美国习惯用语-第98讲:to put on the back burner to drag one\'s feet 我们经常说做事要看轻重缓急,有的时候不得不把正在做的事或计划要做的事先搁置一边。美国人把这叫做:to put on the back burner。 Back就是后边,而burner在这儿的是指做饭的炉子。美国的厨房里,炉台上一般都有四个炉口,前面两个,后面两个。人们往往把很快能煮好的东西放在前面炉子上煮,把一些要慢慢煮的东西放在后面的炉子上。这就是to put on the back burner这个俗语的来源。下面这个例子是一个广告公司的老板在给会计下指示: 例句-1: "Joe, I know you\'re working on the Anderson contract, but let\'s put it on the back burner for now. We need your help on the new Jones contract--it\'s worth more than five million dollars." 这个老板说:“乔伊,我知道你现在正在处理安德森合同的事情,但是,让我们先把它放一放。我们要你来帮忙处理和琼斯签订的新合同。这个合同价值达五百万美元。” 每个家庭也经常会把马上想干的事推迟一段时间。下面是一个丈夫在对妻子说话: 例句-2: "Honey, the boss told me today he can\'t give me that pay raise I was expecting. I\'m afraid that means we\'ll have to put our plans to buy a bigger house on the back burner until next year." |