时间:2019-02-12 作者:英语课 分类:美国之音《流行美语》


英语课

to be canned
to kiss up to
今天Michael 和李华下了班以后就去逛街。他们边走边聊,李华会学到两个常用
语:to be canned 和to kiss up to。

M: Man, it was crazy at work today!
L: 真的?你们办公室今天发生什么事啦?
M: My friend George was late again, so the boss canned him!
L: 你的朋友George 今天上班迟到,你们老板对他怎么了?对他大喊大叫吗?
M: No, it's much worse than that. The boss canned him. In other words, the boss fired
him!
L: 什么?你是说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 1 "to put something in
a can," or slang 2 for "to throw something in the trash can".
L: 噢,这里canned 就是把什么东西扔到垃圾桶。可这跟解雇人有什么关系呢?
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: 原来这是一种比喻啊。不过这种说法听起来挺吓人的。Michael, 你觉得George
应该被解雇 吗?
M: To tell the truth, George was not a very good employee 3. If I were the boss, I would
have canned him too.
L: 哎呀,Michael,你这么说你的朋友未免太过份了吧!George 又没做坏事,为
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 4 George many times before he finally canned him.
L: 看来你一点也不同情George。要是我的朋友碰上这种倒霉事,我至少也会替他
难过啊。
M: Hmph. When George was late, it caused me and the other employees 5 a lot of trouble.
No one is really sad that he was canned.
L: 也许你说得没错。如果每个人都象George 这样老迟到,那会给其他人造成多
大的麻烦啊。
M: Well, you are right and wrong. Because George was canned, we all have a lot more
work to do right now.
L: 对,希望你们公司会赶快雇一个人来接替George 的工作。
M: I'm sure they will.
L: 哎,Michael,你有没有担心过自己有一天会被老板解雇呢?
M: Me? Not at all. I'm a good worker, and I kiss up to the boss all the time.
L: 你说你工作表现很好,而且你还经常亲你的老板。哎呀,Michael, 你好恶心哦,
你的老板 不是男的吗?
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: 那你到底是怎么样"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,现在我懂了。你不用说的那么好听,"kiss up to"无非就是拍什么人的马屁
嘛。哎呀,真没想到,你还是个马屁精啊。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说的那么好,或许讨好他也没什么错。
M: I Guess kissing up to someone can be useful, but not so that everyone hates you.
L: 你说的没错,拍马屁有时候是挺管用的,不过要是搞得人人都讨厌你,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: 其实我才应该向你学几招,去讨好讨好我的老板,也让他对我另眼相看。

今天李华学会了两个常用语:to be canned 和to kiss up to.To be canned 在这里就是
被解雇的意思,kiss up to 是讨好某人,拍马屁的意思。



n.方法,手段,折中点,物质财富
  • That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
  • We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
n.俚语,行话;vt.使用俚语,辱骂;vi.辱骂
  • The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
  • Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。
n.职员,员工,受雇人员
  • Each employee received a like bonus.每个雇员都得到了相同数目的奖金。
  • They brought around a new employee this morning.他们今天早晨请来了一位新雇员。
v.警告( warn的过去式和过去分词 );提醒;告诫;预先通知
  • Motorists have been warned to beware of icy roads. 已经提醒开车的人当心冰封的路面。
  • I've warned her countless times. 我警告过她无数次了。
n.雇工,雇员( employee的名词复数 )
  • She is always polite and considerate towards her employees. 她对待雇员总是客客气气,关心体谅。
  • The company has a strict dress code—all male employees are expected to wear suits. 公司有严格的着装规定—所有男职员都要穿西服。
学英语单词
5-hydroxytryptophan
a priori comparisons
air-breathing suit
anti-humanists
Belize Barrier Reef
bifilar helix slow-wave circuit
black compilation
border town pipers (scotland)
boze
bushfires
carboloy monoxide detector
caustic magnesia
Chatelperron
chemical equations
Chocholna-Velcice
chroming
cloverleaf antenna
companion ladders
concealed loss and damage claims
conjunctivo-antrostomy
cook utensil
counterdistinguish
crowded with
curanderos
decaying exponential
declarative instruction
deltaic deposit
Deo gratias
discount factoring
door barge
dtac
elaiosphere
electron theodolite
fibre bundle transfer function
fire service department box
gastrilegous
gear inertia
generalized linear phase
get it over with
give heed to
group disequilibrium
gruch
Headteachers
heagarty
heat tolerance coefficient
IMG tag
information handing system
interrecord structure
interrer
iso-electric level
Italian sixth
Kandhura
Knizhovnik
linguoid ripple mark
lob wedges
make money hand over fist
medical gymnastics
melanorosaurids
Menapian
metabisulphite
Moncontour
moniliasis pneumonia
monohydric acid
morning paralyses
multidimensional niche
nationals
nodulus
omnipresent program
one man bridge operation
oxygen-hydrogen recombiner
parafin section
parallel random access machine
phosphatic calculus
polyrhizum
pop-group
push-button yard
resource stock
ridge transform system
rod segment
rotary cutting assembly
S/ON (sign-on)
Schweine-Vasopressin
sector photometer
securities paper
sexual reaction
shoebird
slide prevention
slip nooses
splanchnic cell
surinamiae
time equation
torcaso
total phosphorus
unit in kind
Uruti
valency electrons
waller effect
well-behavedly
Wemale
winevault
wtf
yellow-throated marten skin