VOA流行美語(yǔ) Unit 52: TO BE CANNED / TO KISS UP TO

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(huì)學(xué)到兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：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(duì)他怎么了？對(duì)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(shuō)George被解雇了。所以To be canned就是被解雇的意思啊？

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。可這跟解雇人有什么關(guān)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(lái)這是一種比喻啊。不過(guò)這種說(shuō)法聽(tīng)起來(lái)挺嚇人的。Michael, 你覺(jué)得George應(yīng)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(shuō)你的朋友未免太過(guò)份了吧！George又沒(méi)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(lái)你一點(diǎn)也不同情George。要是我的朋友碰上這種倒霉事，我至少也會(huì)替他難過(guò)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(shuō)得沒(méi)錯(cuò)。如果每個(gè)人都象George這樣老遲到，那會(huì)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(duì)，希望你們公司會(huì)趕快雇一個(gè)人來(lái)接替George的工作。

M: I'm sure they will.

音樂(lè)間隙

L： 哎，Michael，你有沒(méi)有擔(dān)心過(guò)自己有一天會(huì)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(shuō)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(shuō)的那么好聽(tīng)，"kiss up to"無(wú)非就是拍什么人的馬屁嘛。哎呀， 真沒(méi)想到，你還是個(gè)馬屁精啊。你不怕同事看不起你啊？

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(shuō)的那么好，或許討好他也沒(méi)什么錯(cuò)。

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

L: 你說(shuō)的沒(méi)錯(cuò)，拍馬屁有時(shí)候是挺管用的，不過(guò)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(shí)我才應(yīng)該向你學(xué)幾招，去討好討好我的老板，也讓他對(duì)我另眼相看。

今天李華學(xué)會(huì)了兩個(gè)常用語(yǔ)：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。