流行美语 Lesson 3：big gun; to quarterback

Xbfeng

Michael是纽约大学的美国学生，他同时也在一家建筑公司实习。他的中国同学李华今天要去他的公司看他。Michael听得懂中文，但是说还有点困难。Michael和李华在今天的对话里会用两个常用语，一个是：big gun; 另一个是to quarterback。Michael现在在办公室门口和李华打招呼。
M: Hey, Li Hua, Come on in. How’re you doing?
/ n/ b0 ^! L; O% J
L: 我挺好。你怎么样？对了,你下午想干什么？

3 N. Y4 K! _5 `& Q2 I3 }M: Ah, I’ve got a meeting with the big guns this afternoon. They want to talk to me about continuing to work here after graduation.
: `$ O  i' \7 {  s2 q
5 _5 ]( ]2 X! M8 NL: 我听懂了你后面的一句话，他们要跟你谈关于毕业后回来工作的 事。那真是太好了。可是，你刚才说今天下午要跟谁开会？
0 b& {8 z9 G7 e2 ^( A! {
M: Yea, I ’m meeting with my bosses. Sometimes we call them the big guns of the office.
! q* i$ o  v7 {/ {$ O
# K- {) E5 o+ o' ~, OL: 噢，你要跟你的几个老板开会。你们把老板叫做the big guns!
6 R: Z, d. `6 t8 H! h, _
! l+ Y3 y0 @6 r+ W; e& l5 M* ~M: It’s an expression that can be used to describe powerful people.
! m6 A6 Q; G1 O' q" o( [+ I! l& K
L： 噢， 那是指权力很大的人， 也就是大人物。那么，总统的顾问能 称为big guns吗？
" w5 H* ]( ?5 Y7 g6 S
M: Yes, a president’s advisors are big guns. But it can also be used in sports. In soccer the stars of a team are the big guns.

L: Big guns 还能用在体育方面。
& a, o0 F# |/ o, q: p
M: OK, let me show you around the rest if the office.

L: 你要带我去看看这公司的大楼，那太好了。Let’s go!
$ Y+ U" L) W) b
( x4 h# k+ p8 E) G" e+ [; V$ O: fM: This is the conference room. We had a meeting here yesterday on our plan for a new building. The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.

L: 等等，你说这是会议室，你们昨天在这里开了一个会， 讨论盖 一 栋新楼的计划。可是，你还说那项目主任是踢美式足球的，是quarterback，四分卫，对不对？

1 P) X; }: f6 P4 t! n3 hM: No, no, no! Quarterback here is a verb, meaning to lead. The word quarterback is borrowed from American football, where the quarterback leads the team.

- V! S5 V* e- Z' a9 A* yL: 噢，quarterback 在这里是动词，意思是领导。你说这里的 quarterback 是从美式足球里借来用的，因为quarterback在球队里是 主力。你刚才是怎么说的？
7 {& {; f$ [" V' R
M: The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.
2 k. G' r7 F' C3 G  N. ~
4 r; p! ^( ^5 @4 {' [. a9 DL: 现在我听清楚了，你刚才说的是：项目领导人主持会议。
, m0 A+ {2 O5 [7 ^; _
那么，to quarterback 还能用在别处吗？

M: To quarterback is business slang. If someone is responsible for a group working on a new project that individual is quarterbacking the team.
5 b* d7 M" O3 [; e! u
L: 知道了，to quarterback 是用在商业方面的。要是某人负责一个新 项目，这个人就是在领导这个项目的小组。要是某人在一个法律事务所主持会议，那该怎么说呢？

* B( L+ @. D2 eM: Someone quarterbacked the meeting at the law firm.

/ Q- I2 R9 p& M3 n, P0 JL: 你们公司的一位重要领导主持会议，讨论公司的收入报告，这又 该怎么说？

M: The company’s big gun quarterbacked the meeting about their revenue report. Hey, I need to get back to work. I’ll call you later.

9 v3 A4 X5 Q$ W6 xL: 好吧，那就再见吧！希望你将来成为a big gun.

& {  h& g+ j. B2 q& p- i  nM: Oh, yea, I’m sure soon I’ll be quarterbacking every meeting and every project.

L: 你真的当真呐！ 还想主持所有会议，总管所有项目。得啦，再 见吧！
. o! _" y6 k4 t2 F
Michael 和李华在对话中用了两个常用语， 一个是：the big guns， 意思是大人物，对决策有重大影响的人；另一个是：to quarterback，意思是主持会议，或总管项目。