Larry下班后跟李华一起吃晚饭。今天我们要学两个常用语:hothead和even keel.

LH: Larry, 今天上班忙吗?

LL: Well, to be honest Li Hua, it was a bit stressful. One of our ad campaigns was not successful and my boss had a total meltdown. He is such a hothead.

LH: A hothead? 你是说老板性情急躁,动不动就发脾气吗?

LL: Yes, exactly, a hothead means someone who gets very angry very quickly. When something makes a hothead mad, you absolutely do not want to be around him.

LH: 没错,急脾气的人要是生气了,最好是离他们远点,否则一不小心就成了出气筒。

LL: That is exactly right, a hothead can really be dangerous sometimes, though often they’ll just throw a tantrum and be done with it.

LH: 他们倒是出气了,可旁边的人却要跟着倒霉。快说说,你们老板当时什么反应?

LL: Well, when he heard that the campaign was not successful, he blamed ME. He was such a hothead, he slammed down his coffee mug and broke it.

LH: 那咖啡还不洒得到处都是?

LL: It got all over his shirt. This got him even angrier.

LH: 太可怕了。我有个同学,就是典型的hothead。

LL: In what way, Li Hua?

LH: 比方说吧,前不久他的一篇作文,教授只给了C,他气得脸红脖子粗,竟然把课本一下子扔到地上。He is such a hothead.

LL: Wow, what did your professor do?

LH: 教授当时已经走了,可教室里还有很多人,大家都没想到他的脾气如此暴躁。对了,刚才说到一半,那你们老板是什么时候消的气呢?

LL: He didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He just stormed off to his office. Because he was such a hothead, no one dared to knock on his door.

LH: 可想而知,办公室里的气氛肯定一天都好不了。

LL: Well, the afternoon actually turned out alright.

LH: Oh? And why was that?

LL: Once he stormed off, the boss was out of everyone’s hair for the rest of the day. It was pretty relaxing from there on out.

******

LH: Larry, 广告没做好,你那些同事是不是也特别气馁?

LL: No one was happy, of course, but I would say that everybody managed to keep an even keel.

LH: An even what?

LL: Even keel. It means to stay calm or keep your cool, like a boat on calm water.

LH: 我明白了,even keel就是情绪稳定。老板发那么大的火,换成我,肯定没法保持even keel.

LL: I’ll admit I was pretty nervous when my boss became such a hothead, but I was able to maintain an even keel.

LH: 还好你没有过于激动,在这种情况下,是很容易说错话的。

LL: Exactly, I find that when I’m at work, the best policy is to always try to keep an even keel. That way I can speak clearly and be focused on what I have to do.

LH: 我觉得,你们老板真应该去上Anger Management控制情绪的课。

LL: That’s right. He was such a hothead.

LH: 你发现没有,身边有个脾气急躁的人,自己也容易受影响。

LL: That’s true, Li Hua, sometimes being around someone who is worked up can get you feeling pretty tense as well.

LH: 反过来说,周围人都保持镇静,发脾气的人也容易冷静下来。

LL: Yes. It was good that only my boss lost his cool and everyone else kept an even keel. It would have been a very stressful afternoon otherwise.

LH: 一点没错。

LL: What about you, Li Hua? When your classmate became such a hothead, were you able to keep an even keel?

LH: 我跟本没想到that guy was such a hot head. 吓得我赶快收拾东西开遛。不过说实话,作文得低分,是挺让人沮丧的。

LL: I thought you always did well on papers.

LH: 我上个月宏观经济学的作文就得了C+。

LL: You seem to have recovered from the shock though.

LH: Yes, now I am keeping a pretty even keel.

LL: That’s good. I don’t want to have to deal with a hothead.

今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是 hothead, 意思是脾气急躁的人。另一个是even keel, 意思是情绪平静。