今天Michael和李华下了班以后就去逛街。他们边走边聊，李华会学到两个常用语：to be canned和to kiss up to.

    M： Man， it was crazy at work today！

    L： 真的？你们办公室今天发生什么事啦？

    M： My friend George was late again， so the boss canned him！

    L： 你的朋友George今天上班迟到，你们老板对他怎么了？对他大喊大叫吗？

    M： No， it's much worse than that. The boss canned him. In other words， the boss fired him！

    L： 什么？你是说George被解雇了。所以To be canned就是被解雇的意思啊？

    M： Yeah， here， "canned" is the past form of "to can，" which means "to put something in a can，" or slang for "to throw something in the trash can".

    L： 噢，这里canned就是把什么东西扔到垃圾桶。可这跟解雇人有什么关系呢？

    M： Hehheh， when your boss "cans" you， he's getting rid of you. It is like he is throwing you in the trash can.

    L： 原来这是一种比喻啊。不过这种说法听起来挺吓人的。Michael， 你觉得George应该被解雇吗？

    M： To tell the truth， George was not a very good employee. If I were the boss， I would have canned him too.

    L：哎呀，Michael，你这么说你的朋友未免太过份了吧！George又没做坏事，为什么要解雇他啊？

    M： Well， George was often very late to work. This month， he came in late a least four times. The boss warned George many times before he finally canned him.

    L： 看来你一点也不同情George.要是我的朋友碰上这种倒霉事，我至少也会替他难过啊。

    M： Hmph. When George was late， it caused me and the other employees a lot of trouble. No one is really sad that he was canned.

    L： 也许你说得没错。如果每个人都象George这样老迟到，那会给其他人造成多大的麻烦啊。

    M： Well， you are right and wrong. Because George was canned， we all have a lot more work to do right now.

    L： 对，希望你们公司会赶快雇一个人来接替George的工作。

    M： I'm sure they will.

    音乐间隙

    L： 哎，Michael，你有没有担心过自己有一天会被老板解雇呢？

    M： Me？ Not at all. I'm a good worker， and I kiss up to the boss all the time.

    L： 你说你工作表现很好，而且你还经常亲你的老板。哎呀，Michael， 你好恶心哦，你的老板不是男的吗？

    M： No no no……I said I "kiss up to" my boss. To "kiss up to" someone is to try to be extra friendly to someone so they will treat you well.

    L： 那你到底是怎么样“kiss up to”你的boss呢？

    M： Well， when I want to "kiss up to" the boss， I might bring him coffee， or help him clean the office. I also try to say nice things about him and his family， or tell him he just looks really cool.

    L： 噢，现在我懂了。你不用说的那么好听，“kiss up to”无非就是拍什么人的马屁嘛。哎呀， 真没想到，你还是个马屁精啊。你不怕同事看不起你啊？

    M： No， not at all. All of the employees kiss up to my boss. Actually， there's nothing wrong with that， because our boss is a really nice guy.

    L： 如果你的老板真象你说的那么好，或许讨好他也没什么错。

    M： I Guess kissing up to someone can be useful， but not so that everyone hates you.

    L： 你说的没错，拍马屁有时候是挺管用的，不过要是搞得人人都讨厌你，那就太不值得了。

    M： Don't worry about me. I don't want the boss to do anything for me， I just don't want to be canned.

    L： 其实我才应该向你学几招，去讨好讨好我的老板，也让他对我另眼相看。

    今天李华学会了两个常用语：to be canned和to kiss up to.To be canned在这里就是被解雇的意思，kiss up to是讨好某人，拍马屁的意思。