商務禮節美語第25期:拿回扣(1)

項目主管Donny急衝衝地來找老闆Simon.

Donny: Simon, there's something we need to talk about.

Simon: Go ahead, shoot.

D: I think maybe we better step into your office. It's a bit of a sensitive issue.

S: Oh, sure. Come on in. What's on your mind?

D: You know that project we have in the south of the country?

S: Do you mean the new processing plant we're building?

D: Yes. I'm afraid we've run into a couple of setbacks.

S: Oh? What's the problem?

Donny有事找Simon，但是不方便在外面談，說we better step into your office，最好去你辦公室談。原來是他們在南方興建的加工廠遇到了麻煩。Donny說，we've run into a couple of setbacks. Run into something， 是遇到的意思，setback，意思是挫折。

D: I just got a call from the on-site manager and he says the local area's building inspector says our building is not up to code.

S: But that's impossible! I personally made sure that we followed all relevant local laws and I even insisted on a better standard than the code requires! How can this be?

D: Well sir, the on-site manager says the real problem is that we need to grease the wheels. In other words, there's nothing wrong with the building, the inspector just wants a kickback.

原來，問題出在當地檢查施工建築的官員身上。他爲了拿回扣，kickback, 居然說Simon公司的建築not up to code. 不符合建築規格。這裏的code, c-o-d-e, code 指政府關於建築標準的法規。按Donny的話說，要想達標也不難，we need to grease the wheels. grease is spelled g-r-e-a-s-e, grease. Grease，是上油的意思，wheels是車輪的意思，給車輪上油，引伸爲讓事情進行得更順利。

S: I see. is frustrating.

D: On the one hand, the inspector is not asking for very much, a couple of thousand dollars will make this problem go away. But on the other hand, bribery is illegal.

S: Bribery is certainly illegal, but even more important for me personally, it's immoral. I've always tried to do the right thing in my business dealings and it's important to me that I run a clean shop.

Donny說，一方面，幾千美元就能解決問題，make the problem go away, 讓這個問題消失；但另外一方面，行賄是非法的, bribery is illegal. Simon說，行賄不僅非法，更重要的是，他個人認爲這樣做是不道德的，it's immoral. Simon還說，自己做生意一概奉公守法，努力run a clean shop. 這裏的clean指正派的，遵紀守法的，shop 在口語裏可以用來泛指生意、公司、店鋪等等。Simon最終會讓步嗎？我們下次繼續聽。