身临其境练一练

本段对话选自Desperate Housewives,《绝望主妇》

Hi. Can I help you?

你好，需要些什么?

Hi. I received some flowers from your shop yesterday and the card didn't say who they were from.

你好。我昨天收到了从你们店送来的花，卡片上没有标明是谁送来的。

Can you check the name is Solis?

你能查查索利斯这个名字吗？

Sure, sure. Just give me a sec here. Solis?Yeah.

好的，好的。在这儿稍等一下。索利斯？好的。

Solis...Solis...huh. This is odd. The buyer asked to remain anonymous.

索利斯…索利斯…哈，真奇怪。买主要求保密。

Really? Uh, well, the flowers were so beautifiil, I'd like to know who to thank.

真的吗？呃，这些花真漂亮，我想知道我该去谢谁。

Sorry. I have to honor their request.

抱歉，我得尊重客人的要求。

Why? They're just flowers. They're not government secrets.

为什么？只是些花而已，又不是政府机密。

If you don't mind, I'm busy.

恕我不陪，我有事要忙。

Well, okay, wait, wait, wait, let me explain.

嗯，好吧。等等等，我给你解释。

What's to explain? A pretty girl gets flowers. Do you know how many girls never get flowers?

有什么可解释的？漂亮女孩就能得到花儿。你知道有多少女孩从来就没人送花？

I work in a flower shop. I've never gotten any freakiw flowers!

我在花店工作，却从来都没有收到过花儿！

So stop your whining about who sent them and just be glad he did.

所以别絮叨谁送来的了。只要他送了，你高兴就好了。

You're right, and I am so sorry for taking up so much of your time.

你说得对，很抱歉耽误你这么多时间。

职场美语

You are the first to know. Mum's the word, or you would get fired.

你是第一个知道的，不要对任何人讲，否则你会被开除的。

But people have to know. That would be usury, and it's illegal.

但是大家需要知道这些。那是高利贷，

It's not how I intended. I didn't mean it.

我没料到事情会变成这样。我不是故意的。

Anyway, mum's the word.

无论如何要严守秘密。

重点讲解

Say nothing about it.

Mum's the word.

要求别人保守秘密，可以说Mum's the word. Mum(妈妈)其实跟秘密(secret) 本身没有任何联系，这里的mum来源于象声词Mmmmm,是紧闭双唇时发出的声音。字面上看,这句话的意思就是“你唯一能说的词就是mmmmmmm”，即“不要对任何人讲，要保守秘密” 。