還經(jīng)常親你的老板。哎呀，Michael, 你好惡心哦，你的老板 不是男的嗎？

M: No no no...I said I "kiss up to" my boss. To "kiss up to" someone is to try to be extra friendly to someone so they will treat you well.

L: 那你到底是怎么樣“kiss up to”你的boss呢？

M: Well, when I want to "kiss up to" the boss, I might bring him coffee, or help him clean the office. I also try to say nice things about him and his family, or tell him he just looks really cool.

L: 噢，現(xiàn)在我懂了。你不用說的那么好聽，“kiss up to”無非就是拍什么人的馬屁嘛。哎呀， 真沒想到，你還是個馬屁精啊。你不怕同事看不起你?。?span lang="EN-US">

M: No, not at all. All of the employees kiss up to my boss. Actually, there's nothing wrong with that, because our boss is a really nice guy.

L: 如果你的老板真象你說的那么好，或許討好他也沒什么錯。

M: I Guess kissing up to someone can be useful, but not so that everyone hates you.

L: 你說的沒錯，拍馬屁有時候是挺管用的，不過要是搞得人人都討厭你，那就太不值得了。

M: Don't worry about me. I don't want the boss to do anything for me, I just don't want to be canned.

L: 其實我才應該向你學幾招，去討好討好我的老板，也讓他對我另眼相看。

今天李華學會了兩個常用語：to be canned和to kiss up to.To be canned在這里就是被解雇的意思，kiss up to是討好某人，拍馬屁的意思。