圖／老唐

文／Dr.J.J. 圖／老唐

英文裡面很喜歡用月亮來作引喻，從而產生很多俚語。大抵而言，月亮常常被用來當作一個遙不可及或者珍奇又不尋常的事物，這跟中文裡面為了要向某人表示自己的真心誠意而誇張的說「連月亮都可以摘下來」，頗有異曲同工之妙。

然而，事情哪有怎麼簡單？不管你怎麼想，怎麼盼，月亮總是高高掛在天上。所以如果要形容某人根本就是「異想天開」或者是「癡人說夢」，就可以說這人是”ask for the moon!”了。

Manager：Please make yourself useful! You’re all doing nothing but chatting on MSN now.

Manager：拜託你們有用一點！什麼事也不做，只會掛在MSN上聊天。

Employee A：But we’ve done everything we should. This is just a low season and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Employee A：可是我們該做的都已經做了啊。現在正值淡季，我們也沒辦法。

Employee B：True, in fact, I heard some companies even grant their staff paid leave during low seasons.

Employee B：是啊，事實上我還聽說某些公司甚至在淡季時給員工們有薪假呢。

Manager：So you’re telling me we should just sit and wait here for someone to knock on our door with business?

Manager：所以你們是說我們就坐著等生意上門囉？

Employee C：Well, we should always be positive! Things happen when you believe!

Employee C：唉呦，我們應該要正面思考！只要相信，事情就真的會發生！

Manager：Nonsense! I don’t need you to tell me about life. Let me just be straight forward in case you don’t know what’s around the corner. You’re talking about asking for a pay raise this year right?

Manager：鬼扯！我不需要你來教我人生的道理。我就直接說吧，不然你們還不清楚事情大條了。你們不是還希望今年能夠調薪吧？

All employees：Yes, we should get a salary review every year.

All employees：是啊，我們應該每年有一次薪資調整的。

Manager：Without revenue increase and our profit margin shrinking now, you’re asking for the moon! I suggest you start thinking really hard on how we should get more business in!

Manager：業績沒增加，現在利潤又縮水，你們簡直是異想天開！我建議你們開始努力的給我想想如何讓生意變好些！

自由時報-970814

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