轻松日记商务职场篇232:惹火

 　　核心句型：

　　The manager pushed my buttons many times.

　　经理惹火我好多次了。

　　push one's button 直译过来就是：“按下某人的按钮”，button也是“下巴”的俗称，是非正式用法。按住或攻击某人的下巴，自然会让对方不满和生气，所以这个短语的正确意思是：“惹火某人，激怒某人”。因此，当美国人说"The manager pushed my buttons many times."时，他/她要表达的意思就是:"The manager has made me angry many times."、"The manager has waved a red flag in front of me many times."。

　　情景对白：

　　May: Oh, darling, are you sure that you are going to quit?

　　阿美：哦，亲爱的，你确定要把工作辞了？

　　Gucci: Yeah, the manager pushed my buttons many times. I can't bear it any more.

　　古奇：是的，经理惹火我好多次了，我再也受不了了。

　　搭配句积累：

　　①I don't want to work for him for even a moment.

　　我现在一刻也不想再替他办事儿了。

　　②I don't want to see his face again.

　　我再也不想见到他了。

　　③I'm fed up, and I wish to leave as soon as possible.

　　我受够了，就想尽早离开。

　　④Now, I'm leaving and I won't butter him up.

　　现在我不干了，我再也不用看他脸色行事了。

　　单词：

　　1. wave a red flag 做使某人生气的事

　　The mere¹ mention of his hated cousins name was like waving a red flag in front of him.

　　只要一提他那个讨厌的表兄的名字，他就生气。

　　A friend you have had disagreements with may wave the red flag.

　　一个曾和你有分歧的朋友会对你怒发冲冠。

　　2. butter vt. 讨好

　　The bank has to butter up investors² because it is in a fiercely competitive³ market.

　　由于市场竞争激烈，银行不得不去讨好投资者。

　　I tried buttering her up. 'I've always admired people with these sorts of talents.'

　　我拼命奉承她：“我一直钦佩有如此才能的人。”

　　He began to butter up the director in hope of being given a better job

　　他开始奉承主任，希望得到一份更好的工作。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。