習語咖啡|黃油，抹or不抹，這是個問題

　　習語咖啡

　　IDIOMS

　　Hello大家好，我是Latte。歡迎來到「習語咖啡」。我會每天與大家相約在這裏，一同提高英文。

　　[今日習語]

　　今天我們繼續學習跟食物有關的習語「Food Idioms」。主角是「Butter 黃油」。

　　Butter someone up

　　[Meaning]

　　我們知道butter是黃油的意思，是英美人特別喜愛的食材，尤其是往吐司上抹黃油是他們習慣的喫法。butter someone up裏butter用作動詞，那麼給某人抹黃油是什麼意思呢？我們可以先看一段Will和好友Grace之間的對話：

　　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!

　　以上對話中Will想讓Grace幫忙策劃安排喬遷派對，但是他並沒有直接這樣說，而是對Grace一頓猛誇，從頭髮到衣着。正當Grace認爲他是真心誇自己的時候，Will纔講出了自己的真實要求。Grace恍然大悟，並說自己早該知道Will是在buttering her up。原來給某人「抹黃油」是指事先討好某人，背後卻另有企圖。特別類似我們中文中講的「拍馬屁」。

　　[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.

　　自從消息傳開說John將被提升爲副總經理以來，辦公室裏每個人，除了Joe以外，都忙着拍他的馬屁。Joe是個老實人，他就是不知道怎麼說假話。

　　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打來電話我都不再接了。她總是說一堆好聽的恭維話，然後要求幫她個大忙。

　　[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.

　　在我們的生活中，我們可能不得不承認一個苦澀的事實：如果想得到你想要的結果，有時討好別人是很有必要的，甚至是別無選擇。

　　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.

　　至於拍馬屁這件事對不對，Latte認爲沒有一個客觀的答案。每個人都是不同的，因此也有不同的做事準則。很多時候我們只是看到了別人拍馬屁的表象，但不會清楚其身處什麼樣的情境之下。

　　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，並不是所有人都擅長「抹黃油」。短時間內也許它會給你帶來成功，但長遠來看，如果你想獲得滿足和回報，終歸還是得靠努力。

　　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，如果你不得不討好某人的時候，淵博和努力是必要的，只有這樣，「黃油」才能被均勻地「塗抹」。畢竟，每一個好「產品」都需要一個足夠吸引人的包裝和營銷策略，不是嗎？

　　——Latte

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