凯瑟琳升职记:表达不满之不要白费唇舌了

【情景再现】

公司里一个员工工作不认真，总是搞得一团糟。这次在一个重要项目上又出了差错，领导问责他，他编了一大堆理由，这时领导不耐烦地说：Save your breath¹, I don't want to hear it.

Save your breath. I don't want to hear it. 不要说了，我不想听。

breath意为“气息，呼吸”，save指“省下，节约”，所以save one's breath意思就是“省点力气吧，不要白费唇舌了”。例如：You can save your breath: you'll never persuade her. 别白费唇舌了, 你决说服不了她。

【英语情景剧】

Jenny: Tom's work is such a mess! I think I need to talk to him about it. Otherwise he'll be looking for another job.

珍妮：汤姆的工作真是一团糟！我觉得得跟他谈谈了，否则他会被炒鱿鱼的。

Catherine: You might as well save your breath. He just doesn't listen to reason.

凯瑟琳：你还是省省吧，他压根就不听劝。

1 breath   

n.呼吸，气息，微风，迹象，精神，一种说话的声音

参考例句：

• I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
• While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。