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2024.09.09 06:48
第十二部 第十二課: to have a beef with someone , hit pay dirt
- Larry 在告訴李華這個星期他辦公室發生的一場爭論．今天李華會學到兩個常用語： to have a beef with someone 和 hit pay dirt。
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- The boss still wants to fire Jim because they had a beef over the last sales report.
- 你們老闆要開除 Jim，因為他們有什麼？ A beef？你是說他們為了一些牛肉在吵架啊？
- No (laughing), not beef as in the beef that you eat. To have a beef with someone means to have a disagreement. The boss and Jim had a disagreement over the sales report.
- 哦哈哈！原來 have a beef with someone 就是和某人有爭執．這啊和我們吃的牛肉一點關係也沒有．疑？那你老闆為什麼會和 Jim 吵架呢？
- Well, the boss felt that Jim had done a really bad job of preparing the report and Jim felt that the boss did not give him enough time to do the report properly.
- 哦～，老闆覺得 Jim 寫的報告太差，而 Jim 覺得老闆沒給他足夠的時間，所以兩人就這麼吵起來啦？ Jim had a beef with the boss．我說得對嗎？
- Yep. Now, the boss is making everyone else miserable because of his beef with Jim.
- 他是和 Jim 鬧不開心，這跟其他人有什麼關係呢？
- He's just been in a really bad mood and he's being tough on everyone. It's not fair. His beef is with Jim, not the rest of the people in the office.
- 他不高興就對辦公室裡每個人都特別厲害．這是很不公平哎．他是跟 Jim 吵架，又不是和全辦公室吵架。
- Exactly. I'm worried that the situation will go too far and there will be major problems in our office.
- 你怕情況這樣發展下去辦公室會出大問題啊？你們為什麼不讓 Jim 向老闆道個歉．這不就完了嗎？
- I don't think he'll do that.
- 他不會道歉？哎呀～，你勸勸他嘛．關鍵啊在他身上，道了歉緊張氣氛就化解啦，對大家啊都有好處哎。
- It's worth a try. Maybe Jim will be willing to sacrifice his own interests and resolve his beef with the boss.
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- Hey, Li Hua, you really hit pay dirt with that suggestion you made. Jim apologized to the boss and everybody is happy now.
- Jim 跟你們老闆道歉啦？那太好啦！不過， Larry，你說 hit pay dirt 是什麼意思啊，我..我聽不懂哎！
- To hit pay dirt means that you found something that turned out to be profitable or beneficial.
- To hit pay dirt 就是發現了很有好處的東西．所以你剛才的意思是我的建議啊非常有用．不過，這三個詞 hit, pay, 和 dirt 合在一起好怪喔．這個說法是從哪裡來的啊？
- When miners would dig for gold, they would say that they had hit pay dirt when they found dirt that contained gold.
- 哦～，原來是采金礦的工人，他們在挖到含黃金的礦石的時候，他們就會說 hit pay dirt，這樣一解釋我就懂啦。
- They sometimes say "strike pay dirt". Anyway, LI Hua, I also hit pay dirt today.
- 你今天也挖到寶啦？怎麼說啊？
- I got a good job offer after I graduate.
- 你已經找到畢業後的工作啦！那太好了！是哪家公司要雇你呢？
- Actually, the office I'm working in offered me the job.
- 真的啊？就是你現在打工的這家公司？不過你真的想在那兒工作嗎？
- At first, I wasn't that interested, but when they told me what my salary would be, I realized that I'd really hit pay dirt.
- 哇喔～，太棒了，你很快啊就能把你的破車賣了，買一輛高級車， a nice set of wheels．我們一塊兒出去慶祝慶祝吧！
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- 今天李華學到了兩個常用語．第一個是： to have a beef with someone，這就是「和某人吵架，關係緊張」的意思．另外一個常用語是： to hit pay dirt，或者說 to strike pay dirt，這是指「發現了有價值的東西」。
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