学会“以毒攻毒”

 　　The American saying, “It takes a thief to catch a thief,” is more commonly expressed “Set a thief to catch a thief” in Britain. The latter phrase was first used in a play in the middle of the 17th century, but the idea dates back to Roman times.

　　It can be taken literally¹, because one thief might know something about the methods of another. But we often use it more generally, as you’ll see in today’s dialogue.

　　James sees his friend, a man named Jonathan, working on his laptop in a cafe.

　　James: Hey, Jon, what are you working on?

　　Jonathan: Oh, I’m just reviewing proposals for a new ad campaign. We got these hired guns 顾问from an agency, but they don’t understand our business.

　　James: Sorry, what’s your line?你做哪一行？

　　Jonathan: We’re in home decorating, you know, “inferior design.” Interior design(室内设计的谐音),开玩笑说：差劲设计，当然，还是指interior design The guys we retained keep treating it like it’s electronics or stationery² or something.

　　James: Have you thought about finding someone who has worked in your field? After all, “It takes a thief to catch a thief.”

　　Jonathan: Who’s talking about stealing?

　　James: I mean…

　　Jonathan: I know, just pulling your leg. 开玩笑But you’re probably right. We need someone who knows our business from the inside.

　　James: Have you checked the trades? 指行业报刊，也就是trade papers

　　Jonathan: Yeah, but their classifieds 分类广告are pretty short on consultants³ in this region.

　　James: Well, you may have to import some big hitters, 专业很强的人Madison Avenue 泛指美国广告业types.

　　Jonathan: We don’t have that kind of scratch. 钱We really want to keep it local, for lots of reasons.

　　James: This must be a pain. I’ll let you get back to it. Good luck!

　　Jonathan: Thanks, I’ll need it! 如果别人对你说

　　Good luck!你就这样回答。

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

3 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。