Modern English 洋话连篇（八十一）

Michael是纽约大学的美国学生，他同时也在一家建筑公司实习。他的中国同学李华今天要去他的公司看他。Michael听得懂中文，但是说还有点困难。Michael和李华在今天的对话里会用两个常用语，一个是：big gun;另一个是to quarterback。Michael现在在办公室门口和李华打招呼。

M: Hey, Li Hua, Come on in. How're you doing?

L:我挺好。你怎么样？对了,你下午想干什么？

M: Ah, I've got a meeting with the big guns this afternoon. They want to talk to me about continuing to work here after graduation.

L:我听懂了你后面的一句话，他们要跟你谈关于毕业后回来工作的事。那真是太好了。可是，你刚才说今天下午要跟谁开会？

M: Yea, I'm meeting with my bosses. Sometimes we call them the big guns of the office.

L:噢，你要跟你的几个老板开会。你们把老板叫做the big guns!

M: It's an expression that can be used to describe powerful people.

L：噢，那是指权力很大的人，也就是大人物。那么，总统的顾问能称为big guns吗？

M: Yes, a president's advisors¹ are big guns. But it can also be used in sports. In soccer the stars of a team are the big guns.

L: Big guns还能用在体育方面。

M: OK, let me show you around the rest of the office.

L:你要带我去看看这公司的大楼，那太好了。Let's go!

M: This is the conference room. We had a meeting here yesterday on our plan for a new building. The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.

L:等等，你说这是会议室，你们昨天在这里开了一个会，讨论盖一栋新楼的计划。可是，你还说那项目主任是踢美式足球的，是quarterback，四分卫，对不对？

M: No, no, no! Quarterback here is a verb, meaning to lead. The word quarterback is borrowed from American football, where the quarterback leads the team.

L:噢，quarterback在这里是动词，意思是领导。你说这里的quarterback是从美式足球里借来用的，因为quarterback在球队里是主力。你刚才是怎么说的？

M: The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.

L:现在我听清楚了，你刚才说的是：项目领导人主持会议。

那么，to quarterback还能用在别处吗？

M: To quarterback is business slang². If someone is responsible for a group working on a new project that individual is quarterbacking the team.

L:知道了，to quarterback是用在商业方面的。要是某人负责一个新项目，这个人就是在领导这个项目的小组。要是某人在一个法律事务所主持会议，那该怎么说呢？

M: Someone quarterbacked the meeting at the law firm.

L:你们公司的一位重要领导主持会议，讨论公司的收入报告，这又该怎么说？

M: The company's big gun quarterbacked the meeting about their revenue³ report. Hey, I need to get back to work. I'll call you later.

L:好吧，那就再见吧！希望你将来成为a big gun.

M: Oh, yea, I'm sure soon I'll be quarterbacking every meeting and every project.

L:你真的当真呐！还想主持所有会议，总管所有项目。得啦，再见吧！

Michael和李华在对话中用了两个常用语，一个是：the big guns，意思是大人物，对决策有重大影响的人；另一个是：to quarterback，意思是主持会议，或总管项目。
 

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

3 revenue   

n.总收入，财政收入，税收；税务局

参考例句：

• The country diminished the revenue by reducing tax.这个国家通过减税而使税收减少了。
• A government's revenue and expenditure should be balanced.政府的财政收入和支出要平衡。