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轻重缓急 put on the back burner

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我们经常说做事要分清轻重缓急,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:

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.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:

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. 亲爱的,老板今天告诉我他不能满足我的愿望给我加工资。所以我们想买栋大房子的计划恐怕不得不等到明年再说了。

但如果要着急做的事情总不能处理好,那就是拖拖拉拉了。好多人在做一些事的时候会表现出拖拖拉拉,很不愿意的样子。美国人把这种现象称为:to drag one's feet。看了下面这位母亲的话就会明白什么是to drag one's feet了:

Billy and Sally always drag their feet when I tell them it's bedtime. They love to watch TV after dinner and they'd stay up till midnight if I didn't chase them off to bed.每当我叫比利和萨利上床睡觉的时候,他们总是拖拖拉拉。他们喜欢吃完晚饭后看电视,要是我不催着他们上床的话,他们可以一直看到半夜。

下面的例子是一个百货公司的雇员正在罢工,要求增加工资。这个公司的经理说:

The union is dragging its feet on agreeing to a settlement. They think the company is getting desperate to get people back to work because Christmas is coming and that's our busiest time of year. 工会拖拖拉拉地不肯就解决方案达成协议。他们认为,公司一定会迫不及待地要雇员回去工作,因为圣诞节快来了,这是我们一年最忙的时候。

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