职场英文-唐伯虎诗词拐弯说人笨的聪明英文
常成语说人笨一定会激怒人。特别在办公室里,小心为妙。英文里有很多的euphemism(委婉说法),不必直接用dumb,stupid。什么神
“Not the brightest bulb”直译「并非最亮的灯泡」。这句话曾出现在电影《超人特攻队》里:Thunderhead was not the brightest bulb.(雷风侠不是最聪明的。)这样说多拗口!
“Not the brightest bulb”是美国人爱用的词组,说穿了就是──笨!也有人说“not the brightest bulb in the box / on the tree / in the chandelier”。“In the box”里的“box”指装灯泡的盒子;“on the tree”中的“tree”指圣诞树(上面有很多小饰物与彩灯);“in the chandelier”里的“chandelier”指豪华吊灯。有了比较对象,真实意思就容易记住了。
有个贼被票选为年度十大笨贼之一,因为他偷东西的时候没看到穿制服的警察就站旁边,那警察就用"My guess is he's just not the brightest of people."来嘲弄他一番。
有时候听了同事之间谁说了愚蠢的话或做了愚蠢的事后,也会互相揶揄见证人来一句“You are not the brightest bulb, are you?”。
有一个经典例子,1995年的美国小姐Heather Whitestone在选美的Q&A:
Q: If you could live forever, would you and why?
A: I would not live forever, becau we should not live forever, becau if we were suppod to live forever, then we would live forever. But we can not live forever, which is why I would not live forever.
电视机前的观众笑翻了: She's not the brightest bulb, is she?
学生对老师的建议除了“bulb”以外,“knife”,”star”,“pencil”和“crayon”也有异曲同工之妙。说成“not the sharpest the knife in the cabinet / not the sharpest pencil in the box / not the brightest crayon in the box/ not the brightest star in the sky”。七绝圣手是指哪位诗人
最伟大的物理学家
除了brightest之外,我也听过美国同事说,I know he is not the smartest person in the world, 。
招商会议很有趣,是吧。拐着弯说话,不伤人,但明眼人都听懂,才算是聪明的。认知启蒙