字神帝國英語天地

❉ 1. Pass the buck 推卸責任❉

爭取高薪的問答範例

Do YOU love your job? Americans and Brits are among the world's happiest workers 💼
　　
⇒ If you are reading this sat at your desk, wishing you were anywhere else other than at work, you might think you share the same attitude towards your job as people around the world.
此刻坐在桌前閱讀這篇文章的你，假如你的心飛到了辦公室外，你大概會以為世界上其他人對工作的態度都和你一樣。❧
⇒ But more than seven in 10 of us don’t mind the daily grind and are actually pretty happy at work, according to the results of an annual survey.
但是，一份年度調查結果顯示，我們當中超過十分之七的人並不討厭日復一日的工作，事實上，多數人在工作時挺快樂的。❧
　　
⇒ The findings come from the latest well-being work barometer, carried out by Edenred-Ipsos, which questioned 14,400 employees in 15 countries around the world and found that 71 percent of people reported feeling positive about their work.
該調查結果來自最新的幸福工作晴雨錶，該專案由艾登瑞德-益普索機構實施，對來自全球15個國家共14400名員工進行了調查，發現有71%的員工持有積極樂觀的工作態度。❧
⇒ As you might expect, well-being at work came down to a mix of factors, including the working environment, how much people feel appreciated and how they feel about the work they do.
正如你所預期的那樣，工作幸福感取決於多種因素，包括工作環境，感覺到自己受重視的程度，以及對工作內容的看法。❧
　　
⇒ However, while the report found a high level of well-being overall, there were differences between countries.
然而，儘管報告結果顯示人們的工作幸福感總體較高，但是不同國家之間還是有所差別。❧
⇒ Indian employees came out top of the pile, with 88 percent of workers reportedly feeling positive about their work. While Japan fared far worse, with just 44 percent of employees surveyed responding positively about their jobs.
印度員工的工作幸福感最強，據報導，有88%的員工對工作充滿熱情。然而，日本的情況卻糟糕得多，受訪員工中，只有44%回應稱對工作持樂觀態度。❧
⇒ The UK and China were on equal footing, with an average of 71 percent of workers scoring positively for workplace well-being, with the US nudging higher with 77 percent.
英國與中國旗鼓相當，平均71%的員工的工作幸福感較高。而美國比例略高，達77%。❧
　　
⇒ According to the team behind the annual survey, 10 items related to well-being at work were identified, broken down into three ‘pillars’ of ‘environment’, ‘appreciation’ and ‘emotion’.
開展年度調查的團隊表示，已確定有10種因素與工作幸福感相關，它們可以分為“環境因素”、“受重視度”和“情感因素”三類。❧
⇒ They found that across all countries, environmental factors scored highest, including knowing what was required of them at work.
該團隊發現，在參與調查的所有國家中，環境因素得分最高，其中包括瞭解自己的工作要求。❧
⇒ But employees across the world are falling short when it comes to appreciating their workers, as are ‘emotion’-related scores – such as how much someone enjoys going to work in the morning and how interested they are in their job.
但是，當提到受重視度時，世界各地的員工都打分偏低。情感因素也是如此，情感因素包括員工是否喜歡早晨起床去上班的感覺，以及對工作的興趣有多大。❧
　　
⇒ Trends emerged across countries in terms of what was most important to them. Well-being was most related to environment for Japan, Turkey, China, Italy and Poland.
哪類因素對工作幸福感最重要？不同的國家有不同的傾向。在日本、土耳其、中國、義大利和波蘭這些國家中，環境因素與工作幸福感的聯繫最為密切。❧
⇒ In India, Mexico, Brazil and Chile, emotional factors such as enjoying coming to work and being stimulated by the job were most important.
而在印度、墨西哥、巴西和智利，情感因素，如享受工作以及受工作激勵等，最為重要。❧
⇒ While for Spain, the UK and the US, the three categories were more equal, with less emotional factors having an impact on well-being compared to employees in other nations.
然而，對於西班牙、英國和美國而言，這三類因素對於工作幸福感的重要程度更均衡，相較於其他國家，情感因素對工作幸福感產生的影響較小。❧

美國人常用的口頭禪

炎炎夏日，出門一定要記得戴頂帽子防曬~ 英語中也有很多“帽子”短語，快來一起看看吧。
✿ to throw your hat into the ring 欣然迎戰，接受挑戰
以前在拳擊比賽中，如果一方想挑戰另一方，就把自己的帽子扔進拳擊台裡，這裡的ring 指“拳擊台”。現在這個成語的意思是說某人欣然迎戰，接受挑戰。
You know they’re looking for volunteers for a mission to Mars. I think I’m going to throw my hat into the ring.
你知道他們在尋找火星任務志願者。我想去挑戰一下。
✿ old hat 陳腐過時的
如果什麼東西因年久而被視為陳腐過時了的時候，那麼就可以用這個比喻性短語“老帽子”來形容。
DVDs are so old hat. I only buy movies online now and download them directly.
光碟早就過時了，我現在只線上購買電影看，可以直接下載。
✿ I'll eat my hat 絕不可能
I'll eat my hat 我會吃了我的帽子，這個表達的實際意思是說一件事情絕對不可能發生。
If Arsenal win the Champions League, I'll eat my hat!
阿森納隊絕不可能會贏得冠軍聯賽！
✿ as mad as a hatter 瘋狂地，大發雷霆
mad as a hatter的起源和古英格蘭製帽子的工匠有關。在製作氊帽的過程中，狸皮和兔皮需要用含汞的硝酸鹽進行處理從而便於加工。製帽工匠呼吸過程中不可避免的吸入水銀並導致水銀中毒，從而使神經系統受到傷害，伴隨口齒不清，蹣跚的步履，肌肉不斷抽搐等症狀。神經錯亂也表現為這些症狀，所以mad as a hatter就有了描述某人"瘋狂"的用法。
He has become as mad as a hatter.
他變得古怪起來了。
✿ at the drop of a hat 脾氣一觸即發
這個說法可能是來自以前的決鬥。在決鬥的時候，裁判員一般都是舉著帽子，然後突然把它往地下一扔，作為決鬥雙方可以開始開槍的信號。但是，at the drop of a hat現在已經和開槍沒有關係了，它的意思已經變成指一個脾氣一觸即發的人。
Tom Atkins is usually a good-hearted friendly guy. But he has one problem -- a hot temper. Say something he doesn't agree with, and he'll start a loud argument at the drop of a hat.
湯姆•阿特金斯平時總是很好心，也很友好。但是，他有一個問題，那就是脾氣太急燥。誰要是說一些和他意見不同的話，他可以馬上大聲嚷嚷，跟人家爭辯。
✿ hat in hand 畢恭畢敬地，懇求地
在當前，hat in hand的含義很簡單：在逼不得已的情況下去求人幫忙，然而又感到難以開口、很難堪。
With our new baby and my wife sick, my paycheck just isn't enough for my family to live on. With business so bad, I hate to do it, but I have to go to my boss hat in hand and beg for more money.
我們的孩子剛出生，我妻子又在生病，我的工資根本不夠我們開銷的。我實在沒辦法，不得不去求我的老闆幫忙，請他再給我一點錢。現在生意很不景氣，我真是不願意這麼做。
✿ to wear two hats at a time 身兼兩職
They're so short handed at my cousin Joe's office that he has to wear two hats. 我表兄喬伊的公司人手很少，他不得不同時擔任兩個職務。
✿ to pass the hat 募捐
以前，美國教堂在禮拜結束前總是用一頂帽子在教徒當中一個個地傳遞過去，希望人們為教堂捐錢。現在的教堂已經不再用帽子了，而是用一個銅制或銀制的盤子來代替了。但是，to pass the hat卻超越了宗教的色彩，應用到日常生活中去了，意思就是讓大家捐錢為一個同事解決意外的災難。
When Bill Brown's baby daughter was hurt in that auto accident last week, we passed the hat around the office and collected three hundred dollars to help pay the doctor's bill.
當比爾•布朗的小女兒上星期在車禍中受傷以後，我們在辦公室裡募捐了三百多美元，來幫助比爾付醫療費。
✿ to take one's hat off 致敬、欽佩
以前，每當一個人做了什麼值得讚揚的事，人們往往會拿下頭上戴的帽子，對那個人表示敬意。現在這種舉動不存在了。可是，這個俗語還是經常用的，表示致敬、欽佩。
I sure take my hat off to my boss. I don't know how in the world he did it, but somehow he pulled some tricks out of the hat and got us five million dollars to save the business.
我真是要對我的老闆致敬。不知道他是怎麼想出來的辦法，但是他真是出人意外地弄到了五百萬美元，從而挽救了我們的公司。
✿ My hat! 表示驚奇，意為：啊! 噯唷!
My hat! — Isn’t that Mr. Smith? 
啊! 那不是史密斯先生嗎?
My hat!還可以表示不相信，意為：你得了吧! 你胡說! 我不信!
A：I suppose you think you never snore. 
你大概以為你從來就不打呼嚕吧。
B：I know I don’t. 
我知道我不打呼嚕。
A：My hat! 
你得了吧。

✜ 我們每天都說自己很忙，有些人是真的忙，而有些則是無所事事的忙，還有一些，只是在主管面前顯得很忙。你是哪一種忙？
Desk staging is the practice of covering your desk with papers, completed work, and other important-looking papers to give the appearance that you are really busy when really you're surfing the net, watching videos and doing other non-work things.
Desk staging指用一些文件、已經完成的工作和看似很重要的文書擺滿桌面，看上去顯得你很忙的樣子，但其實你在網上瞎溜達，看著視頻，做著一些跟工作無關的事情，即“桌面裝忙”。

在如今的網路時代，為了攢人氣，出名氣，各路明星網紅和路人，爭先恐後的出鋒頭，甚至不惜自黑。“出鋒頭”也要有底線，不然收到的可能是負面效果哦。

不能字面翻譯的25句話

❣ 1.看世界
Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?
你想賣糖水來度過餘生，還是想要一個機會來改變世界?

1- a man in a thousand 千裡挑一的人☚
▶Juris was a young giant, broad of back, full of vigor, a working—man in a thousand.
尤格斯，年輕而高大魁梧，肩膀寬闊，精力充沛，是個千裡挑一的幹活力。

🌷退貨政策常用表達🌷

有關11個流行表達方式的解釋

😄銀髮上網族樂趣多😄

Do the Japanese run the best meetings?
　　
If you want to get your point across in a meeting in Finland, keep quiet; and let your counterparts deliberate. Of course, that won't work at all in, say, Canada.
在芬蘭，如果你想在會議上讓別人明白你的觀點，就要學會安靜，讓對方思考一下。當然在加拿大，這個方法卻一點兒也不適用。
As more of us do business across cultures and far-flung offices, every meeting can feel like a riddle. What do the long silences, idle chitchat and serious faces really mean in context?
現在，更多人把生意擴展到不同的文化地域，辦公室遍佈世界各地，每次開會都感覺像是一個謎。長時間的沉默、漫無目的的閒聊、認真嚴肅的表情在不同語境中究竟意味著什麼呢?
It's best to prepare ahead of time so you can quickly zero in on cultural quirks before you head to the meeting table. Here are five rules of thumb for different countries to make navigating your next international meeting a little less nerve-wracking.
走向會議桌之前，你最好提前準備一下，才能很快明白不同文化的特殊習慣。這裡列舉出了五個針對不同國家的經驗法則為你保駕護航，下一次開國際會議就不會再這麼傷腦筋。
　　
📝 Stick to the schedule
嚴格遵守時間表
➤Where: Germany, Austria, Japan
國家：德國，奧地利，日本
We've all been to meetings that have a loose agenda, if any at all. They don't start on time and they seem to repeat as stragglers wander in. Not so in these countries. Japanese users of Do.com, an online meeting platform, are more likely to create a detailed agenda and pass out supporting documents several days prior to a meeting than meeting goers in any other country, according to founder Jason Shah.
我們開過會的人應該都參加過時間規劃鬆散的會議。開會時間不準時，遲到的人進來，還要重複一遍之前的話。但在這些國家就不是這樣。線上會議平臺網站Do.com的創始人傑森•沙阿說，利用他們的平臺，日本人比其它國家的會議組織者更傾向於創建詳細的會議日程，開會前幾天就把輔助文件分發出去。
"People [in Japan] are cognisant of how much time remains and don't go over," said Shah. It's expected that you'll understand the written materials ahead of the meeting. If a meticulously planned meeting runs over the allotted time, the gathering might be deemed unproductive, he adds. Ultimately, it can lead to a negative outcome because participants may be seen as inefficient.
沙阿說，“日本人能夠意識到還剩多少時間，並且不會重複已經說過的話。”他還說，你應該開會之前就對書面材料有所瞭解。如果精心規劃的會議超出了預定時間，那麼他們就會認為這次會議是低效的。最終可能會導致不好的結果，因為管理者可能會認為與會者沒有效率。
Germans and Austrians have a similar sentiment, said Stuart Friedman, founder of Global Context, a cross-cultural communication firm based in Redwood City, California in the US. In the US, a well-planned gathering that exceeds its scheduled time might signal great interest or excitement over the topic, but meetings that run long in Germany are often taken to mean that the parties are not communicating efficiently, he said.
位於美國加利福尼亞雷德伍德城的“全球語境”是一家跨文化交流公司，其創始人斯圖爾特•弗里德曼說，德國人和奧地利人與日本人觀念相似。在美國，如果一次精心準備的會議超出了既定時間，可能說明人們對會議話題很感興趣、很有激情。但是在德國，這樣的會議通常意味著與會各方交流不暢。
　　
📝 Don't even think about a brainstorm
頭腦風暴？想都別想
➤Where: China, Malaysia, Singapore
國家：中國，馬來西亞，新加坡
Backtracking or debating a topic can go against the traditional Chinese concept of "saving face", which is meant to avoid any mistakes or actions that could bring embarrassment. Laughing at even an obviously amusing answer, pointing out a potential mistake or even being too straightforward in an answer can derail the entire meeting.
試圖改變或爭論議題不符合中國傳統的“留面子”理念，“留面子”就是指他們會避免任何錯誤或可能引起尷尬的行為。聽到一個明顯可笑的回答而發笑、指出潛在的錯誤，甚至回答得太直接，都會打亂整個會議。
Meetings in a number of Asian countries typically have a desired outcome, without much room for taking a new direction. Knowing the meeting's outcome saves participants from any confrontation or debates, but can be an odd experience for westerners.
很多亞洲國家的會議一般都有一個預期的結果，沒有太多改變方向的空間。與會者已經知道了會議結果，就不會再爭論或起衝突，但西方人會覺得這樣非常奇怪。
"Some people will fly to attend a meeting that they hope to be a brainstorming session, but [in China] brainstorming doesn't take place in meetings," Friedman explained.
弗里德曼解釋說：“一些人本以為他們飛去參加的是一個頭腦風暴會議，但是（在中國）會議中並沒有頭腦風暴。”
　　
📝 Savour the interruptions
應對干擾
➤Where: Italy, France, Spain
國家：義大利，法國，西班牙
When Pascal Soboll meets with clients in Italy or Spain, he's no longer offended if they duck out early or arrive late. Rather than attend the entire three-hour meeting, the managing director at innovation and design firm Daylight Design, has learned that his counterparts there — and in some parts of France — attend based on their own timetable.
如果創新設計公司“日光設計”總經理斯卡爾•索伯爾會見義大利或西班牙的客戶，他就不會再因為他們遲到或早退而生氣了。因為他已經認識到，他在義大利、西班牙和法國一些地方的生意夥伴們是遵照自己的時間表參加會議的，而不是開完整整三個小時的會。
"People change their schedules very spontaneously," said Soboll. "They tend to come and go."
索伯爾說：“他們會隨意更改行程，他們一般都是想來就來想走就走。”
For Soboll that means tweaking his own German-based expectations of client behavior. Rather than expecting the same group to sit through his entire presentation (often analyzing the company's existing strategy) he makes it easier for people to turn up as needed. Those who have missed a portion of the presentation can then review and ask questions to avoid information lapses, he adds.
對索伯爾來說，這意味著要扭轉他對客戶行為的德國式看法。他允許人們視情況需要來開會，而不再期待同樣的一群人聽完他整個陳述（通常是分析公司當前的戰略）。他補充道，那些錯過了一部分陳述的人可以在之後回顧會議內容、問問題，避免資訊遺漏。
　　
📝 Please, no small talk
請不要再聊天了
➤Where: Finland, Sweden
國家：芬蘭，瑞典
While chitchat about everything from the weather to the latest sport scores can be good way to ease into more serious meeting discussions in North America, this type of warm-up exercise isn't acceptable in places like Finland and Sweden where non-meeting related discussions can be perceived as a way to veer away from a formally-set agenda and as a waste of other people's time.
在北美，聊一聊天氣、最新的運動賽事比分等所有事情都是輕鬆過渡到更嚴肅的會議討論的好方法。但這種熱身運動在芬蘭和瑞典並不為人接受，因為與會議無關的討論都被視作偏離正式議程的行為，會浪費別人的時間。
In some countries, including Finland, there are long pauses in the conversation, which can make visitors feel like there's an awkward silence. Don't try to fill it, though, with small talk or anything else. In parts of Northern Europe business people are more comfortable with pauses that can be as long as a minute peppered throughout the conversation, explained Friedman.
在芬蘭以及其它一些國家，談話中會有長時間的停頓，來訪者會覺得這樣的沉默很尷尬。但是，不要試圖打破沉默，閒談什麼的都不可以。弗里德曼解釋說，部分北歐地區的商人更習慣談話中時不時地來段長達一分鐘的沉默。
These breaks are used as a way to process what the other person is saying without interrupting. But a clashing of customs can make it easier to distrust the other side during a meeting, so it's crucial to keep this difference in mind.
沉默是因為他們要思考一下對方說的是什麼，不希望受到打擾。但是在會議中，習慣不同很容易導致對對方失去信任，因此記住這個區別至關重要。
"The Americans' insistence on breaking the silence causes [the Finnish] to not trust [them]," for instance, said Friedman. "If someone Finnish gets quiet we wonder what excuses they are contemplating."
比如，弗里德曼說：“美國人總是要打破沉默，導致（芬蘭人）不信任（他們）。如果芬蘭人不說話了，我們就會想他們在找什麼藉口。”
　　
📝 Decode the feedback culture
破解回饋文化
➤Where: South Korea, Germany
國家：韓國，德國
When Soboll visits Seoul for business meetings, he anticipates the sort of feedback he will get by first making sure he understands the relationships of those across the table from him. The most junior team member speaks first to give some initial input and the decision maker typically speaks last to make the final call. The feedback order creates a formality to the meeting that helps the participants to understand the significance of each person's input, he adds.
索伯爾去韓國進行商業洽談的時候，他要首先確保自己瞭解桌子對面的人都是什麼關係，據此預計會得到什麼樣的回饋。首先說開場白的人是最初級的團隊成員，而決策者往往做最後一項陳述。他補充說，這樣的發言順序是會議的正規程式，有利於與會者理解每個人發言的重要性。
German meetings, to that end, can feel equally cool, he said. There's often no way to tell how things are going. "German clients don't applaud or jump for joy," he said. "No one is going to spontaneously say how much they love this work."
他表示，德國人開會在這方面也挺酷。你通常無法預測事情進展如何。他說：“德國客戶高興的時候不會鼓掌或跳起來。沒有人會自發地說自己有多喜歡這項工作。”
　　
【Vocabulary】
zero in: 瞄準
rule of thumb: 經驗法則
deliberate: 仔細考慮；商議
straggler: 落後者
savour: 品嘗；享受
backtrack: 改變主意；原路返回