1. I'm busy.

Are you busy?

I know that many, many people will use this expression after learning a certain concept. For example, "Are you busy?" Many people have known to say this sentence since junior high school, "Are you busy?" After studying in the United States for three years, he still can only say, "Are you busy?" In fact, sometimes we have to broaden our horizons and make different changes to the same concept, like "Are you busy?" This sentence, in fact, is also commonly used by Americans: "Is something in the middle?" (But this sentence is closer to "Are you busy now?" Are you asking if people are busy now "Are you busy?" "Are you busy recently" has a wider meaning. Don't underestimate such a small change if you just "Are you busy?" Besides, sometimes I know how to use "doing something?" I believe when you speak English, your English will be different from others. For example, if you want someone to gossip in the office and are afraid that others are busy, you can ask him, "Are you busy?" Are you busy? )

I remember that a black movie I saw not long ago also used midway, but the hero used this sentence to put forward an argument, "the first kiss is always halfway." In other words, the first kiss always happens in the middle of a speech, or when you are doing other things, which is usually certain enough. He also believes that "the first kiss is the only real kiss in your relationship." (Only the first kiss is a real kiss) and "Everything else is just an agreement" (Everything else is just a perfunctory and fictional story. )

2. What are you busy with?

What are you doing?

The above example is the same,' What are you doing?' Usually we just say, "What are you doing?" Isn't this boring? In fact, sometimes we can put it another way. For example, "What are you up to?" It is the same to ask others what you are doing. Suppose you are in the office and you want to talk to someone, so you ask your colleague, "What are you busy with?" He replied, "Sort of." (Sort of. Then you can get to the bottom of it, "What are you doing?" What have you been up to recently? In addition, sometimes Americans meet and ask, "What are you up to?" What have you been doing recently? Another greeting is "What's the matter?" The meaning is very close. But you have to listen to each other's tone! Sometimes "What are you up to?" What are you doing? "? " But' what the hell are you doing? Oh, the meaning! For example, when you see someone rummaging through your things, you can ask him, "Hey, what are you doing?" Is to scold him,' What the hell are you doing?' Or like in the movie "Strike", the father of a drug dealer calls his son and says, "I know what you are doing." I know what you are doing. In these examples, "What are you busy with?" You can use "What are you doing?" On the contrary, just because we try to change when we speak, we should learn several different ways.

Actually, "What are you up to?" There are many other meanings, so I won't list them here, but there is also a common explanation:' What happened?' For example, if a friend tells you that he is writing a martial arts novel (like my labmate), you can ask him, "What are you busy with?" How's it going? ) and his answer may be, "I am writing the third chapter now." I am writing the third chapter now.

Can you give me a rough figure?

Can you give me a ballpark figure?

A park dedicated to ball games, especially a large baseball field. For example, Turner Stadium, home of Atlanta Warriors, is a baseball field. What is a rough figure? Baseball games generally don't report the number of spectators today, such as 49 132? 49, 132 is a rough figure, but it is only a rough estimate, so a rough figure is a rough estimate. So if the boss asks the accountant in the company, how much was the water and electricity bill last month? After that, I added, "Just give me a rough figure." It means I just need a ballpark figure. Even some old Americans are too lazy to just give a rough idea, so the boss may say, "I need a rough idea of last year's income." I need a rough figure of last year's income. You should know for yourself that this baseball field means approximate figures.

In fact, many slang expressions like ballpark. If you ask Americans, I guarantee that 99.9% of them know the meaning of ballpark. However, many foreigners, no matter how fluent their English (BBS) is, no matter how long they live in the United States, often don't understand. For example, Xiao Benlin's tutor is a European, but he has been in the United States for more than ten years and is fluent in English. Once I told her, "I can only give you a rough idea." She asked me what baseball field meant. I tell you this little story because it is usually no problem to talk to Americans with this slang, but if you go to Lao Yin, ABC, or foreigners who have lived in the United States for a long time, there is no guarantee that they will understand.

4. Bottom line: We should turn losses into profits before 20 13.

The most important thing is that we must turn losses into profits before 20 13.

Have you read the financial statements? There are many dense figures on it, telling you how many assets the company has, how much depreciation it has and how much accounts receivable it has. But these are not the most important. The most important thing is at the bottom line, called net income, which tells you whether the company has been making money or losing money. This is actually the most important thing, isn't it? So the word bottom line later became the meaning of' the most important thing is …'. For example, there is a famous saying in the shopping mall, "If you don't take care of your customers, others will.". This is the bottom line. " If you don't care about your customers, others will. This is the most important principle. In addition, the bottom line also means' the last limit' and' the principle of no further concessions'. For example, the boss can warn employees. "Bottom line: We must deliver the goods before Friday." My bottom line is that we must deliver the goods before Friday. )

The new CFO was sent to get the company out of the deficit.

The new CFO was sent to save the company's deficit.

People in China like red, so the stock market is always red when it goes up. However, European and American countries have different perceptions of red, which means loss and deficit. If the bottom line mentioned above is written in red, it means that the company as a whole is losing money. On the contrary, if you write in black, it means making money. So we often hear expressions like red or black, which actually means whether the company makes money. Of course, we can also use the simplest expression. Losing money to make money or adjectives is unprofitable and profitable. For example, this company is profitable. You can say, "This company has a surplus." "The company is making money." Or "the company is profitable." .

Speaking of this profit, I have to remind everyone of the word non-profit, because people often make mistakes. The word non-profit does not mean not making money, but' non-profit'. For example, the Consumer Culture and Education Foundation, we can say that it is a non-profit organization, a non-profit organization. This kind of organization does not aim at making money. But if it is not profitable, it means it is unprofitable or unprofitable.

6. Shirley just called in sick.

Shirley just called in sick.

Asking for sick leave is a phrase often used in the office. Someone called to say that he was ill and couldn't come to work. Those who are interested in listening to the sentence "Americans" may wish to see "What do women want? I remember they used the word "sick leave" in this movie. Of course, we know that a considerable proportion of people are lazy and don't want to come to work. Otherwise, employees will find excuses for collective strikes, such as "some workers call in sick and go on strike." Some workers went on strike by calling in sick collectively. )

What should I say if it is a normal sick leave? You can say, "I need to take two days off sick." I need to ask for two days sick leave. ) or my wife is going to have a baby and wants to take personal leave, you can say, "I want to give my wife three days paid/unpaid personal leave." I want to take three days off because my wife is going to have a baby. ) As for this holiday, can it be deducted? (paid/unpaid) It depends on the company's policy.

I just heard that seven people will be fired next month.

I just heard that the company will lay off seven employees next month.

The unemployment rate has been rising recently, so I'll talk about the topic of being laid off by the way. There are many ways for companies to lay off employees, and the most common one is the word "layoffs" (if written separately, layoffs are verbs and written together, layoffs are nouns). For example, "Cisco issued a profit warning and plans to lay off employees." (Cisco issued a financial warning and plans to lay off employees. Of course, you can also say cut jobs or slash jobs in a more colloquial way. For example, we can also say, "Cisco plans to lay off employees." (Cisco plans to lay off employees. According to a roadside source, the word layoffs will be included in the latest 3,000 common English words due to the recent increase in the frequency ranking of layoffs in English. _ _

What if you are really unlucky to be laid off in America? Just a few words. The first sentence is, "Whose decision is this?" Whose decision is this? As the saying goes, ask who moved you when you are in debt, and you won't know which one to put until you deflate the tire. In other words, "I'm between jobs." This sentence is very useful when looking for a new job. When people ask you what you are doing now, don't just say "I just got laid off." How ugly! You should say, "I'm looking for a job." I happened to be between two workshops. That sounds euphemistic. My friend Joseph taught me this. He has just been fired. Because he is good at saying this, he has found a new job in Houston, Texas. :D

He suggested that we go to eat after my night shift.

He suggested that we could have dinner together after my night shift.

The word shift is called shift in English. For example, three shifts are called three shifts. For example, "we have to work three shifts to keep the company running." In order to keep the factory running, we have to work three shifts. ) I think everyone knows that class three is around the clock. Small night shift and big night shift. In English, the day shift is a day shift or a regular shift, and the night shift is a night shift. What about the night shift? There is an interesting saying called night shift. So if you want to explain that you are working the night shift, you can say, "I am working the night shift."

As for why it is called night shift? There is a widely circulated story that in the19th century, people sometimes accidentally buried people who were still alive as dead people. In order to avoid this tragedy, they installed an electric bell in every coffin so that these' bodies' who woke up unexpectedly could ring for help. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange for another man to inspect the cemetery at night. So that when someone rings the doorbell, they can immediately inform their families. So the night shift was named after it and became a big night shift. Do you believe this legend? It's up to you

9. I'm just an ordinary nine-to-five person.

I'm just an ordinary nine-to-five office worker.

I think the Chinese word "nine to five" should be directly translated from the English word "nine to five", right? Since the working hours of office workers are mostly fixed from 9 am to 5 pm, the usage of nine to five refers to the general work of commuting. I remember once talking to an American old man who had worked in the society for many years and returned to graduate school about his motivation to return to school. He told me, "I don't want to work nine to five all my life." I don't want to work nine to five all my life. In addition, office workers like this can claim to be nine-to-five people, that is, nine-to-five office workers. But I like Xiao Benlin. What about Xiao Benlin? I should call myself 10-to-3er. (Of course, I don't go home at three o'clock in the morning, but go home for a nap at three o'clock in the afternoon! )

10. I refuse to work overtime on weekends.

I refuse to work overtime on weekends.

Overtime is called overtime in English. For example, if someone calls you out for dinner tonight, you say, "Sorry, I have to work overtime." That means telling him I'm sorry, I have to work overtime tonight. But interestingly, besides overtime, overtime can also be called overtime. For example, you can say to your boss loudly, "You have to pay me overtime!" You have to pay me overtime. But now is not the time. I think it's better to keep it down.

In addition to this, Americans often use two other words, one is double time, and the other is one and a half times time. Double time means double salary. One and a half times or one and a half times means one and a half times the salary. For example, if the boss asks you to do some extra work, you can say, "If you pay me double, I will do it." If you pay me double, I will do it. ) make another sentence. "I like working on holidays because I am punctual." I like working on holidays because my salary is one and a half times that of me. )

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