Work taboos
A:May I ask whether we are allowed to wear casual clothes in the office?
B:Sure, company rules are not very strict at this point.
A:Thank you for telling me that.
B:But remind you, there are some forbidden activities.
A:What are they? I’ll be careful.
B:Don’t use office phones for personal matters.
A:I got it.
B:Never ever come to work drunk, also smoking in the office is not allowed.
A:I see.
1.Work taboos
工作禁區(qū)
taboo n. 禁忌,禁止接近,禁止使用
如:Questions and problems that were once taboo are now discussed openly.
一度視為犯忌的許多問題現(xiàn)在可以公開談?wù)摿恕?/p>
Any mention of politics is taboo in his house.
在他家里一提政治就犯忌。
2.May I ask whether we are allowed to wear casual clothes in the office?
方便問一下,我們平時(shí)上班可以穿休閑的衣服嗎?
casual clothes就是我們通常所說的“休閑裝”,那“正裝”一般怎么說呢?我們可以用formal dress或者suit(套裝)。
be allowed to就是“準(zhǔn)許做某事”的意思,
例如: Students in the campus are not allowed to go out after 11 p.m.
學(xué)校里的學(xué)生,11點(diǎn)之后不能出校門。
3.B:But remind you, there are some forbidden activities.
提醒你一下,公司里有些禁令的。
remind sb意思就是“提醒某人”,如:Please remind me to call him later.提醒我?guī)Щ亟o他打個(gè)電話。
forbidden 在這里修飾activites,表示“禁止的”。
As an earnest of my good intentions I will work overtime this week.