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2025.11.05 10:32
第五部 第十四课: to slack off , peon
- 今天 Michael 提前下班，在路上碰到了李华．李华会学到两个常用语： to slack off 和 peon。
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- 嘿， Michael, 你今天怎麼这麼早就下班啦？
- Well, this is the holiday season, so everyone at work is slacking off. No one minds if I leave early.
- 哦，你说是因為过节，早下班没人会介意，而且办公室裡每个人都在 slacking off? 那是做什麼呀？
- (Chuckles) I said everyone is "slacking off". "To slack off" means just the opposite of "being busy". "To slack off" means "to not work hard".
- 哦～， to slack off 的意思呢和 「努力工作」 刚好相反．哎，我懂了，你是说，因為过节，所以同事们都比较放鬆 -- Everyone at work is slacking off. 疑？可是， Michael, 你自作主张提前下班，是不是有一点太 slack off 了呢？
- Oh, I certainly don't worry about it, because I noticed even my boss is slacking off. He left even earlier than I did.
- 啊？你们老闆比你走得还要早啊，看来，他比你更加 slack off．嗯，说得也是喔，马上就要新年了，连我啊也觉得挺懒散，什麼事都不想做。
- Ah, That's Ok. You're on vacation. You have very good reasons to be slacking off.
- 嗯，虽然说是放假，可是我本来打算啊利用假期多读些英文书，我要是这麼懒散，恐怕连一本书也读不完囉。
- I wish it were holiday all the time, so I could always slack off.
- 什麼啊？你想每天都放假，那你就可以老这麼轻鬆的啦？嘿，Michael，我们中文裡常说：「一张一驰」． Slack off 一段时间以后，你就应该努力工作啦！
- Hmm. Maybe you are right. Sometimes after slacking off during a holiday or vacation, we do feel refreshed and ready to get back to work again.
- 也是喔，适当放鬆一下，工作起来啊会更带劲儿．哎，新年快到了，我啊确实应该 slack off for a couple of days, 可是如果 slack off 的时间太长了，我心裡就会觉得不安。
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- 哎，Michael, 你提早下班，万一公司有什麼要紧事，你不担心同事会找你吗？
- Oh, don't worry about that. I am not that important, I'm just a peon where I work.
- 啊？你是什麼？ a peon? 那是什麼呀？
- I said I am a Peon. The word "peon" originally meant someone who did manual labor in order to pay off a debt. These days, though, people use "peon" to refer to an unimportant person at work who performs a simple task.
- 哦～，peon 这个词原来是指 「為了还债而做苦工的人」，现在呢，大家用这个词来指那些在公司裡做简单工作，地位啊比较低的僱员．Oh, come on Michael, 你怎麼能说自己在公司不重要呢？
- No, I'm just a peon at my workplace. Anyone could do my job.
- 嗯～，要是谁都能做你工作，那恐怕真是一个 peon 了．哎，中文系的李教授啊常常对我们说，你要不好好干，好多人都等着这个位子呢．看来啊，我才是一个真正的 peon 呢。
- Well, maybe you are easy to replace. But that's no reason for you to feel like a peon.
- 嗯～，你说得对，我啊不应该自己觉得我做的工作不重要．而且，想想看，我们大学校长或是你们公司老闆恐怕当年也做过好一段时间的 peon 呢！
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- 今天李华学到了两个常用语，一个是： to slack off，意思是 「鬆懈、懒散」．另一个是： peon，指「在工作单位做简单工作的人」，也就是所谓的「小土豆儿」。
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