习语咖啡|黄油，抹or不抹，这是个问题

　　习语咖啡

　　IDIOMS

　　Hello大家好，我是Latte。欢迎来到「习语咖啡」。我会每天与大家相约在这里，一同提高英文。

　　[今日习语]

　　今天我们继续学习跟食物有关的习语「Food Idioms」。主角是「Butter 黄油」。

　　Butter someone up

　　[Meaning]

　　我们知道butter是黄油的意思，是英美人特别喜爱的食材，尤其是往吐司上抹黄油是他们习惯的吃法。butter someone up里butter用作动词，那么给某人抹黄油是什么意思呢？我们可以先看一段Will和好友Grace之间的对话：

　　Will: Hi Grace. Wow, you look really pretty today – have you had a haircut?Grace: Umm no.

　　Will: Oh so it must be the clothes you're wearing. You look really great!Grace: Thanks Will. That's really nice of you.

　　Will: I'm glad I caught you actually. I was hoping you could come to my house-warming party and help organize the whole thing.Grace: Hmmm. I should have known you were justbuttering me up. I always wear this dress!

　　以上对话中Will想让Grace帮忙策划安排乔迁派对，但是他并没有直接这样说，而是对Grace一顿猛夸，从头发到衣着。正当Grace认为他是真心夸自己的时候，Will才讲出了自己的真实要求。Grace恍然大悟，并说自己早该知道Will是在buttering her up。原来给某人「抹黄油」是指事先讨好某人，背后却另有企图。特别类似我们中文中讲的「拍马屁」。

　　[Examples]

　　Example#1:

　　Since the word came that John will be promoted to vice president, everybody in the office is busy trying to butter him upexcept Joe. Joe is an honest person, he just doesn't know how to say things that are not true.

　　自从消息传开说John将被提升为副总经理以来，办公室里每个人，除了Joe以外，都忙着拍他的马屁。Joe是个老实人，他就是不知道怎么说假话。

　　Example#2:

　　I've stopped answering my phone when Jane calls me. She always butters me up with lots of compliments and then asks for a big favor.

　　Jane打来电话我都不再接了。她总是说一堆好听的恭维话，然后要求帮她个大忙。

　　[Latte Believes]

　　We may fear to admit and express this hard truth of life: sometimes buttering someone up isvery essential and even compulsory to get the desirable result.

　　在我们的生活中，我们可能不得不承认一个苦涩的事实：如果想得到你想要的结果，有时讨好别人是很有必要的，甚至是别无选择。

　　As for whether it is right or not to butter someone up, Latte doesn't think there is an objective answer. People are not the same. Different people have different principles. You'll never know in what circumstances people butter someone up.

　　至于拍马屁这件事对不对，Latte认为没有一个客观的答案。每个人都是不同的，因此也有不同的做事准则。很多时候我们只是看到了别人拍马屁的表象，但不会清楚其身处什么样的情境之下。

　　Unfortunately, not all people are competent in smooth butter polishing. Buttering up may bring you success in the short periods of time, but in the long run, you need to work hard to earn the satisfaction as well as rewards.

　　不幸的是，并不是所有人都擅长「抹黄油」。短时间内也许它会给你带来成功，但长远来看，如果你想获得满足和回报，终归还是得靠努力。

　　Therefore, if we have to butter someone up, we need butter polished evenly after an excellent output of our knowledge and productive hardwork. After all, every good product takes an attractive and colourful packaging for its marketing, isn't it?

　　因此，如果你不得不讨好某人的时候，渊博和努力是必要的，只有这样，「黄油」才能被均匀地「涂抹」。毕竟，每一个好「产品」都需要一个足够吸引人的包装和营销策略，不是吗？

　　——Latte

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