商務禮節美語第9期:投資(1)

Frank: Jerry! My financial counselor! Good to see you... as always. 傑裏！我的財政顧問！像往常一樣，很高興見到你……

Jerry: Hey Frank, nice to see you, too. How's your stock portfolio these days? 嘿，弗蘭克，我也很高興見到你。這幾天你的股票投資怎麼樣了？

F: Not that bad. I bought into a hedge fund and it helped minimize my losses. 不是很壞。我買進了避險基金，可以減少我的損失。

J: Wise! You seem to beat the market at its own game pretty often. What's your secret? 智慧！看上去你可以戰勝市場上的一切風雲變幻。

F: I don't really have a secret. I just read a lot and pay attention to trends. 我真的沒有什麼祕密。我知道讀了很多投資的東西並且注意股市的動態。

投資顧問Jerry問Frank投資的股票賺不賺錢，How's your stock portfolio? portfolio is spelled p-o-r-t-f-o-l-i-o, portfolio，是投資組合的意思。Frank說他買hedge fund，對衝基金，減少了不少損失。Jerry說Frank投資總能賺錢，beat the market at its own game. 這裏所說的to beat someone at his own game，意思是以其人之道還治其人之身，在這裏意思就是利用市場規則，成爲市場投資的贏家。

J: Well, I commend your business sense. You seem to be staying ahead of the curve. 嗯，我對你的經濟頭腦表示讚賞。你總是走在別人的前面。

F: You win some and you lose some, that's business. So, I hear you have a sales pitch for me. 時而能贏，時而會輸，這就是經濟。我聽說你想向我推銷東西？

J: Well, 's not really a sales pitch...I have a vision I want to share with you! This idea could turn your company into a leader in the industry! 嗯，事實上……這不是真的推銷……我想跟你分享一個很不錯的想法！這個主意可以讓你的公司變成這個產業的領軍人物。

Jerry對Frank的商業頭腦business sense，表示讚賞，說Frank 總是stay ahead of the curve, 走在別人前面，stay ahead of the curve，意思是比別人更有遠見，更能預見未來走向。Frank則說，You win some and you lose some, that's business，做生意就是有賺有賠。you win some and you lose some，是很常用的一句話，意思是有輸有贏，正常現象。Frank問Jerry想向自己推銷什麼。A sales pitch，是推銷的意思。Jerry說有個投資想法，能讓Frank的公司成爲行業領軍人, turn your company into a leader in the industry。Jerry的想法是什麼呢？

F: 've got me interested. Let's hear the idea. 好的……你說的都讓我動心了。讓我聽聽是什麼主意。

J: You know that old expression: strike while the iron is hot? 你知道那個古老的表達嗎，乘熱打鐵？

F: Uh huh. 嗯嗯。

J: Well, it comes from blacksmiths. They would get the iron really hot so they could shape it. But, if the iron cooled down, the blacksmith couldn't beat it into the shape he needed. 嗯，這是鐵匠說的話。當鐵足夠得熱得時候，你就可以打鐵讓它成型。但是，如果鐵冷卻了，就不行了。

F: Ah...I never thought about where that expression came s sense: you've got to strike while the iron is hot. 啊……我從來沒有想過這個表達是從哪兒來的……趁熱打鐵，有點道理啊。

Jerry問Frank聽沒聽說過strike while the iron is hot，趁熱打鐵這句話。這句話是從打鐵來的，鐵匠打鐵，一定要趁熱，等鐵冷卻下來，就不行了。可這跟Jerry的投資想法有什麼關係呢？我們下次繼續聽。