时尚双语:"你做什么的?"

 　　“What do you do for a living?”

　　“你做什么的？”

　　Whenever you meet new people, some variant¹ of this question is bound² to come up, and probably pretty early on in the conversation too.

　　每当你遇到新朋友，这类问题总是会被提及，并且可能是在对话之初就被提到。

　　And here’s something I've noticed: When you ask people what they do, most people will give you their job title. As in“I'm an engineer” or “I'm a project manager” or “I'm a writer”. Or consultant³, speaker, software developer, manager, contractor⁴, freelancer⁵, secretary, or…

　　并且我发现：当你问别人做什么时，大多数人都会告诉你他们的职业。例如“我是个工程师”，“我是个项目经理”，“我是个作家”。又或是顾问，发言人，软件开发，经理，承包商，自由撰稿人，秘书等等。

　　But that's not what you do - that's just your title. It really says nothing about you or your job, so I always find myself asking follow-up questions. “So what kind of projects do you manage.”

　　但这并不是你做什么—这不过是你的头衔。它并不能说明你或你的工作，所以我通常发现自己会继续问一个问题。“所以你负责何种项目。”

　　Some titles DO say what you do. If you're a pilot you fly planes. Teachers teach. Builders build. Coaches coach. But most titles are more ambiguous⁶.

　　一些职称的确说明你做了什么。如果你是个飞行员，那你就驾驶飞机。老师教书。建筑商造房子。教练训练学员。但是大多数的职称是模糊不清的。

　　So think about it for a moment. How much does your job title really say about what you do? And what would be a better way of telling people what it is you do in just a few words.

　　Whenever people ask me, I always tell them that “I make people happy at work.” That is what I do.

　　所以想一下。你的职称到底说明多少你做的事？如何用数个单词来更好的告诉别人你做了什么。每当别人问我时，我总是告诉他们“我让人们在工作中感到快乐。”这就是我所做的。

　　This may look like just semantics, but it matters. See, your job title is never going to make you happy at work, but knowing what you do, may. Knowing your contribution, how you add value, how you make a difference - THAT can make you happy at work.

　　这个看上去可能有点咬文嚼字，但是它很重要。看看，你的职称从来不会让你在工作中感到快乐，但是知道自己做什么，也许吧。知道你的贡献，你如何增添价值，你如何与众不同—这些才能让你在工作中感到快乐。

　　So now it's your turn. Think of what it is you do in your job and put it a comment here.

　　所以，现在到你了。想想自己工作中做了什么，有想法就留言吧！

1 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

2 bound   

adj.一定的，必然的；受约束的，有义务的

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• If he signs that paper,he will be bound hand and foot.如果他签署那份文件，他就会受到束缚。

3 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

4 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

5 freelancer   

n.自由职业者

参考例句：

• He has great interest in working as a freelancer.他对做个自由职业人很感兴趣。
• It's not always easy to make it as a freelancer.做个自由职业人，要能时常感觉满足，可不容易。

6 ambiguous   

adj.引起歧义的，模棱两可的，含糊不清的

参考例句：

• This sentence is ambiguous in sense.这个句子意思不清楚。
• The title of this chapter is ambiguous.这一章的标题含义模糊。