Wanda: This was the last straw. We’re both managers and we’re supposed to work together, but Robert looks for every opportunity to put me down in front of our employees. This morning, I presented an idea about upgrading our computer equipment and he jumped down my throat.
Wanda: He said that the idea was stupid and that he couldn’t understand how anyone could propose it. He said this in front of everybody. I was too stunned to respond, so I just stood there.
Dana: That’s totally inappropriate and unprofessional.
Dana：这样做确实不道德。
Wanda: He’s arrogant to everybody, but especially to me. He always says he’s just being honest when he makes a biting remark, but I’m realizing that that’s just his excuse to be rude. He treats everyone with contempt. I really don’t know what to do.
Dana: I know people like Robert. They’re so insecure that they have to belittle everyone else to make themselves feel better. They have really poor social skills and don’t know how to have a conversation or to disagree without being a jerk.
Wanda: That may be, but what should I do about him?
Wanda：可能吧，但是我应该怎么做呢？
Dana: There’s only one way to handle a bully.
Dana：要收拾狂妄自大的人只有一种方法。
Wanda: How?
Wanda：什么方法？
Dana: You have to call his bluff. If he criticizes your plan, ask him to back it up with evidence or a specific reason. If you disagree with him, keep your cool, but tell him why. Most bullies back down when someone stands up to them.
Wanda: Okay, it’s worth a try. I’ve been trying to keep calm and maintain a professional atmosphere in the office, so I haven’t confronted him, but I will if you think it’ll help.
Dana: I do. And if that doesn’t work, tell him to act his age, not his shoe size!
Dana：我知道。 如果这样没用，你就告诉他他是成年人，不要像个孩子一样！
Wanda begins by saying “I can’t take it anymore.” This is similar to saying “I can’t stand it,” which means I can no longer tolerate this; I can’t just stay here or sit here, it’s bothering me too much.
Wanda在对话一开始就说，“I can’t take it anymore.” 这和“I can’t stand it”意思相近，就是说我再也不能忍受了；我再也坐呆不住了，太烦人了。
“I can’t take it anymore,” she says, “I try to put up with Robert, but I’ve had enough!” “To put up with someone” means to tolerate someone, to take something without complaining. It’s the opposite of “I can’t take it anymore.” “I put up with you,” meaning I tolerate you, I don’t let it bother me.
“I can’t take it anymore,”她说，“I try to put up with Robert, but I’ve had enough!” “To put up with someone”意思是容忍某个人；平静的接受一些事情，不去抱怨。 它的反义词是“I can’t take it anymore.” “I put up with you,”意思是我容忍你，不被你影响。
Dana says, “I’m not surprised. That guy is a big bully.” A “bully” is a person who uses violence - physical violence or verbal (spoken) violence to prove his or her strength or power. It’s a person who’s mean to other people because they try to control them using this kind of violence. Normally we use the term “bully” in describing a child, for example, who tries to hit or control another child by being mean to them. But here, Dana is talking about an adult who’s a bully.
Dana说，“I’m not surprised. That guy is a big bully.” “bully”是暴利分子-用暴力或者粗鄙的语言证明他的权利。 这种人很卑劣，他们总是想用暴力或者粗鄙的语言控制别人。 “bully”这个词，我们一般用来形容小孩对其他孩子很卑劣，想控制别人。 但是，Dana在这里是说一个成人仗势欺人。
Dana says, “it’s time somebody stood up to him.” “To stand up to someone” means not to allow another person to continue, in this case, to be mean to you, not to be afraid to tell someone that he or she is not acting appropriately. You have to stand up to a bully; you have to tell them what they are doing is wrong.
Dana说，“it’s time somebody stood up to him.” “To stand up to someone”意思是不允许别人继续做某事。在这里是指既然他仗势欺人，你就不要害怕告诉别人她做的坏事。 你必须站起来反抗他仗势欺人；告诉他们这样做不对。
Dana says, “What has he done now?” What has he done to make her angry?
Dana说，“What has he done now?” 他又做什么让你生气的事了？
Wanda says, “This was the last straw.” When we say something is “the last straw” (straw), we mean it’s the last in a series of bad events, when someone decides that he or she is not going to let this situation continue. When you can no longer tolerate or put up with a situation, you say, “that’s the last straw,” meaning it’s the last negative thing that’s going to happen, now I’m going to change the situation.
Wanda说，“This was the last straw.” 当我们说某事物是“the last straw”，意思是如果有个人决定不让事态继续发展，那这就是别人所做的最后一件坏事了。 如果你不能再忍受一件事，你可以说，“that’s the last straw,”意思是这将是最后一件不好的事，我要去改变这个局面。
Wanda says, “We’re both managers and we’re supposed to work together, but Robert looks for every opportunity to put me down in front of our employees.” “To put someone down” is another phrasal verb meaning to insult someone, to make someone feel unimportant or of less value. “To put down” has a couple of different meanings; take a look at our Learning Guide for some additional explanations.
Wanda说，“We’re both managers and we’re supposed to work together, but Robert looks for every opportunity to put me down in front of our employees.” “To put someone down”又是一个动词短语，意思是侮辱别人，让别人感到分文不值。 “To put down”有几种不同的意思；看看学习指导中一些其他解释。
Wanda continues, “This morning, I presented an idea about upgrading our computer equipment and he (Robert) jumped down my throat.” “To jump down someone’s throat” means to attack someone verbally, to yell at somebody for something that they said or did.
Wanda继续说，“This morning, I presented an idea about upgrading our computer equipment and he (Robert) jumped down my throat.” “To jump down someone’s throat”意思是语言攻击别人。对别人说的话做的事表示不满。
Dana asks, “What did he do?” And Wanda says, “He said that the idea was stupid and that he couldn’t understand how anyone could propose it. He said this in front of everybody.” Wanda says, “I was too stunned to respond, so I just stood there.” “To be stunned” means to be surprised, to be shocked, perhaps to be scared.
Dana问道，“What did he do?” Wanda说，“He said that the idea was stupid and that he couldn’t understand how anyone could propose it. He said this in front of everybody.” Wanda说，“I was too stunned to respond, so I just stood there.” “To be stunned”意思是大吃一惊，还被吓到了。
Dana says, “That’s totally inappropriate and unprofessional,” what Robert did. Wanda says Robert’s arrogant to everybody. “To be arrogant” means to think that you are more important than everyone else, that you are better than everyone else.
Dana说，Robert这样做“That’s totally inappropriate and unprofessional,” Wanda说Robert总是骄傲自大。 “To be arrogant”意思是认为自己比别人重要优秀。
Wanda says, “He always says he’s just being honest when he makes a biting remark.” A “biting remark” is a hurtful or cruel comment that you make to someone. “Biting” has a couple of different meanings in English; once again, look at our Learning Guide for some additional explanations of that word. Wanda says that she realizes that he’s just making excuses for being rude when he says he’s being honest, “He treats everyone with contempt.” “Contempt” means disrespect, a strong dislike of another person.
Wanda说，“He always says he’s just being honest when he makes a biting remark.” “biting remark”是指会给别人带来伤害的评论。 “Biting”在英语中有几种不同意思；再强调一次，看看学习指导中这个单词的附加解释。 Wanda说她明白他说他很坦诚只是为自己的不礼貌找借口。“He treats everyone with contempt.” “Contempt”意思是对别人的强烈的厌恶感。
Dana says, “I know people like Robert. They’re so insecure that they have to belittle everyone else to make themselves feel better.” “To be insecure” means to be not secure, to be not confident about who you are. “To belittle” means to make someone else feel unimportant, to tell someone that he or she is less important than you are. Normally, it’s something that would happen in front of other people, but not always. Dana says that people like Robert have very poor social skills. “Social skills” refers to the ability to communicate with other people, to work effectively with other people in a friendly way. We say someone lacks social skills or they have poor social skills, we mean they don’t get along with other people, they don’t know how to have a friendly conversation with other people.
Dana说，“I know people like Robert. They’re so insecure that they have to belittle everyone else to make themselves feel better.” “To be insecure”意思是感到不安全，对自己不自信。 “To belittle”意思是让别人感觉自己微不足道。 通常，是在人们面前让某个人感到自己微不足道，但是这种事不会经常发生。 Dana说Robert这类型的人不善于社交。 “Social skills”是指和别人交流的能力，和其他人高效友好的合作。 我们说别人缺乏社交技巧或者不善长社交，意思是他们不知道怎么跟别人友好的交流。
Wanda says, “That may be, but what should I do about him?” Dana says, “There’s only one way to handle (or take care of) a bully.” Wanda says, “How?” And Dana says, “You have to call his bluff.” “To call someone’s bluff” (bluff) means to make someone prove what they are saying is true, to force somebody to prove that he or she will really do what he or she says they will do. That is “to call someone’s bluff.” A “bluff” is when you say something to someone and it’s not necessarily true, in fact it usually isn’t true, but you are trying to make them believe it. Someone may say to you “You’re bluffing,” meaning you are lying, you are not telling the truth; you’re trying to make me believe something that isn’t true so that you can have an advantage over me.
Wanda说，“That may be, but what should I do about him?”
Dana说，“There’s only one way to handle (or take care of) a bully.” Wanda说，“How?” Dana回答说，“You have to call his bluff.” “To call someone’s bluff” 意思是让说话的人证明他们所说的是正确的，或者强迫他证明他会说到做到。 这就叫“to call someone’s bluff.” “bluff”是指你对别人说了一些话，不一定是真的。事实上，就不是真的，但是你却让别人信以为真。 有人就会对你说，“You’re bluffing,”意思是你在撒谎；你让我相信你的谎言是真的，是想从我这里拿到好处。
Dana says, “You have to call his bluff. If he criticizes your plan, ask him to back it up with evidence.” “To back something up” means to provide evidence to support something, to prove something. Someone says to you “Back it up,” they’re saying give me evidence that this is true. “If you disagree with him,” Dana says, “keep your cool, but tell him why (you disagree).” “To keep your cool” means to stay calm, to remain relaxed and unconcerned: “The beautiful woman walked in the door, but I kept my cool.” Then she sat down and started talking to another man, so it didn’t really matter! But I kept my cool - I didn’t get excited, I stayed calm.
Dana说，“You have to call his bluff. If he criticizes your plan, ask him to back it up with evidence.” “To back something up”意思是为某件事提供证据。 某个人对你说“Back it up,” 是指证明这是真的。 “If you disagree with him,”Dana说，“keep your cool, but tell him why (you disagree).” “To keep your cool”意思是保持安静，放松：“一个美女走进来，我却保持冷静.” 然后，她坐下开始对另一个男人说话，所以这没什么！ 但是我保持冷静。
Dana says, “Most bullies back down when someone stands up to them.” “To back down” means to walk away from a challenge, or to give in - to give up. He’s going to back down; he’s going to say, “Okay, you win.” They’re not going to continue the fight or the argument.
Dana说，“Most bullies back down when someone stands up to them.” “To back down” 意思是放弃挑战。 他放弃了；他说“Okay, you win.” 他们不会继续争论下去。
Wanda says, “it’s worth a try. I’ve been trying to keep calm and maintain a professional atmosphere in the office, so I haven’t confronted him” - I haven’t said something negative to him or told him that he was wrong. “But,” she says, “I will if you think it will help. ” Dana says, “I do. And if that doesn’t work, tell him to act his age, not his shoe size!” “To act your age, and not your shoe size” is an expression that children sometimes use; it means act like an adult, not like a child. In the United States, the shoe sizes are usually numbers between 1 and maybe 12 or 15. So, your shoe size, even as an adult, will not be very high. My shoe size is an eight, but I don’t want to act like I’m eight years old, my shoe size. I want to act my real age, which is 21!
Wanda说，“it’s worth a try. I’ve been trying to keep calm and maintain a professional atmosphere in the office, so I haven’t confronted him”-我没有说过对他不利的话。 她说，“But,I will if you think it will help. ” Dana说，“I do. And if that doesn’t work, tell him to act his age, not his shoe size!” “To act your age, and not your shoe size”是孩子会用的短语；意思是做事情像大人一样，不要像个孩子。 在美国，鞋子的尺码一般在1到12或15之间。 因此，你的鞋码，就算是成年人，也不会太大。 我的鞋码是8，但是我不像个8岁的孩子一样。 我要表现出我的真实年龄，21！ 作者: tingroom 时间: 2011-11-23 14:38
a big bully 狂妄自大的人作者: xiaomeixin 时间: 2011-11-23 15:25
There are a lot of useful phrases we can learn from this article.I like it so much.Thank you.
