Donny 在北京學(xué)漢語(yǔ),他的中國(guó)朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語(yǔ)怎么說(shuō)的詞,就會(huì)來(lái)請(qǐng)教他。今天是方方要問(wèn)的:跟班打雜的。
Donny: Hey, Fang Fang, what's up? Do you like your new job?
FF: 啊,還行吧。就是初來(lái)乍到,專業(yè)一點(diǎn)都用不上,盡打雜了。
Donny: 打雜?What do you do everyday?
FF: 無(wú)非就是復(fù)印文件,取東西,接電話什么的。哎?美國(guó)人怎么形容這種工作???
Donny: Oh! Someone who does small and unimportant tasks at work is called a go-for. g-o-f-o-r, go-for.
FF: 哦! 這么說(shuō),go-for 就是公司里的小弟小妹! go-for 的主要工作就是跑腿兒。那“跑腿”又怎么說(shuō)呢?
Donny: We say they "run errands for others." Run is spelled r-u-n, errands is spelled e-r-r-a-n-d-s. The word "errand" means a short trip that's taken to finish a necessary task.
FF: Errand 差事,復(fù)數(shù)加s, errands, 所以 run errands for others 就是替別人“跑腿”的意思。
Donny: That's right. I guess you don't really like running errands for your boss, right?
FF: 是啊,我想做有意義的工作,可老板總讓我干些沒(méi)用的活兒。
Donny: She gives you a lot of busy work, I'm assuming? The phrase "busy work" refers to tasks that keep people busy but are not very useful.
FF: 哦! 原來(lái),busy work 就是花時(shí)間,但沒(méi)意義的工作。老板給我 busy work,并不是因?yàn)檫@些工作重要,而是因?yàn)樗辉敢饪次议e著!
Donny: That's right! Fangfang, a lot of people start as go-fors and work their way up. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Now let's see what you've learned today!
FF: 公司里跑腿打雜的小弟小妹叫 go-for;
跑腿是 run errands for others;
消磨時(shí)間,但是沒(méi)意義的工作是 busy work.