Ben遇見同事Jane一臉凝重站在桌子前面,不知發生了什麼事,他小小聲問旁邊的外籍同事怎麼了。同事說:"She was told to clear her desk."
Jane的桌子老是亂七八糟,終於有人告訴她,該清一清桌子了,但這也沒有什麼大不了,Jane的臉色為什麼這麼臭呢?原來有人請你clear your desk,可不是要你清桌子,是誰聽了都要臭臉的一句話。
She was told to clear her desk.
(X)她被叫去清桌子。
(O)她被解僱了。
Clear one's desk字面意思是「把桌子收乾淨」,而在辦公室有人叫你清桌子,是叫你走人。來看一個例子:
That underperforming employee was asked to clear his desk and leave the building.(那位表現不佳的員工被解僱了且被要求離開辦公大樓。)
有一個和clear one's desk發音很像,但意思完全不同的片語是"clear the decks",desk是桌子,deck是甲板。
Clear the decks
(X)清理甲板
(O)準備行動
Clear the decks把甲板上的東西收拾好,指「清除障礙準備行動」。本來是指船上的事,現在也應用在日常生活:
Let's clear the decks and then we can start cooking dinner.(我們先收拾一下,然後開始做飯。)
再來多看幾個clear這個字的用法和誤區。
1.Clear清楚、澄清
Clear有「清楚」的意思。它有動詞用法,例如:Can you clear this matter up for me?(你能把這件事解釋淸楚嗎?)
既是澄清,就有消除誤解的意味。片語clear the air,不是把空氣弄乾淨,而是「消除誤解」。air在這裡引申表示為「氣氛、氛圍」。
They held a meeting to clear the air.(他們召開了一次會議來消除誤解。)
天氣轉晴也可以用clear:It's cloudy now, but it's clearing up gradually.(現在天陰陰的,但逐漸轉晴了。)
2.Clear遠離、離開
除了澄清,clear也有「離開、遠離」的意思,當作副詞使用。例如:Keep/Stay clear of her - she's got flu.(離她遠一點,她得了流感。)
也有動詞用法:Time for you people to clear out. It's past midnight.(你們該走了,已經過午夜了。)
3.Loud and clear響亮清晰
Loud and clear這個片語也更常見,它的意思是「清晰易懂的,清楚明白」。視訊會議時,別人問你是否聽得見,如果很清楚,就可以回"Loud and clear!"
I can hear you loud and clear.(我能非常清楚地聽到你講話。)
它可以延伸為「訊息完整傳達」:Hopefully my point came across loud and clear.(希望我的觀點夠清楚傳達。)
The message from management came through loud and clear: things would have to change.(管理層發出的資訊非常明確:必須進行變革。)
4.in the clear無罪、身體沒問題
The police breathalyzed Andy last night, but he was in the clear.(員警昨晚對安迪進行了呼氣酒精測試,不過他沒有問題。)
The X-rays showed that she's in the clear.(X光檢查顯示她身體健康。)
責任編輯:易佳蓉
核稿編輯:李頤欣