商務禮節美語第74期:權力爭奪(3)

David跟Sandra聊天，談到辦公室裏的勾心鬥角是難以避免的，所以只能想辦法面對。Sandra 說，

S: Maybe I need to toughen up. You know that old saying: If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

D: have you tried talking to Tim about this?

S: No...I'm not really a confrontational person.

D: Well, who don't you give it a shot. Use unemotional language and just be very clear and firm about how you feel. Tell him about the things you like about his work ethic and then tell him the areas you don't like.

老話說，If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. 意思是如果承受不了壓力，就索性不要幹。David 問 Sandra 有沒有試着找 Tim 談談。Sandra 說自己不喜歡跟別人對抗。confrontation is spelled c-o-n-f-r-o-n-t-a-t-i-o-n, confrontation 是對抗的意思，變成形容詞就是 confrontational. David 建議 Sandra 不妨找 Tim 談一下試試看，give it a shot. 告訴 Tim 自己很讚賞他的 work ethic 工作態度，但是同時也把對他不滿的地方告訴他。

S: That's a pretty good idea.

D: And takes two to tango. You can't have a power struggle without two people, at least two people. You can choose to participate or not.

S: You make some good points.

D: The next time Tim cuts you down in a meeting, don't react. Just let his comments hang there and people will see how petty he's being.

David 補充說，it takes two to tango. tango is spelled t-a-n-g-o, tango. It takes two to tango 就是中文裏說的一個巴掌拍不響，還有另外一種說法是 it takes two to make a quarrel. 也是這個意思。David 建議，下次 Tim 再故意貶低 Sandra, 最好不去理他。這裏說的 cut someone down 有貶低某人的意思，後面還可以加 to size, to cut someone down to size. David 說，just let his comments hang there 意思是不要去接他的話碴兒，這樣別人就會看出他是多麼的狹隘，小心眼。

S: I guess I have to remember that all of us are human and humans have egos and will lash out when threatened.

D: That's right! Sometimes I think our office is pretty much like the zoo. We're just office apes!

S: That's a funny thought! Thanks for your advice, David. I feel better already.

D: You're very welcome! See you tomorrow!

Sandra 也說，人都有 ego, ego 是自我，自大的意思，在感到自身受到威脅的情況下，就會 lash out, lash out意思是求助於口頭或是肢體上的攻擊。Sandra最後對David表示感謝，說自己跟David談了這麼一會兒，I feel better already. 我已經感覺好多了。