Jessica在北京学汉语,她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美语怎么说的词,就会来请教她。今天是琼燕要问的:能说会道。
Jessica:Hi, Qiong Yan! I heard there was a riot in your office...
QY:Riot? 哈哈,没那么严重,其实就是我们这些小白领一块儿找经理谈判,要求涨工资!
Jessica:And did you get the raise?
QY:Yes! I didn't expect management to give in,不过我们的谈判代表是一个特别能说会道的人,我估计,经理是被他侃晕啦! 哈哈! 对了,在美语中要怎么形容一个人能说会道呢?
Jessica:You can say someone has a silver tongue, or someone is silver-tongued. It means a person can clearly and effectively express himself and convince other people.
QY:I see. So, thanks to my silver-tongued co-worker, we got the raise!
Jessica:Congratulations!
QY:其实,仔细想想,这次也不全是因为这个同事能说会道。经理以前老说大家工作努力,应该涨工资,可都是光说不练! 所以他这次也自觉理亏!
Jessica:So he'd been paying lip service to you!
QY:Pay lip service? Lip 不是嘴唇么?我知道了,pay lip service 就是用空话安抚别人,对么?
Jessica:That's right. Managers at your company must have said how much they appreciated all your hard work, but if they're really impressed by what you've done, they should have given you a raise already! Their insincere appreciation is lip service.
QY:没错! 以前经理还老说公司财政紧张,所以大家都应该支持公司,暂时不要涨工资,可我听说,他自己的工资涨得可带劲了!
Jessica:Ah! this is a textbook example of "talk the talk, but not walk the walk." 说一套,做一套。
QY:真气人,If they talk the talk, they should walk the walk! 怎么能搞双重标准呢?
Jessica:Well, I'm just happy you guys got what you wanted. You should be proud of yourselves!
QY:今天我们学了,形容一个人能说会道,用silver tongue; 说空话是pay lip service; 说一套,做一套是talk the talk, but not walk the walk.