地道英语

Fly-by-night 不可靠，不讲信用

内容简介

你遇到过不可靠的、唯利是图的人或企业吗？英语合成形容词 “fly-by-night” 就可以用来形容一个人或一家企业是 “没有信誉的，不可靠的”。听节目，学习这个形容词的用法。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Feifei
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。I'm Feifei.

Phil
And I'm Phil. We're going to look at an adjective about organisations and people that are difficult to trust – 'fly-by-night'.

Feifei
“Fly-by-night” 是一个合成形容词，它的字面意思是 “在夜里飞行的”。Phil，你能不能给我们讲讲这个词的实际用法？

Phil
Yes. 'Fly-by-night' originally described companies, who would disappear overnight taking all the money they owed with them. It's usually used before a noun.

Feifei
形容词 “fly-by-night” 最初用来描述那些 “唯利是图、不讲诚信的，甚至会一夜之间卷钱逃跑的黑心公司”，这个词通常只能用在名词前、作定语。比如：我朋友上个月买了一辆二手车，开了没多久就坏了。最可气的是，车行卷钱跑了。Are they a fly-by-night company?

Phil
Yes, we can use it more generally to talk about companies or people who are unreliable or difficult to trust.

Feifei
人们现在多用形容词 “fly-by-night” 来描述不负责任、不可信赖的人或企业。

Phil
If it looks like someone is running a 'fly-by-night' operation, it's best to avoid them! Listen to these examples.

Examples
I applied for a job, but when I went for the interview it looked like a fly-by-night company – so I turned them down.

The agent I bought the ticket from was a fly-by-night operator. Once I got to the airport, I couldn't get any help.

I got my roof fixed, but it was a real fly-by-night job – it's already started leaking.

Feifei
你正在收听的是 BBC英语教学的 “地道英语” 节目。以上我们学习了合成形容词 “fly-by-night” 的用法，它用来形容人或企业是 “不可靠的，不讲诚信的”。

Phil
In the last example we heard about a 'fly-by-night' job.

Feifei
A 'fly-by-night' job. “Fly-by-night” 在这里用来形容这家维修房顶的公司做的活是 “不合格的、质量差的”。比如：A fly-by-night company might do a fly-by-night job.（一家不可靠的公司可能会做一件不靠谱的事情。）

Phil
Now, we will definitely be here next week with another piece of Authentic Real English – we're no fly-by-night operation!

Feifei
See you next time!

Phil
Bye!