[职场礼节美语之九]把别人名字忘记了怎么办

 陈豪是在北京ABC美国公司工作。今天他下班后和公司里的美籍华人Mary一起去参加了一个招待会。现在两人正在往地铁站走。

 

(Office ambience)

 

C：Mary，非常抱歉，我刚才没有给你介绍在跟我讲话的那位女士。I met her last week in the cafeteria, but forgot her name。

 

M：我看得出来你忘了她的名字，所以没给我介绍。That's why I introduced myself。

 

C：是啊，你自我介绍后，她接著就自我介绍。谢谢你给我解了围。

 

M：I'm glad I got you out of a tight spot。谁都有忘记别人名字的时候。

 

C：嗨，别说了，有时见到一个我忘了名字的人，我就设法躲开，要不多尴尬。

 

M：这可不是好办法。下回你要见到一个人想不起他的名字，introduce yourself right away。你介绍了自己后，对方一般也会自我介绍。

 

C：How do I know it's going to work? 要是她不自我介绍，那我怎么办哪？

 

M：要是他不自我介绍，那你就得马上承认你记不得他的名字 - confess¹ right then that you can't recall² his name。

 

C：那怎么说呀？多不好意思呀！

 

M：You can say, "Please forgive me. I have forgotten your name. Would you remind me of it?"

 

C：这么说倒是不错。对了，我还可以说我记得上星期在餐厅里见到她的。这样也许更好一些。

 

M：对，这样他就知道你没有全忘了他

 

C：谢谢你，Mary！ 明天见。

 

C：Mary，我还是第一次在这餐厅吃午饭，饭菜真不错，价廉物美。哟，不好了。

 

M：What?

 

C：你看，那正在往这儿走的女士，昨天在Mr. Jones的办公室里见到她，可我现在记不得她的名字了。看看我能不能按照你昨天说的去做。

 

Hi, I'm Chen Hao. I met you yesterday in Mr. Jones's office.

 

Jenny: Yes, I remember. I'm Jenny Brown.

 

C：Jenny, I'd like to introduce a friend of mine, Mary Thomas. We work in the same department. Would you like to join us for lunch?

 

Jenny：Thank you, but I need to get back to my desk. Bye!

 

M：Hey, Chen Hao, congratulations! You handled that situation very well.

 

C：I did exactly what you told me yesterday.

 

M：Basically, just give your name immediately when you see someone whose name you can't remember. And hope they respond in kind. When you see someone whom you DO know but who may not remember YOU, introduce yourself again.

 

C：要是我知道对方的名字，可怀疑对方记不得我的名字，我也该先自我介绍。嗯...想得真周到。

 

M：That's what we call etiquette³.

1 confess   

vt.承认，坦白；vi.承认，坦白，忏悔

参考例句：

• Many Christians regularly confess their guilty actions and thoughts to a priest.很多基督徒都定期向牧师忏悔他们的罪行和恶念。
• I confess to some suspicion of your honesty.我承认对你的诚实有所怀疑。

2 recall   

n.回忆，召回，取消；vt.回想起，召回，与...相似，恢复

参考例句：

• As you may recall, he was in the army then.你可能记得当时他正在从军。
• We demand that you recall your army from our border.我们要求你们撤回在我们边境的部队。

3 etiquette   

n.礼仪，礼节；规矩

参考例句：

• The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
• According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。