英語コラムの連載をはじめます！
必要以上!?のビジネス英語マスター術
第一回はTED Talksとsmart.fmです！
このメルマガで最近書いたネタですねーー
■NHKラジオ 実践ビジネス英語 Office Perks (4) 6/102009
前回の疑問ですが、メールで教えていただきました。
---
ヒューズさんの a couple extra vacation daysが
2、3日の特別休暇、となっていますが、a coupleとは、2、3
ではなく、2ではなかったでしょうか？
---
これは、2,3のという意味も辞書にのっていました。
---
キムさんの、盛大なパーティをなしにすれば、4人の同僚の
仕事を確保できる、というところのロジックがわかりません。
なんで4人?
---
これはまだ謎ですが、アメリカンジョークだと思うようにします。
■意味を考えてみよう。今日取り上げる単語が含まれています。
But then, is 35 percent higher or lower than the industry
norm?
Many companies don't like to make a big deal about their
deals.
I'm glad we were fortunate enough to keep a holiday party
last year even though everything was scaled down.
It sure is a great chance to get better acquainted with the
people you work with on a day-to-day basis, as well as
their families.
The picnic really helps develop an esprit de corps.
──────────────────────────────
industry norm, 業界の水準
──────────────────────────────
A norm is an official standard or level that organizations
are expected to reach.
ex) a Europe-wide environmental protection agency which
would establish European norms and coordinate national
policies to halt pollution.
──────────────────────────────
make a big deal, ...を騒ぎ立てる、...を大げさに言う
──────────────────────────────
a big deal
[ODE] <informal> [usu. with negative] a thing considered
important
ex) they don't make a big deal out of minor irritations.
──────────────────────────────
scale down, ...の規模を縮小する
──────────────────────────────
If something is scaled down, it is made smaller in size,
amount, or extent than it used to be.
ex) The project has been scaled down by about half of
the original estimate.
──────────────────────────────
get acquainted with, ...と知り合いになる、...と親しくなる
──────────────────────────────
If you get or become acquainted with someone that you do not
know, you talk to each other or do something together so that
you get to know each other. You can also say that two people
get or become acquainted.
ex) At first the meetings were a way to get acquainted with
each other.
──────────────────────────────
esprit de corps, 団結心
──────────────────────────────
Esprit de corps is a feeling of loyalty and pride that is
shared by the members of a group who consider themselves
to be different from other people in some special way.
[FORMAL]
──────────────────────────────
その他にも、次も押さえておきたい。[誌面の都合上省略] ★は重要表現
──────────────────────────────
keep a lid on, ...を抑える、...を隠しておく
potluck affair, 持ち寄りパーティーのようなもの
