英语俚语天天说 第43期:马屁精apple polisher

 　　介绍: Today we will be learning a new slang, apple polisher.

　　释义：

　　Apple 苹果

　　Polisher 磨光者

　　An apple polisher is something of a liar¹. He or she will tell the boss anything they want to hear, whether it’s to keep a job or get a raise.

　　Apple Polisher指的是一群善于撒谎的人。他们会出于一些特定的目的，比如说保住一份饭碗或者升值、加薪，来对自己的上司说一些甜言蜜语哄他们开心。说白了，就是马屁精。

　　来源：

　　This is a saying that first emerged in school, based on the practice of a student bringing a favorite teacher an apple for a treat. When the student polished the apple he gave to the teacher, his fellow students thought, wow, that’s going too far. He’s an “apple polisher.”

　　这种说法起源于很久以前在美国校园中的一个风俗习惯。学生会送一个苹果给自己心目中最棒的老师，而如果有学生特别别出心裁地将苹果洗干净擦好甚至给它抛光，只为了让苹果看起来更加颜色鲜亮，那么同学们会想，“哎呀，这也太过分了吧，真是个马屁精”。

　　On the job, the expression came to mean that it was okay to say a boss looked nice in her suit, but another to spend 15 minutes complimenting her in front of a large crowd about her suit. In that case, his fellow workers would smirk² and call him an “apple polisher.”

　　在职场上的举例呢，则是如果真心的夸奖老板的着装是可以理解的。但是专门花上15分钟在众人面前大肆宣扬老板的今日衣着也就过分了。这样的话，同事就会称他为马屁精。

　　应用举例:

　　You should take much care of him , and hes a real apple polisher.

　　你要当心他，他可是个马屁精。

　　Mary is an apple polisher; she can even handle illegal documents for the boss.

　　玛丽是个马屁精，她甚至可以为老板处理非法文件。

1 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

2 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。