英语习语趣谈【41】最后一句话 The last word & Make someone tick

本栏目由李福兵原创编写,Eyre绘图。

作为领导,他们讲话总是在别人讲完之后进行。一来可以借鉴别人的意见,二来也是一种总结。所以在英文中the last word就变为了一个片语,意思是“最后一句话,决定性的话,决定性的因素,决定性的定论等”。

 Your interest is very important on choosing careers, but not the last word. Most of the time, you must consider your abilities and skills. 
 (译文:在选择职业时,兴趣很重要,但不是决定性的因素。许多时候,你必须考虑你的能力和技能。)

这个片语现在使用非常广泛,有时也写作the final word. The idiom refers to some power or ingredients which is to decide whether or how to do something, sometimes which is crucial. For another example:

    I don’t appreciate people who always have to have the last word on everything.
   (译文:我不欣赏总是在每件事上都必须下定论的人。)

当然作为领导他们还必须善于激励员工努力工作(make someone tick),为企业创造更大的价值。对了,这里片语make someone tick的意思就是“激励某人去做某事”。如:

When you consider possible careers, you should see what makes you tick to choose it. I mean thinking about your motivation is important too.
(译文:当你在选择可能的职业时,你应该明白是什么激励你选择它。我的意思是思考一下你的动机也是很重要的。)

Tick意思是“划勾号”,从字面意义上来看,make someone tick的意思是“对某人做的事情划勾号”,这就包含有“肯定其工作、从而起到激励作用”的意思。The idiom, to make someone tick, means to prove what a person have done is correct, therefore to encourage him or her to continue. For example:

Her first success made her tick to work even harder.
(译文:她的首次成功鼓舞她更加努力工作。)

结束语:我们的“地道美语表达”每一讲在文末都会有一个结论性的话语(the last word),这样大家才能进一步使新学知识得到巩固。同时,我们还力求精简,既不耗费大家大多时间,又富有知识性趣味性,也才能激励(make them tick to do something)大家继续学习下去。

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