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THE PROBLEM问题 I have recruited a sales person whose job is to represent our business to senior types in banks. He constantly uses the construct “we was”, as in: “We was hoping you’d recognise us as a sophisticated supplier.” He also peppers all his communications – spoken and written – with “piece” and “reach out” and “going forward” and “value added”. When I mentioned it, he said this was just the way he talked and was normal usage and I shouldn’t worry about it. Should I?
我招了一位销售人员，他的工作是向银行高管介绍我们的企业。他经常使用“we was”的语法结构，比如，“我们希望(We was hoping)您会把我们视为一家久经考验的供应商”。他还在所有的交流——无论是口头还是书面——中,插入一些不规范的词语，如piece（一件）、 reach out（伸出）、going forward（未来）和value added（附加值）等。当我指出这些问题时，他表示这只是他的语言方式，是正常用法，我不应为此担忧。我应该为此担忧吗？
Manager, male, 50经理，男，50岁LUCY’S ANSWER露西的回答Yes, you should worry very much – not that your salesman can’t talk properly, but that he doesn’t even pretend to pay attention when you tell him off.
是的，你应该非常担忧——这不是因为你的销售言谈不得体，而是因为当你责备他时，他甚至都没有假装予以注意。
This reflects badly on one or other of you: either he is an intolerable upstart – as well as a murderer of language. Or else you are a liability as a manager. Not only do you hire people without having listened to what they say, you can’t get them to pay you even the most cursory1 compliment of appearing to listen to what you say.
这明确反映出以下两种情况：要么他是一个自命不凡、让人无法忍受的家伙——同时也是个语言杀手；要么就是你这位经理不称职。你不仅没有听听他们如何说话，就把人招了进来；而且你也无法让他们向你表示甚至是最简单的尊敬——表面上的听话。
As for the jargon2 and the dismal3 grammar, many readers of this column fondly believe that people who sell things should be able to express themselves clearly and elegantly. This is utter rot. Some of the very best salesmen talk the most awful drivel and have emerged from school without any flair4 for grammar. Think of traders on market stalls and their signs “Avocado’s – 3 for ￡1”. Shoppers passing by don’t think: I’m not going to buy them because the apostrophe is misplaced.
至于那些俚语和糟糕的语法，本专栏的许多读者都天真地认为，销售人员应该能够清晰、优雅地表达自己的想法。这简直是开玩笑。一些最优秀的销售人员说着最糟糕的傻话，他们从学校毕业时没掌握任何语法。想想货摊上的小贩和他们写的标签Avocado’s – 3 for ￡1（“鳄梨’——1英镑3个”）吧。路过的购物者不会这样想：我不会去买他的东西，因为那一撇放错了位置。
The only reason for minding is if the jargon and weak grammar are at loggerheads with the image of your product, or if they make what he is saying hard to understand. The first could be the case if the product you are selling to these “senior types” is quite pukka, meaning that a barrow boy isn’t the right person to sell it. As for the jargon, this matters even less. Most of the senior types I know in banks can’t utter a sentence without throwing in a couple of “reaching outs” or “pieces” and so will surely embrace your salesman as one of their own kind.
应该注意这些俚语和糟糕语法的唯一理由，是它们是否与企业产品形象不符，或是否使他的话难以理解。如果向那些“高管”们销售的产品相当高端，那就可能属于第一种情况，就是说一个手推车货郎不适合销售这种产品。谈到俚语，这甚至更无关紧要。我认识的大多数银行高管不加几个“reaching outs”或“pieces”就说不出一句话，因此肯定会把你的销售当成自己人的。
My graver worry is not about the “we was” or the “reaching out”. It is the fact that this man can’t express himself comprehensibly at all. Did he really say: “We was hoping you’d recognise us as a sophisticated supplier”? Ignoring the off-putting Uriah Heepishness of this sentence, the real stumbling block is “sophisticated supplier”. What on earth is that?
我更担心的不是“we was”或“reaching out”这些用法，而是这名销售根本无法清楚地表达自己的想法。他说的真是“我们希望您会把我们视为一家久经考验的供应商(We was hoping you’d recognise us as a sophisticated supplier)”吗？姑且不谈句子中令人生厌的尤赖亚?希普(Uriah Heep)式的风格（译者注，尤赖亚?希普是狄更斯小说《大卫?科波菲尔》中的一个反面角色），真正令人费解的是“久经考验的供应商 (sophisticated supplier)”。这究竟是什么意思呢？
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1
cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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2
jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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3
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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4
flair
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| n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力 | |
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