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第3课:big gun; to quarterback

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 advisors 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 if 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 slang. 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 revenue 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。这次[流行美语]就播讲到这里。下次节目再见。

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