The english we speak(BBC教學)第74期: throw the book at用規矩嚴懲
Helen: Hello, I'm Helen and I'm here today to co-present The English We Speak… and… the presenter is… Rosie. Where is she?
海倫：大家好，我是海倫，今天我在這裏合作播出我們所說的英語，主持人是羅西。她在哪？Rosie: Hi, I'm Rosie! Hi Helen! I'm sorry I'm late. The traffic, you know?
羅西：大家好，我是羅西！你好海倫！抱歉我遲到了。交通原因，你知道吧？Helen: Is it that bad? I live in North London, like you, and I've managed to be here on time. Maybe you should take a different route so you wouldn't be late anymore. Yesterday you were a bit late too. And the day before. I saw when you arrived in the middle of an important meeting. This is not good!
海倫：有那麼糟糕嗎？我住在北倫敦，和你一樣，但我就準時到這兒了。或許你應該採取不同的路線這樣你就不會再遲到了。昨天你也遲到了一會兒。還有前天。我看見你在很重要的會議中間到了。這不太好！
Rosie: I know. The boss was not pleased and he called me afterwards into his office. He says he will throw the book at me!
羅西：我知道。老闆不滿意，他後來把我叫到了他的辦公室。他說他要根據規定懲戒我！Helen: Oh! That's bad! That's very bad!
海倫：哦！這太糟糕了！這很糟糕！Rosie: Yes, it is! I'm very concerned now. I know that I should be more careful.
羅西：是的！我現在很擔心。我知道我本應該更小心點的。Helen: They are very big! Have you seen these massive encyclopaedias he keeps on the dark wooden shelves behind his desk? He's not into electronic books and neither into those so-called paperbacks. The man likes heavy leather cover traditional books and old collectors' antiques and furniture.
海倫：它們很大！你看到他桌子後面的深色木製書架上那些巨大的百科全書了嗎？他對電子的書不感興趣，還有那些平裝本。這個人喜歡沉重的皮革封面的傳統書和古董傢俱的收藏。Rosie: I know he likes antiques, that does not bother me. He's going to throw the book at me, Helen! He said it yesterday. He sounded very angry, very crossed and he said: "Rosie, it's happening too often now! You're always late for meetings, for programmes, you have been absent frequently and I'm going to throw the book at you!" That's what he said, Helen!
羅西：我知道他喜歡古董，這並沒有影響到我。他要用規矩來嚴懲我，海倫！他昨天說的。他聽起來很生氣，很憤怒，他說：“羅西，這現在發生的太頻繁了！你經常開會、錄節目遲到，你經常缺勤，我要用規矩來嚴懲你！”這是他說的，海倫！Helen: Oh, the books are heavy and you might get seriously hurt! He's a strong man; maybe he will throw the other things too! I don't like to see him angry! He is a good boss but he's got a temper. There's that Queen Victoria bust from the 19th century he loves. It's an antique too… if you get him angry enough he might even throw the bust on you!
海倫：哦，書很沉你可能會被嚴重砸傷的！他是個強壯的男人，或許他會扔其他的東西！我不喜歡看他生氣！他是個好的老闆但是他有脾氣。那有一個他喜歡19世紀的維多利亞女王半身像。那也是個古董。如果你讓他足夠生氣，他或許會把半身像砸向你！Rosie: Queen Victoria's bust!? What are you talking about? Helen, in English, to throw the book at somebody means to impose the maximum penalty on somebody who has been breaking the rules. The book is supposed to be the list of rules and regulations and the expression is used by people in a position of authority. Let's listen to some examples:
羅西：維多利亞女王半身像！？你在說什麼？海倫，在英語中，向某人扔書意思是在違反規則的某人身上施加最大的懲罰。書指的就是規則和制度的條目，這個短語被有權力的人們使用。讓我們來聽一些例子：Judge: Mr. Jones, I'm tired of seeing you in my courtroom! If you don't stop trying to steal cars I'm going to throw the book at you! You'll face a long prison sentence!
法官：瓊斯先生，我對你出現在法庭很厭煩了！如果你不停止偷車的話我就要用法律嚴懲你了！你會面臨長時間的監獄審判！Prisoner: I'm sorry, Judge. I think I've learnt my lesson now and will behave properly!
囚犯：對不起，法官。我覺得我現在已經長教訓了，不會再違法了！Teacher: I'm your teacher! Pay attention to what I'm saying! If you continue cheating in your exams I'm going to throw the book at you!
老師：我是你的老師！注意我說的話！如果你繼續在考試中作弊我就會用規則嚴懲你！Helen: Oh, I see! So he will not actually pick up that heavy Encyclopaedia Britannica and throw it in your direction and hurt you.
海倫：哦，我知道了！所以他不會真的拿起那個沉重的不列顛百科全書然後扔向你並傷害你。Rosie: Of course not! He probably will send me a formal letter and start disciplinary procedures with the human resources department and might end up sacking me!
羅西：當然不會！他或許會寄給我一封正式的信然後開始和人力資源部門紀律的程序，或許會最後解僱我！Helen: But at least you will not be hurt and the book will be preserved. I like that book, you know. When I was a child I used to enjoy looking up things in encyclopaedias – they're very interesting. This was before the internet was so accessible...
海倫：但是至少你不會受傷，書也會被保護好。我喜歡那本書，你知道的。當我還是孩子的時候我常常喜歡在百科全書裏查找，它們很有趣。那是在網絡這麼普及之前。Rosie: It doesn't matter what happens to his old books, Helen. This is serious. It might not hurt me but it will hurt my pocket! No job, no money!
羅西：他的舊書怎麼樣不重要，海倫。這是嚴重的。它或許不會傷害我但是會傷害我的口袋！沒有工作就沒有錢！Helen: Well, if you don't want him to sack you, then buy a watch and don't come late anymore! Follow the rules! And I don't want to finish the programme late. Nobody will throw the book at me! Goodbye!
海倫：如果你不想讓他解僱你，那麼買一塊手錶，不要再遲到了！遵循規則！我不想拖長節目。沒有人會用規則來嚴懲我！再見！Rosie: I will buy a new watch. Thank you for the advice. Bye!
羅西：我會買一塊新表。謝謝你的建議。再見！
