凱文& 丹尼斯的兩人世界

[漫畫]讓人討厭的老闆終於宣佈退休了，員工們都興高彩烈，高興全寫在臉上。

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英文教室從本篇 “直屬上司” 篇嘗試做兩點不一樣的修改。

首先，對話內容會出現比較多的英文，因為加入了一個完整的句子，凱文覺得直接在對話內容中就放入一個完整的句子會更容易了解在怎樣的情境之下可以使用這個字。希望這一個改變會讓大家更方便學習跟閱讀，不過，如果還是比較喜歡像第一篇的風格的話，也發聲跟我說一下吧。


第二點的改變是，我將盡量找一些與本章主題相關的漫畫或者是跟俚語/成語相關的圖片，這樣讓英文教室單元看起來更生動活潑一點。


真的很高興職場商用英文單元得到很多正面肯定的回應以及鼓勵，凱文會繼續努力下去，大家也要有時間就唸唸英文喔。
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豬立啞：早上一進辦公室時Our boss just chewed me out，He has already rip me a new asshole。

卡賣籠：到底發生啥事呢? Did you keep a low profile呀? 我是說，就算你不同意老闆的意見，You still have to pay lip service to his opinions，Do not lock horns with our boss in order to prove yourself. 這是非常不智的，之前就有個白目的同事也對著他吼回去，The outcome was that our boss sent him packing to go home了 。


豬立啞：我知道這個事情，He wants all of us to be yes man，都要聽他的，所以我只是靜靜地挨罵，可是搞了半天His decision came full circle，剛剛罵我怎沒有採用大概一個月前最一開始的A方案，是他自己後來跟我講要用B計畫的呀，所以Now I have to go back to square one，I burned the midnight oil for a whole week的辛苦都白忙了，I am going to go postal了。


卡賣籠：Been there, done that，我的建議是，以後在妳做任何新的決定之前，You must give our boss a heads up，我們都有能力自由發揮，可是我們都知道He is not a hands-off manager，他總喜歡干涉我們的做事方法>，He doesn’t give blank check to his subordinates，We are just a figure -head，了解這點之後，You have to let him in the know，並確定Our boss and you are on the same page，現在既然他做了決定，Just leave him holding the bag吧。


豬立啞：我想接下來He will keep his eyes on my progress，I am now in the hot seat了，可是我覺得最糟糕的是，做這樣老闆不高興，做那樣又要得罪R&D部門，It’s really a catch 22，你知道We can’t burn our bridges with R&D Department呀，老闆都不站在我們的角度替我們想一下，真的很過分呀。


卡賣籠：我知道妳的為難處，無論如何，You have to get right on your new plan as soon as possible。
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★Chew (someone) out to：to reprimand. 責備責罵，過去式是chewed。
例句：The boss chewed me out for an hour because I forgot about this morning’s meeting.


★Rip (someone) a new asshole：to yell at someone，大聲地吼罵。rip是扯、撕下、劃破的意思，三態是Rip、Ripped、Rip。(把你罵到像是整個人)剝了一層皮一樣，可見得罵的多厲害，看到asshole就該知道是一個不大優雅的說法，但是當你被罵得很慘之後，當然要說說ass、asshole這類不雅的話來洩洩憤呀，同樣的文雅一點的說法是 rip someone a new one：rip me a new one. 但不如用asshole來得傳神受歡迎。
例句：If Naomi is late for work again, the boss is going to rip her a new asshole.


★Keep a low profile to：to remain in the background, to be inconspicuous. 中文就是保持低調的意思。
例句：Ever since Susan got promotion, she tries to keep a low profile.


★Pay lip service：to pretend to agree with someone or approve of an idea, etc without really doing so. 假裝表面上同意某人或是某事，但並不會有具體行動來使之成功，lip service的意思是應酬話，假殷勤，完全不真誠的言語。
例句：The boss’s support of new business actions was merely paying lip service; he never committed himself to it in any substantial way..


★Lock horns with someone (to)：to come into conflict or to argue over something. (因為不同意而)與某人起了爭執或爭論。
例句：I don’t agree with Bill’s opinion so I lock horns with him about everything.


[照]horns是鹿、野牛等等動物頭上的角，看過這些動物在用角互相打架嗎? 可以想像兩個人像動物在lock horns然後互相僵持不下的意境嗎?


★Prove yourself (to)：to display one’s skills and abilities. 證明自己的能力或技能。
例句：Poor Robert got fired before he had a chance to prove himself.


★Send him packing to go home：to fire someone. 望文生義就是送某人去打包回家，開除。
例句：If you aren’t prepared for the next meeting, the boss is going to send you packing.


★Yes man：a person always expresses agreement with his or her supervisor. 總是同意上司老闆說的話的人，類似我們中文講的應聲蟲。
例句；Paul is a yes man. He always says yes to our boss’s ideas even though some of them are really stupid.


★Come full circle：to return to the beginning of an argument or process, to go back to one's starting point又重新回到原點，或是說討論的議題東跳西跳最後又回到最一開始的話題。
例句：After talking about the problem for two hours, the argument came full circle and we chose the first solution we had discussed.


★Go back to square one：restart from the beginning. (回到原點)重新開始，這詞最先是起源於英國足球廣播的評論中。
例句：John forgot all changes our customers requested. Now I have to go back to square one and explain it all again.


★Burn the midnight oil. 在上一篇promotion篇學過的，有印象嗎?


★Go postal：become extremely angry, possibly to the point of violence, 當動詞用，抓狂生氣到幾近快出現暴力行為了。這詞是源自於1986年時，美國郵政United States Postal Service (USPS)裡的員工射殺了經理同事，而在1986年及1997年之間，有將近40個人被殺死於工作場合發生的暴力事件中，於是postal那個事件便被引用來形容是極端憤怒下即將出現暴力行為，這詞不限只用在工作場合上。
例句：I’m feeling so much stress. If I don’t take a vocation soon. I’m going to go postal.


★Been there, done that： indicating that it is boring to repeat an experience once it has lost its novelty. 其中一個意思是因為做過一次怎樣的事情後，便不再覺得有多新奇有趣了，如:I don't want to so skiing, been there, done that.但延伸到現在美語的用法變成是，因為曾經經歷過(做過)怎樣的事情，所以懂得經歷這些事情時的感受(會有一點點酸酸的口氣)。

例句：I know how tough it is when working with John. Been there, done that.


★Give someone a heads up：to tell someone a piece of information before it becomes official, 在正式生效前先知會當事人一些資訊，heads-up的意思是提醒一個可能會導致危險的警告，如: Heads-up, the tree is coming down now.
例句：I heard that Sandy is going to get fired. I’m going to give her a heads up, so she can start looking for another job.


★Hands-off：nonintervention or noninterference. 形容詞，從字面上的意思就是(雙)手都離開，解釋成不干預也不干涉。
例句：Harold is a hands-off manager. He lets me do what I want as long as I meet my project goals.


★Blank check：unrestricted authority. 字面的意思是空白支票，引申為完全放手讓下屬自由發揮不加以干涉的管理風格。
例句：He was given a blank check in the choice of personnel for the new department.


★Figure-head：a person who appears to be in charge but having no actual authority. 似乎是在一個領導主控的地位，但事實上卻是一點實際的權利都沒有，哈哈，原來凱文之前PM的工作就是 figure-head，要負責很多成敗，但對R&D甚至是其他部門的小組成員的工作表現卻一點辦法都沒有。


★In the know：Privy to special or secret information, 先私底下通知、知會特定的訊息。例句：Not too many people are in the know about this project.


★On the same page：to have the same understanding about something. 對同一件事有相同的認知與了解，另外一個類似的說法是on the same boat，中文的意思是同舟共濟、處在相同的情境/狀況下。
例句:Delia and I are on the same page about the project. We both agree that we need to hire more people to help.


★Leave him holding the bag：to force someone to be responsible for something. 迫使某人來為某些事情負責，這邊不是說我面對面的強迫你要來負責某些事情，而是因為某些特殊狀況之下而造成的，看以下的例句領略一下這個用法。
例句：Kimberly was supposed to be in charge of this project, but she went on vocation and left me holding the bag.


★Keep an eye on something/someone：to watch someone/something very carefully. 非常小心地監看/注意某些人或事。
例句: Keep an eye on Ralph. He seems very upset lately and doesn’t concentrate on his work at all.


★In the hot seat：a highly uncomfortable or embarrassing situation. 在一個非常不舒服或是尷尬的情況當中，hot seat的俚語用法就是電椅，electric chair.
例句：I'm in the hot seat because of the contract I lost.


★Catch 22：an situation where you lose no matter what choices you make. A dilemma. 中文俚語叫做豬八戒照鏡子，裡外不是人，不管怎樣做兩邊(甚至多邊)都不能同時討好的狀況。
例句：Whatever schedule I go for, some people will be mad about it. It’s really a catch 22.


★Burn one’s bridges to：to cause permanent irreparable damage to a relationship. 這說法起源於一個軍事策略，為了不讓士兵有撤退的路，於是過了橋之後便燒了橋，就如同中文所說『破釜沉舟』(Break the woks and sink the boats)，到今天的用法就有點不一樣了，解釋成關係(因傷害)而無法彌補修復，注意要用複數型bridges。
例句：Don’t burn your bridges with Jeff. He will be the president of this company soon.


★Get right on something：to begin work immediately. 馬上、立即開始做。
例句：Let’s get right on our new project after our discussion. We don’t have much time to waste.

[漫畫]解決問題最好的方法就是---MONEY!! 哪怕是不肖子不小心把人家肚子弄大了，還是小老婆吵著一哭二鬧三上吊，甚至是企業中各種問題的解決方案，金錢似乎都是列位前幾項的解決之道。
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俺竭力拉:I really can’t get the hang of this new project，雖然馬立殺已經跟我交接過該怎樣做了，可是對一個新手來說還是太難了，面對一直層出不窮的狀況，It seems that I always fly by the seat of my pants，挫折感真的很重，Could you please give me some pointers?


閹冬泥: 好的，雖然As a rule of thumb是，I don’t like to talk shopon my lunch break，不過我可以為你開個先例，誰叫我們是同部門的苦命PM呢? Let’s get down to business吧。


閹冬泥: In a nutshell，我最衷心的建議是，Do not have any knee-jerk reaction. 也就是說，在你沒有得到從各方面得到足夠的資訊之前，別做任何 snap judgments。

閹冬泥: 遇到狀況時，Do not jump to a conclusion right away，妳要先分析問題的來源，Try to get to the bottom of the problems，你可以先問一下工廠相關人員、你team 裡面的R&D、甚至是我們其它PM是否有相關狀況發生，多方收集資訊後再來做判斷，If you off the cuff，you may worsen the problem。


閹冬泥: 你還是新手，You probably will not be able to nip the problems in the bud，但是你要先去了解產品開發流程，這有一定的先後順序，Do not put the cart before the horse，也盡量避免 do things quick and dirty，這樣就能減少很多出狀況的機率了。


俺竭力拉: 哇~~ You are such a big gun，你的經驗談真的點醒了我很多，You are really the cream of the crop，真是太謝謝你了。你今天教我的I will go over it in my head.
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★Get the hang of something (to) ：to learn the proper way of doing, using or handling something and become proficient學習做怎樣的事情之後變得很熟練了。這句在電視影集裡面聽過很多次了，趕快學起來。
例句：I finally got the hang of this computer program.


★Fly the seat of someone’s pants：to compose and perform or deliver without previous preparation, improvise. (毫無事先準備)就即席、即興的演出。
例句：Matthew never spends enough time checking facts or researching. He always flies by the seat of his pants when he makes decision.

★Give someone some pointers (to) ：to give someone advice. 給予某人一些建議。Pointer是老師或講師上課時手上拿的小長棍或是雷射光點筆。

例句：If you need help to write this report, you can ask Albert to give you some pointers.




★Rule of thumb ：a rule or principle that provides guidance to appropriate behavior.　一個大原則、做事的準則依據或是經驗法則。

例句：As a rule of thumb, you should never lock horns with your boss Alex unless you want to get fired.




看了很多篇網站的文章都有在rebut(駁斥)一個說法，那就是rule of thumb的起源是古早以前有一個法令(rule)規定丈夫可以用不超過他們大拇指寬的竹棍來鞭妻，以訛傳訛下到了今日成了挺多人相信的說法，聽起來很不合理也很誇張，幸好這是錯誤的。但rule of thumb的起源也眾說紛紜，莫衷一是，比較可信的說法都是跟丈量長度有關(ruler的意思是丈量長度的尺)，裁縫師有一個axiom(格言、原則)是說：”twice around the thumb is once around the wrist”，大拇指兩倍的長度就是手腕的寬度，同時，有有木匠是用一根大拇指的長度來取大約是一英吋(inch)。



[延伸說明]Thumb是大拇指，我們通常會說 thumbs-up，這有兩個意思，一個是表示准予、批准；另一個是(翹起大拇指) 表示稱許讚賞，比如說: We turned thumbs up to his excellent performance. 相反的說法就是 thumbs down. 所以we turned thumbs down to Chen. 這大家都很清楚就是倒扁的手勢。



★Talk shop：to talk about one's work, profession or business. 談論有關工作、商業等專業性教高的話題。

例句：After dinner we all sat around the table and talked shop.



[延伸說明]另外有一個長得很像的字是talking shop，這是一個貶抑的說法，指的是;毫無成效且官僚的組織、政治的委員會，所以台灣的立法院is a talking shop.



★Get down to business ：to apply oneself to serious matters; concentrate on work: 專注在正事、工作上。

例句：They finally got down to business and signed the contract.



[延伸說明]另外，我們最常用有關business這個字的口語還有business is business (商業或是各種利益該凌駕在個人的考量上)，如：You have to fire your poorly-perform brother, business is business. 另外一個就是mind your own business 或者說none of your business. 不管你的事，管好你自己的事情吧。



★In a nutshell：in very brief form; in a few words: 非常簡潔簡要的形式，用很簡單的少數一些字，nutshell是核桃的外殼或者是指小容器，裝滿一個小容器的文字語言是很簡短很少的。

例句：Just tell me the executive summary of your business plan in a nutshell.



★Knee-jerk reaction：a reflex extension of the leg resulting from a sharp tap on the patellar tendon，簡單地講，就是拿著小槌子往膝蓋上敲時，小腿會自己有反射性的向上踢的反應，這是反射性的反應，用到我們人的身上就變成說是不假思索就立即做出的反應。

例句：When David found out that he didn’t get the promotion, he started screaming. It was a knee-jerk reaction and now he regrets it.



就像媽媽在你晚歸時會唸怎都這樣晚才回家，一般人的knee-jerk reaction就是怎這樣愛碎碎念會覺得很煩很生氣，可是有沒有想過其實為人父母會碎碎念的背後動機是出自於關心，也擔心晚歸可能會有潛在的不安全性，所以大家在心覺不爽不耐之前，請先靜下心來想想，若對你不聞不問完全地放牛吃草會讓你覺得比較舒服高興的話，那再來有reaction也不遲。



這一個俚語非常常用喔，前兩天看電視喜劇 “Will and Grace” 時，就聽到了這一個俚語，那個情境是，男主角只要聽到他的朋友跟他建議要如何改變他公寓裡的擺設時，他連想都沒想地就馬上說No，這就是knee-jerk reaction. 還有，You are a jerk就是我們常用來罵人的，你是個混蛋。






★Snap judgments： a hasty decision made without having all the necessary facts. 在未得到完整必須的事實/資訊前所做下倉卒的決定。

例句：I hope Ralph would stop making snap judgments. He should listen to all the necessary opinions from his team member before reaching a conclusion.



[延伸說明]snap是quick的意思，所以常聽到的snap shot就是快速照相，像大頭貼就是snap shot，然後如果想利用午休時間小睡個10分鐘的話，就說I want to take a nap. Take a nap 就是小睡、打個小盹的意思，跟snap沒啥關係但市長得很像，所以就插個花提一下。



★Jump to a conclusion ：form an opinion or judgment hastily, 過早下定論、評論。

例句：Wait till you have the facts; don't jump to a conclusion.



★Get to the bottom of something：find the origin or cause of something, 找出事情/(問題)的根源。

例句：The previous proposal couldn't resolve the efficiency of IT department. We have to get to the bottom of this.



[延伸說明]另外我們也常說 bottoms up, 也就是乾杯，若說 bet one’s bottom dollar, 意思(因為是非常確定)而賭上了你最後一塊錢，如：You can bet your bottom dollar that something will prevent us from leaving on time.而非常重要且常用的相關說法是 bottom line，是指底限、最基本的要求，如：I don’t care the quality of your report, the bottom line is you have to turn in that report by 5PM tomorrow.



★Off the cuff：without really thinking about it. not prepared in advance; impromptu. 不多加思考地，沒有多做準備，跟fly by the seat of someone’s pants 有異曲同工之妙，cuff是袖口的意思。

例句：I don’t know the answer, but off the cuff, I’d say we should hire someone new.





[照]記得有一個節目是有五位專門改造不修邊幅的異性戀男的Gay men嗎? 其中一位男主角出了這本書是關於男士的穿著品味，書名就叫off the cuff，Amazon.com有在賣。



★Nip something in the bud：to stop (something) in the beginning of its development,就是中文所說未雨綢繆，防患於未然。Nip 是阻斷、剪斷、阻止的意思；而bud是嫩芽，萌芽的意思，在嫩芽剛剛長出來時就把它剪斷，就阻絕了將來繼續發展的機會，所以就是在事情發展發生前就已經阻止了。Nip the problems in the bud這個俚語我在看”Frasier” (Dr. Crane的歡樂一家親)時也聽到了喔，是很生動很常用的一個俚語。



例句：Our CEO is going to nip the rumor in the bud. We all heard that our company is going to lay off hundreds of employees.



[延伸說明]另外有一個用詞是 nip and tuck，tuck當動詞的意思是把…塞進去、把…藏入，美國有一部非常受歡迎的影集叫做nip and tuck，台灣的片名翻成『整形春秋』，聽說超好看，可惜電視兒童如我都還沒看過。而 nip and tuck也有它自己的意思，是指在比賽中的競爭者都勢均力敵的狀況，It was nip and tuck as to which sailboat would reach port first. 所以nip and tuck這部電視劇應該是有雙關語，是整形師或者是去整形的人之間勢均力敵的競爭狀態，應該不免會牽扯到一些名利的糾葛吧。




[照]Nip and tuck的電視劇照，很像俊男美女雲集的007電影吧? 只是手上的槍便成注射矽膠或是肉毒桿菌的針筒了，很有諷刺的意味在。



★Put the cart before the horse：to do or place things in improper order; be illogical. Cart是馬拉的二輪貨車，把小貨車放到馬的前面那如何能前進呢? 解釋成本末倒置，順序顛倒不恰當。

例句：Don’t put the cart before the horse. We have to make our budget plan first before we go to GM for approval.





[照]這則漫畫超可愛的，看這兩隻馬兒臉上逗趣的表情跟對話。



★Do things quick and dirty: to complete a task quickly but not necessarily correctly. 事情做得快但不見得做得正確。

例句：Jessica does everything quick and dirty. She can finish her work on time, but I have to go back and fix all the problems.



[延伸說明] quick-and-dirty是相當常見到的說法，意思是(因為時間壓力下)而有出品質低落的產物，像是說quick-and-dirty report.



有一種叫做 quick-and-dirty的解決方案，這種解決方案(solution)就像是頭痛醫頭腳痛醫腳，只能暫時解決眼前的問題，而不能夠通盤地get to the bottom of the problems來解決問題，也可以說是治標不治本，企業界也還挺常用quick-and-dirty solutions來解決問題，通常真要通盤地連根來解決，是要花很多錢的。

例句: "I can have a quick-and-dirty fix in place tonight, but I'll have to rewrite the whole module to solve the underlying design problem."



另外，quick-and-dirty常常都用來指那種教人很快速上手使用某些工具或是會做怎樣事情的文件或是使用說明，但這樣的文件或手冊通常都沒有對why or how it works有太多細節上的著墨，你可以說那是quick-and-dirty handbook/document，比如像妨間有很多類似 ”5分鐘好菜端上桌” 呀 “ 3分鐘快速完成簡報製作” 等等概念的產物都是。



★Big gun：在第一篇Promotion篇學過了，有記得嗎? 注意Big gun跟Big shot是不一樣的，big gun(a skilled people) 不一定是big shot(an important people)，big shot 也不一定是big gun，但big gun 同時也有可能是big shot，兩個字的解釋要分清楚。



★Cream of the crop：the best, most desired people. 簡單來說就是最好的。Cream是奶油，crop是穀物、收成的農作物，whipped cream就是蛋糕上或是咖啡冰沙上那一陀發泡奶油，美國人真的超愛吃whipped cream，第一次點了一塊看起來美美又可口的蛋糕，結果端上來的時候蛋糕上一陀白色奶油，蛋糕頂端在盤子上又一陀，兩大陀奶油完全地破壞畫面也真把我當場看傻了眼。美國人會胖真的不是沒有道理，他們的廚房還有專門像是霜淇淋機的發泡奶油機呢。

例句：This company accepts only applicants who are the cream of the crop.



[延伸說明] cream one's jeans 是一個很vulgar(粗俗的;下流的)的俚語，是指have an orgasm, esp. to ejaculate in one's underwear (or pants)，凱文不多做解釋，請望文生義一下，會想介紹這個用法是請女性讀者小心避免言語上被吃豆腐了而渾然不知，這個用法可以適用在男女雙方，如果凱文我自嘲說I just creamed my jeans. 那只會跟熟識的好朋友私底下三八，這可不是啥正經的用語喔! 例句: Sam creamed his jeans when he saw the nude photo of Pamela Anderson(那位奶霸潘蜜拉安德森).





[照]猜猜這位大名鼎鼎的歌手是誰?? 看那個臉上的妝跟身上的裝恐怕很難認出來吧? 這可是名滿天下的女伶Diana Rose(黛安娜羅斯)，這張是在1969年發行片名為"Cream of the crop"的專輯，她的歌聲真的很棒，唱起爵士樂超有味道的。



★Go over something in one’s head to：to think about something carefully. 小心地思考某事。Go over的意思是repeat, review, examine. 如:：The mechanic went over the car but found nothing wrong.

例句：If I have to fire someone, I’ll fire Ted. I’ve gone over it in my head several times.

[漫畫]讓人討厭的老闆終於宣佈退休了，員工們都興高彩烈，高興全寫在臉上。

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英文教室從本篇 “直屬上司” 篇嘗試做兩點不一樣的修改。

首先，對話內容會出現比較多的英文，因為加入了一個完整的句子，凱文覺得直接在對話內容中就放入一個完整的句子會更容易了解在怎樣的情境之下可以使用這個字。希望這一個改變會讓大家更方便學習跟閱讀，不過，如果還是比較喜歡像第一篇的風格的話，也發聲跟我說一下吧。


第二點的改變是，我將盡量找一些與本章主題相關的漫畫或者是跟俚語/成語相關的圖片，這樣讓英文教室單元看起來更生動活潑一點。


真的很高興職場商用英文單元得到很多正面肯定的回應以及鼓勵，凱文會繼續努力下去，大家也要有時間就唸唸英文喔。
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豬立啞：早上一進辦公室時Our boss just chewed me out，He has already rip me a new asshole。

卡賣籠：到底發生啥事呢? Did you keep a low profile呀? 我是說，就算你不同意老闆的意見，You still have to pay lip service to his opinions，Do not lock horns with our boss in order to prove yourself. 這是非常不智的，之前就有個白目的同事也對著他吼回去，The outcome was that our boss sent him packing to go home了 。


豬立啞：我知道這個事情，He wants all of us to be yes man，都要聽他的，所以我只是靜靜地挨罵，可是搞了半天His decision came full circle，剛剛罵我怎沒有採用大概一個月前最一開始的A方案，是他自己後來跟我講要用B計畫的呀，所以Now I have to go back to square one，I burned the midnight oil for a whole week的辛苦都白忙了，I am going to go postal了。


卡賣籠：Been there, done that，我的建議是，以後在妳做任何新的決定之前，You must give our boss a heads up，我們都有能力自由發揮，可是我們都知道He is not a hands-off manager，他總喜歡干涉我們的做事方法>，He doesn’t give blank check to his subordinates，We are just a figure -head，了解這點之後，You have to let him in the know，並確定Our boss and you are on the same page，現在既然他做了決定，Just leave him holding the bag吧。


豬立啞：我想接下來He will keep his eyes on my progress，I am now in the hot seat了，可是我覺得最糟糕的是，做這樣老闆不高興，做那樣又要得罪R&D部門，It’s really a catch 22，你知道We can’t burn our bridges with R&D Department呀，老闆都不站在我們的角度替我們想一下，真的很過分呀。


卡賣籠：我知道妳的為難處，無論如何，You have to get right on your new plan as soon as possible。
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★Chew (someone) out to：to reprimand. 責備責罵，過去式是chewed。
例句：The boss chewed me out for an hour because I forgot about this morning’s meeting.


★Rip (someone) a new asshole：to yell at someone，大聲地吼罵。rip是扯、撕下、劃破的意思，三態是Rip、Ripped、Rip。(把你罵到像是整個人)剝了一層皮一樣，可見得罵的多厲害，看到asshole就該知道是一個不大優雅的說法，但是當你被罵得很慘之後，當然要說說ass、asshole這類不雅的話來洩洩憤呀，同樣的文雅一點的說法是 rip someone a new one：rip me a new one. 但不如用asshole來得傳神受歡迎。
例句：If Naomi is late for work again, the boss is going to rip her a new asshole.


★Keep a low profile to：to remain in the background, to be inconspicuous. 中文就是保持低調的意思。
例句：Ever since Susan got promotion, she tries to keep a low profile.


★Pay lip service：to pretend to agree with someone or approve of an idea, etc without really doing so. 假裝表面上同意某人或是某事，但並不會有具體行動來使之成功，lip service的意思是應酬話，假殷勤，完全不真誠的言語。
例句：The boss’s support of new business actions was merely paying lip service; he never committed himself to it in any substantial way..


★Lock horns with someone (to)：to come into conflict or to argue over something. (因為不同意而)與某人起了爭執或爭論。
例句：I don’t agree with Bill’s opinion so I lock horns with him about everything.


[照]horns是鹿、野牛等等動物頭上的角，看過這些動物在用角互相打架嗎? 可以想像兩個人像動物在lock horns然後互相僵持不下的意境嗎?


★Prove yourself (to)：to display one’s skills and abilities. 證明自己的能力或技能。
例句：Poor Robert got fired before he had a chance to prove himself.


★Send him packing to go home：to fire someone. 望文生義就是送某人去打包回家，開除。
例句：If you aren’t prepared for the next meeting, the boss is going to send you packing.


★Yes man：a person always expresses agreement with his or her supervisor. 總是同意上司老闆說的話的人，類似我們中文講的應聲蟲。
例句；Paul is a yes man. He always says yes to our boss’s ideas even though some of them are really stupid.


★Come full circle：to return to the beginning of an argument or process, to go back to one's starting point又重新回到原點，或是說討論的議題東跳西跳最後又回到最一開始的話題。
例句：After talking about the problem for two hours, the argument came full circle and we chose the first solution we had discussed.


★Go back to square one：restart from the beginning. (回到原點)重新開始，這詞最先是起源於英國足球廣播的評論中。
例句：John forgot all changes our customers requested. Now I have to go back to square one and explain it all again.


★Burn the midnight oil. 在上一篇promotion篇學過的，有印象嗎?


★Go postal：become extremely angry, possibly to the point of violence, 當動詞用，抓狂生氣到幾近快出現暴力行為了。這詞是源自於1986年時，美國郵政United States Postal Service (USPS)裡的員工射殺了經理同事，而在1986年及1997年之間，有將近40個人被殺死於工作場合發生的暴力事件中，於是postal那個事件便被引用來形容是極端憤怒下即將出現暴力行為，這詞不限只用在工作場合上。
例句：I’m feeling so much stress. If I don’t take a vocation soon. I’m going to go postal.


★Been there, done that： indicating that it is boring to repeat an experience once it has lost its novelty. 其中一個意思是因為做過一次怎樣的事情後，便不再覺得有多新奇有趣了，如:I don't want to so skiing, been there, done that.但延伸到現在美語的用法變成是，因為曾經經歷過(做過)怎樣的事情，所以懂得經歷這些事情時的感受(會有一點點酸酸的口氣)。

例句：I know how tough it is when working with John. Been there, done that.


★Give someone a heads up：to tell someone a piece of information before it becomes official, 在正式生效前先知會當事人一些資訊，heads-up的意思是提醒一個可能會導致危險的警告，如: Heads-up, the tree is coming down now.
例句：I heard that Sandy is going to get fired. I’m going to give her a heads up, so she can start looking for another job.


★Hands-off：nonintervention or noninterference. 形容詞，從字面上的意思就是(雙)手都離開，解釋成不干預也不干涉。
例句：Harold is a hands-off manager. He lets me do what I want as long as I meet my project goals.


★Blank check：unrestricted authority. 字面的意思是空白支票，引申為完全放手讓下屬自由發揮不加以干涉的管理風格。
例句：He was given a blank check in the choice of personnel for the new department.


★Figure-head：a person who appears to be in charge but having no actual authority. 似乎是在一個領導主控的地位，但事實上卻是一點實際的權利都沒有，哈哈，原來凱文之前PM的工作就是 figure-head，要負責很多成敗，但對R&D甚至是其他部門的小組成員的工作表現卻一點辦法都沒有。


★In the know：Privy to special or secret information, 先私底下通知、知會特定的訊息。例句：Not too many people are in the know about this project.


★On the same page：to have the same understanding about something. 對同一件事有相同的認知與了解，另外一個類似的說法是on the same boat，中文的意思是同舟共濟、處在相同的情境/狀況下。
例句:Delia and I are on the same page about the project. We both agree that we need to hire more people to help.


★Leave him holding the bag：to force someone to be responsible for something. 迫使某人來為某些事情負責，這邊不是說我面對面的強迫你要來負責某些事情，而是因為某些特殊狀況之下而造成的，看以下的例句領略一下這個用法。
例句：Kimberly was supposed to be in charge of this project, but she went on vocation and left me holding the bag.


★Keep an eye on something/someone：to watch someone/something very carefully. 非常小心地監看/注意某些人或事。
例句: Keep an eye on Ralph. He seems very upset lately and doesn’t concentrate on his work at all.


★In the hot seat：a highly uncomfortable or embarrassing situation. 在一個非常不舒服或是尷尬的情況當中，hot seat的俚語用法就是電椅，electric chair.
例句：I'm in the hot seat because of the contract I lost.


★Catch 22：an situation where you lose no matter what choices you make. A dilemma. 中文俚語叫做豬八戒照鏡子，裡外不是人，不管怎樣做兩邊(甚至多邊)都不能同時討好的狀況。
例句：Whatever schedule I go for, some people will be mad about it. It’s really a catch 22.


★Burn one’s bridges to：to cause permanent irreparable damage to a relationship. 這說法起源於一個軍事策略，為了不讓士兵有撤退的路，於是過了橋之後便燒了橋，就如同中文所說『破釜沉舟』(Break the woks and sink the boats)，到今天的用法就有點不一樣了，解釋成關係(因傷害)而無法彌補修復，注意要用複數型bridges。
例句：Don’t burn your bridges with Jeff. He will be the president of this company soon.


★Get right on something：to begin work immediately. 馬上、立即開始做。
例句：Let’s get right on our new project after our discussion. We don’t have much time to waste.

馬立殺與霉雞兩位已婚婦女在茶水間相遇，打開話夾子，閒聊之餘談到了公司裡新的人事升遷公告，也聊起了個自對升遷這等事的看法。

==============================================================
馬立殺：你看到公司新的人事公告了嗎? 樓上第二事業部的豬痢安即將被升遷成top dog了，哀~~ 我們都算同期進公司的，他現在都已經開始賺 big bucks 了，我們卻還在領 chicken feed.

寫完這篇貪腐總統下篇之後~~下次的英文教室改寫點輕鬆一點的比如是日常生活上的或是職場商用俚語，前面三篇下來也有不少字彙用詞了，大家加油!歹戲拖棚的貪污總統希望真的早日結束。

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如果這項罷免的 bill 沒有通過，在野黨的立委將嘗試 a vote for no confidence in the cabinet，也意味著可能會迫使 premier’s removal 或是 disband國會，這一場朝野攻防戰不僅將 prolong 原先就存在的 political squabbling，也將使得已經 preoccupied的政府更加地 ineffective.

無心插柳之下，關於我們貪污總統的英文教室推出後得到很多朋友的熱烈迴響，並希望凱文能多寫幾篇，那就多來幾篇相關報導吧，這幾篇花很多時間寫的英文教室就是為用功的讀者寫的，要真的用功記起來喔，這樣凱文的努力才沒有白費了，尚無心學英文的讀者應該會覺得無聊，就請快速看看跳過就好了。

有些字在上篇已經出現過，凱文也有解釋過了，大家看看還記得多少，因為這些相關的字就是會一直重複地出現在報導中，所以凱文也就多不厭其煩地灌水式地多放幾次，大家多看幾次之後也就認識了，因為不想一次放太多內容，怕大家會消化不良，而且盡量放平易近人一點的字(太難的我也不會講呀)，那就先來個中篇，有解釋不清楚或是解釋錯誤的地方，請大家跟上篇一樣要不吝指教喔。上篇中有兩則地方先前解釋錯誤，請尚未看到凱文的更正啟事的讀者先過去上篇看看。

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[更正啟事]

★ 第二則更正，感謝另一位讀者S的更正，關於卸職的說法，in office就是還在任期內的意思，那卸職要怎說呢? 可以用out of office，也可以說leave office，之前的註釋中說只能用leave office這是不正確的。

★感謝網友Clair在底下的留言裡提醒了凱文關於”lame duck”的正確用法，在看了網路百科全書字典Wikipedia 的解釋後，凱文在此對”lame duck”的用法跟字義特別提出更正跟解釋，請有讀到lame duck 的讀者要重新學習一下。

[版主插播]感謝大家的留言..本人前面兩天在有點荒涼的奧勒岡州跟北加州旅行,過得有點小狼狽，別提有任何internet assess，現在到了舊金山，可以上上網回回訊，我的好友們可能會一陣子無法過去看你們，但是文章還是會利用空檔傳上，避免空窗期。

【感冒不舒服，feel a little under the weather】
闊別兩個星期之後，終於又跟安妮在12/14晚上碰面了，上星期三在會面的當天，安妮寫信給我臨時取消碰面，因為那兩天她 felt a little under the weather 有點著涼而身體不大舒服，但並沒有got a cold(感冒)而覺得sick，只是在 nasal passage (鼻腔空氣進出的通道)有點塞塞的。我一開始以為她是感冒了，所以一見面就問她 Have you recovered from the cold?(感冒好了沒?) 或者你可以簡單地問Are you feeling better?

[照]綴滿燈泡的西雅圖市區，非常漂亮吧？

這次(11/30)的聚會Anne提議到西雅圖市區一邊吃飯一邊聊，我欣然同意，還好我上個星期感恩節連假的星期六有坐公車到市區晃了一下下，所以大概知道她跟我說碰面的地點跟公車路線。夜晚的西雅圖挺有味道的，由於聖誕節將近，幾乎市區街道旁的小路樹都妝點上了小燈泡，整個市區繽紛熱鬧不已。

[背景音樂]是瑪丹娜最新專輯中一首輕快樸素的House舞曲，Jump。當下身體恢復健康，也知道適度地放鬆不那樣ㄍㄧㄥ之後，現在心情就像這首一樣地輕快愉悅。

[版主插播]真的感謝大家對我得了帶狀皰疹的關心，感恩感恩~~~我現在的狀況是水泡消退、患處正在恢復中，一位我無名好朋友Q小姐在"精油全書"看到以下的配方，很熱心地供給大家參考：

９５蘆薈膠１０ML+佛手柑4滴+尤加利3滴+茶樹1滴，塗抹於患部

有參加學校語文中心的交換語文教學的Program，我忘記全文是啥了，就是用你的母語去跟別人換你想學的語文互相教學，我在剛到西雅圖2個星期就上網登錄了，直到1個半月後才讓語文中心配對成功，找到想學中文的美國人，我也跟我日本室友說，他比我快收到配對，但卻比我慢才約對方碰面。

我們約第一次碰面的時間剛剛好我經濟期中考結束那天的晚上，於是當別人都盡情飲酒狂歡慶祝經濟期中考結束時，我卻向改善英文能力的方向前進，不過，我覺得這樣有意義多囉。

我的partner，她叫Anne，後來知道她29歲，是一位有點矮矮胖胖的女生(我沒有外貿協會的意思喔，只是純粹描述而已)，人蠻和氣的，之前在UW唸藝術方面的科系，現在從事皮包設計工作，因為任職的公司有在大陸設廠，她也有時要到大陸出差，所以他想學懂中文，雖然公司之前有請老師為員工上課，但後來因為經費以及員工的時間無法配合而作罷，但她還是對學中文有濃厚的興趣，所以就上UW登錄想找人教她中文。