評論
打印
Words and Idioms #972
現在播送美國習慣用語第 972講。我是楊琳。
M: 我是 Dan Markus.
上周末我們家庭聚會，表哥喝多了，說了一些對姑姑不敬的話，不久就傳到了我姑姑的耳朵里。幾乎就在同時，表哥也意識到自己犯的錯，趕緊去向姑姑賠罪，還特別送了鮮花。他這一系列及時補救的做法讓我想到了一句習慣用語，那就是:
M: Damage control. Damage is spelled d-a-m-a-g-e, and control; c-o-n-t-r-o-l. Damage control. Damage control.
我們都知道，damage這個詞本身是破壞，損壞的意思，而control，控制。連在一起，damage control，損害控制，意思就是采取措施將造成的損害降到最低。就像上面的例子里，My cousin told my aunt that he was sorry and sent her flowers. It's DAMAGE CONTROL. 我表哥又道歉又送花，試圖把損害降到最低。下面的例子里，我們來聽聽看這個叫Drake的人怎么搞砸了他的晉升:
M: "There were some doubts about whether Drake would be an effective Union president. Then, he made a racial remark in a speech at an assembly. At first, he ignored critics. Later, he tried to make a joke of it before deciding to offer a public apology. In the end, his attempts at DAMAGE CONTROL weren't successful. He lost out on the promotion."
這段話是說：大家對于德雷克能不能成為一個好的工會主席很懷疑。就在這時候，他在一次集會發言時，說了一句帶有種族歧視色彩的話。起初，他根本不理會別人的批評。之后他試圖用玩笑來掩蓋這次錯誤，最后實在沒辦法才公開道歉。結果，他試圖控制損害程度的努力并不成功，沒有得到升職。
專家們建議，一旦你意識到自己做錯了什么事或者說錯了什么話，就應該馬上補救，一分鐘都不能等。越早對自己造成的損害負起責任，挽救局勢的可能性就越高。好了，我們再來聽聽剛才那段話:
M: "There were some doubts about whether Drake would be an effective union president. Then, he made a racial remark in a speech at an assembly. At first, he ignored critics. Later, he tried to make a joke of it before deciding to offer a public apology. In the end, his attempts at DAMAGE CONTROL weren't successful. He lost out on the promotion."
剛剛我們談到，如果做錯了什么事情，就應該馬上進行damage control，盡量把傷害降到最低程度。下面的例子里，這位足球媽媽就意識到了自己的錯誤。她做了什么來補救呢? 我們來聽聽看：
M: "My wife knew she was wrong. She should never have told our daughter's soccer coach that he'd made a lot of bad calls at the game. Fortunately, she wasted no time explaining how she'd been inappropriate, followed by offering him an invitation to dinner at our house. Thanks to my wife's DAMAGE CONTROL, the coach isn't upset anymore."
這段話是說: 我太太知道她做錯了。她不應該指責我女兒足球教練在比賽中決策失誤。好在，她一點也沒耽擱，馬上去跟教練解釋，說自己這種做法不合適，還邀請他來我們家吃飯。她這么努力把造成的損害降到最低程度，教練也就不再生氣了。
所以說，越快補救，損害就越小! Damage control 這個短語最初出現在20世紀50年代，那時候，這個短語只限于用在把一個船只事故的損害降到最低。慢慢地，人們開始把這個短語引伸出來使用，到現在，damage control 可以用在任何需要進行補救的場合中。好的，讓我們再來聽聽剛才那段話：
M: "My wife knew she was wrong. She should never have told our daughter's soccer coach that he'd made a lot of bad calls at the game. Fortunately, she wasted no time explaining how she'd been inappropriate, followed by offering him an invitation to dinner at our house. Thanks to my wife's DAMAGE CONTROL, the coach isn't upset anymore."
今天我們學習的習慣用語是 damage control，意思是“損害控制，把損害降到最低程度”。好的，這次[美國習慣用語]就到此結束，我是楊琳，我是Dan Markus。謝謝各位的收聽。
