美语故事

作者：阎成席

It's time to pack up.
我们今天早些收工吧Eq^*F)M)BN。
【Martin's Note】
You know what, "pack up or wrap up" is really an out-and-out American idiom, popular among office clerks or white-collars, who are so eager to say this phase as they are tired out to death for a whole day's work, as like as not. Sure, there are quite a lot of similar expressions in our daily conversations, say, "Let's call it a day!" or "Ok, it is high time to knock off", all of which means "let's stop work for the day".
你知道吗？“pack up or wrap up” 真的是一个地道的美国习语，办公室文员或白领人士，干完一天的工作，累得要死，多半会都会迫不及待地说出这个短语，以表露自己的心情xcdq@sd!G[PC。当然，我们日常会话中还有许多类似的说法，比如：“咱们收工吧！”，或者“该是下班的时间了b6kzlNZdP3hN)G。”所有这些表达形意思都一样—“我们今天的工作就到此为止吧”P_4=quXLG_QW5M。

[1]Andrew Yan, of late, seems to have been totally hooked on (着迷于)YY online teaching at ID: 2831. So he is as busy as a beeall day long, preparing the teaching materials, giving lessons for many hours on line while lending an ear to his wife once in a while, who prattles on aboutthe neighborhood gossip. What's more, he is also fully occupied with translation stuff assigned by different translation companies scattered at every corner in the whole country.
[1]近期，阎先生好像对YY2831频道网络授课非常痴迷gCa^co)m&+E。所以整天都忙得不亦乐乎，又是备课呀，又是上几个小时的课，还要时不时听听老婆的闲言碎语，她会闲聊和唠叨一些左邻右舍的八卦事儿，尽是张家长李家短的琐事Ybtu2rkExxPI=o。而且，他还要忙着应付全国各地翻译公司派来的翻译活儿WoDl-q2x4MS。
[2]At almost 12:00 last night, he was up to the elbows in preparing the teaching materials for the next day when his wife yelled as she was too tired to stay on, "Hey, man! It's time to pack up. If you work from dawn to night like this day by day, you are actually burning the candle at both ends."
[2]昨晚快到12:00了，他正埋头伏案为明天上课准备教学材料，就在这时他老婆叫喊起来，她太困倦了，不能再坐着陪他了DnNEPIl^ay[8yJfN。她对他说：“喂，伙计！该收工了！你要是天天这样从早忙到晚，你简直是在玩命！”
[3]At this, Mr. Yan answered back without delay, "True enough, but I have to keep the ball rolling on and on. You know what, if I don't try to work that way, what I have learned will be all ashes when I die."
[3]一听到这话，阎先生立马就回嘴：“你说得不错，可是我就得这样折腾下去呀+[1DzoNc,=X~YmNpayp。你想想看，假如我不这样做，等我一死，我学到的那点东西全都要全部化为灰烬pe)d#5qz^MXK5]-hKx。”

指点迷津

1.pack up or wrap up：call it a day= knock off= stop work for the day=下班=收工=今天的工作就到此为止
2.out and out= out-and-out：emphasize that someone or something has all the characteristics of a particular type of person or thing=十足的=完全的=彻头彻尾的=地道的
That's an out-and-out lie! 这是百分之百的谎话！
The Olympic theme tune'Friends for Life'proved an out-and-out success. 结果证明奥运会主题歌《永远的朋友》极为成功Ar;9eolPEvB。
Much of what has been written about us is out-and-out lies. 关于我们的报道大都是彻头彻尾的胡编乱造bkF-EsI9le;jk_]DrTbh。
3.tired out to death= worn out=suffer from fatigue=be fatigued=have used a lot of energy and you want to rest or sleep=感到累和疲劳=简直累死了
He was obviously tired out. 他显然筋疲力尽了L~^NGcqydWL。
I am utterly fatigued. 我完全累坏了9lg#o|(*05c07。
She was tired out by these long vigils. 长期熬夜使她筋疲力竭Jzmh(q|(EIb_8。
I was tired out/worn out after a day of shopping. 逛了一天商店，我都累坏了L8#=b)Px)#s。
4. hooked on =be wild about=be full of enthusiasm about=crazy about =be hooked on=热衷于=着迷于=喜爱上
Young people are very hot on pop music. 年青人热衷于流行音乐U2k4gIqiwZ=K。
My aunt is hooked on package holidays in Spain. 我的姑母着迷于旅行社包办的西班牙度假Y,RD]0r~xx&ed;psEI。
5. be as busy as a bee= be fully occupied（with）=be up to the elbows in=忙于=忙碌=忙得要命=忙得不亦乐乎=忙得不可开交
He was occupied in translating an English novel. 他正忙于翻译一本英文小说Aw0I=^jPPoajf~xYt。
The manager and secretary as busy as a bee all day. 那位经理兼秘书整天忙忙碌碌sv_vE|Jv!d5s~NDd9^,。
We are up to the elbows in preparing for the coming examinations. 我们正忙于（埋头）准备考试2U5@^nSgj~c;J。
6. prattle on about =talk at length, esp about unimportant things=（指成人）絮絮叨叨地说=（尤指）闲聊
Some rural women like to get together to prattle on about the village gossip.一些村妇好挤在一起，闲扯些村里的事hQyzadtlqMJCy。
Unlike some people who prattle on endlessly about the public welfare but don't do anything about it, Chen Guangbiao just bends himself (热心于；致力于；专心于) by engaging in the public welfare undertakings, particularly by donating whatever he can afford for the benefit of the people in need. 和某些无休止地瞎聊公益事业但无动于衷的人不同，陈光标热心于公益事业，特别是向那些穷苦的人们倾囊相助sX4cVMpKktFid&X%j。
7. burn the candle at both ends=exhaust oneself by trying to do too many things超负荷地工作而耗尽精力=操劳过度=会累死的(过分耗费；不顾身体过度劳累（尤指日夜都有活动）)
You can't burn the candle at both ends forever. 你不能永远这么过分地消耗精力_W(IoK#KHu@1z!ZX]m。
Once in a while, we have to burn the candle at both ends to put a spurt on and finish an urgent talks. 我们偶尔不得不加一把劲，赶紧完成 紧急的任务XKwvZ0=dkHsY3n4Y。