Subject：The boss laid down the law today.

迷你對話

A: The boss laid down the law today. Anyone who is late at work will be fired! So you had better be careful.

老板立下了規定，誰要是上班遲到就會被解雇。

B: Thank you for your advice.

謝謝您的建議。

地道表達

lay down the law

1. 解詞釋義

此語的含義比較多，按照字面意思是“制定法律，立下法規”的意思，它還有“發號司令，嚴詞命令”，“嚴厲責備”的意思。

2. 拓展例句

e.g The boss laid down the law that all the staff can have dinner at the restaurant.

老板丁下法規，所有職工都可以在食堂吃晚餐。

3. 視野拓展

（1）釋義：嚴厲斥責

e.g You shouldn't lay down the law to me about that.

你不應該就那件事來申斥我。

e.g The mother laid down the law to her daughter coming home late.

女兒回家晚了，母親狠狠地訓了她一頓。

（2）發號司令

e.g You don’t have the right to lay the law to me and mind your own business.

你沒有權利對我發號司令，管好你自己吧。

Ps 1：be late at work的意思是“上班遲到”。例如：

Henry got off on the wrong foot by being late at work on his first day.

亨利第一天上班就遲到，一開始就給人留下了不好的印象。

Ps 2：:at work的意思是“在工作中”。例如：

He did very little on his first day at work. 他頭一天上班工作做得很少。

Ps 3：had better的意思是“最好”。例如：

I'm not clear about this matter, so I had better keep quiet. 我對這個問題不清楚, 只能不置一詞。