Wisdom today means something
different for the young, modem Western generation.
对今天西方的年轻一代来说,智慧别有一番含义。
[1] Wisdom of the ancients always served civilisation well. In the age of the
TV sitcom , witty New York repartee and the instant one-liner, Western wisdom in
the modern sense can mean something more like the dialogue from an American
sitcom. Here's sampling of the some of the wittier one-lines circulating through
Western society circles these
days:
古人的智慧对文明总是大有裨益。在电视情景喜剧、纽约式的机智问答和即兴的单句俏皮话大行其道的时代,现代意义上的西方智慧更像是一出美国情景喜剧里对白之类的东西。以下是近来在西方社会流传的一些具有代表性的单句睿语:
[2] I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow is
not looking good either.
我每天只能取悦一个人。今天轮不到你。明天看上去也不太妙。
[3] 1 love deadlines. I especially like the wooshing sound they make as they
go flying by.
我喜欢最后期限。我尤其喜欢它们飞驰而过时发出的嗖嗖声。
[4] Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without
it.
告诉我你需要什么,然后我会告诉你没有它怎么过。
[5] Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days the
statue.
接受这一事实--有时你是在雕像上随意排泄的鸽子,有时你是那倒霉的雕像。
[6] Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If they aren't there the
first time, chances are you won't be needing them
again.
需要某个人就像需要一顶降落伞。如果他们第一时间不在场,你就可能再也没有需要他们的机会了。
[7] On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape
key.
在生活的键盘上,始终要把一个手指按在“退出”键上。
[8] You are slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut
butter.
你比一群在花生酱中乱窜的海龟还要慢。
[9] Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and
taste good with ketchup.
不要插手凶龙恶兽的事,因为你是松脆的,而被涂上番茄酱后味道好极了。
[10] Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
每个人在别人眼中都是怪物。
[11] Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat
you with experience.
千万别和白痴争论。他们会把你拉低到和他们同等的水平,再用经验击败你。
[12] Don't be irreplaceable--if you can't be replaced, you can't be
promoted.
切勿成为不可替代的人--如果没人能取代你,你便无法得到提升。
[13] Eat one live frog the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will
happen to you for the rest of the day.
如果早晨第一件事就是吃一只活青蛙,那么余下的一天便不会有更糟的事发生了。
[14] Everything can be filed under miscellaneous.
每件东西都可归入杂项。
[15] You are always doing something marginal when the boss drops by your
desk.
老板偶然来到你的办公桌时,你总是在做一些无关紧要的事。
[16] When confronted by a difficult problem you can solve it more easily by
reducing it to the question "how would adventure star Indiana Jones handle
this?"
碰到难题时,把它简化成这样一个问题——“惊险片明星印第安那·琼斯会怎样处理?”--你就能比较容易地解决它了。
[17] I don't have an attitude problem. you have a perception
problem.
不是我的态度有问题,而是你的感觉有问题。
(来源:旺旺英语 通讯员刘伟推荐)