禮節美語——Office Gossip I

Sally 早上遇到同事 Lisa, 馬上湊上前去，很神秘地說：

Sally: Did you hear the news about Tom and his wife?

Lisa: No....what happened?

S: Well, Jane told me that Tom has been having an affair! I heard his wife caught him at a hotel with another woman!

L: Really? That's a shocker! I always thought Tom was a loyal, devoted family man.

S: Hey Mary, did you hear about Tom?

Mary: No, what happened? Is he okay?

S: Well, keep this under your hat, but it seems Tom has been having an affair! Everyone's talking about it!

Sally 告訴 Lisa，她聽說 Tom 搞婚外情，被他太太在旅館里捉奸。Lisa聽后很吃驚，說 That's a shocker! 意思是這件事太出人意料了，因為她一直覺得Tom是個很忠實的居家男人 family man. 這時另外一位同事 Mary也加入討論。Sally 又把這個小道消息告訴 Mary, 還讓她 keep this under your hat 意思是保密。

Mary: You know, to be perfectly honest, I'm not really keen on office gossip. For one thing, how do we even know the rumor is true? Did you hear it straight from the horse's mouth?

S: Not exactly. Jane said that Phyllis told her that they overheard a conversation between Katy and her friend Samantha about Tom's affair.

M: Well, that doesn't sound like a very accurate source. I really think you should take this rumor with a grain of salt.

Mary說，自己對辦公室里的這些八卦不感興趣。I'm not keen on office gossip. 她問Sally, Did you hear it straight from the horse's mouth? Mary在這里用到了一個習慣用語， straight from the horse's mouth. 意思是從當事人本人，或是可靠消息來源那里得到的消息。Sally承認，是輾轉好幾撥人，聽到的小道消息。Mary說，you should take this rumor with a grain of salt. 意思是那就不能全信了。To take something with a grain of salt 意思是帶著懷疑的態度，有所保留。 Lisa 聽后說：

L: But Mary, everyone gossips in the office. It's part of office culture.

M: That may be true, but sometimes gossip can be counterproductive and even dangerous. Did you ever play the "telephone game" when you were a kid?

L: Um... no. What's the "telephone game?"

M: Everyone sits in a circle and you start with a sentence of information. For example, "John hates chocolate cookies." Then each person whispers that sentence to the next person in turn.

Lisa 覺得，辦公室里大家都喜歡傳八卦，It's part of office culture. 是辦公室文化的一個部分。Mary 卻覺得，gossip can be counterproductive. 這樣做只會有消極效應。Mary 問 Lisa 小時候玩沒玩過 "telephone game"電話游戲，大家做成一圈，一個挨一個地把一句話用耳語的方式傳給自己旁邊的人，看傳到最后會變成什么樣子。

A: Gossip spreads fast, especially in the office!

B: That's true! It's part of office culture.

A: Not the desirable part! 辦公室里的閑話和謠言可能會帶來很不好的后果。

B: I know! But gossip is everywhere. 社會上，校園里，辦公室里。

A: 唉，大家都喜歡傳閑話。That's why we have tabloids and paparazzi, right?

B: Unfortunately, yes.

A: 就算家庭成員之間也喜歡傳閑話，比如，過年時家里人聚在一起，少不了東家常西家短地聊天。I guess that's part of the holiday fun?

B: Maybe. But family members can do something else together besides gossiping, right?

A: 對啊，我們中國人過年喜歡吃吃喝喝啊，打麻將啊，看電視啊。

B: 美國人也差不多，不過我們還可以 do logger sports!

A: 那是什么？

B: Listen to American Sports English and you'll know.

ASE: Logger Sports

Y: 謝謝你邀請我和你一起過圣誕節。

P: You know, Yang Chen, I think the best thing about Christmas is spending time with people you care about.

Y: That's true. 還有壁爐，太棒了。你點壁爐的木頭是哪里來的?

P: I chopped down the trees and cut the wood myself. I really enjoy doing logger sports.

Y: Logger sports?

P: Yeah, in America people race to see who can cut down trees and chop wood the fastest.

Y: Oh, that's so stupid，比賽誰砍木頭砍得快。

P: That's right. In college I was on a wood chopping team, but eventually I got the axe.

Y: Got the axe? 看來你真的很投入，還自己買一把斧頭。

P: Actually, no. When you say you got the axe, it means you were kicked out of a group. For example, after I was late to work three days in a row, my boss finally gave me the axe.

Y: 你老板把你開除了?

P: I really have an axe to grind with him.

Y: 你可不要拿著斧頭去威脅你的老板。

P: When you say you have an axe to grind with someone, it means that you are mad because he or she did something bad to you.

Y: For example?

P: If I generously invited someone to my house for Christmas and she didn't even bother to bring me a present, I would probably have an axe to grind with her.

Y: Of course I brought you a present!

P: What is it?

Y: Me! My wonderful company!

P: Can I exchange your wonderful company for something else at the store?

Y: Hohoho, Merry Christmas!

A: Hmm, 比賽砍木頭，Kat, have you ever done logger sports?

B: Actually, my family just buy chopped wood from the store for Christmas. We'd rather spend more time on gossiping than on chopping wood.

A: haha! 原來是這樣！好了，節目時間差不多了，這次的撰稿人是曉北，編輯是蔚然。同學們，我們下次的美語訓練班再見!

B: Bye! Happy New Year！