商务英语交流中的几种新鲜的说法

1. add up to

合计达；总括起来意味着。此语本义指“合计为”，在日常生活中多用喻义，即“总括起来意味着”。在使用中应注意与“add up”一词的区别。“add up”本指“把 … 加起来”，其喻义为“言之有理，说得通”，如：The facts just don’t add up.(这些事情合计起来不对头。)

A： The cashier said he had locked the safe before he left. 出纳说他走时把保险柜锁上了。

B： But how did the money disappear from it if it was locked? 如果锁上了那钱怎么没的？

A： I just wonder... 我只是奇怪……

B： What do you think it all adds up to? 你想这一切意味着什么？

A： It adds up to the fact that we have been cheated. 意味着我们被骗了。

2. agree to differ

求同存异。指的是“各自保留不同意见(不再说服对方)”，意即“求同存异”。

A： What do you mean？ 你是什么意思？

B： Considering the major contracts they might give us, I overlooked the small loss. 考虑到他们可能与我们签订大宗合同，小小的损失我就忽略不计了。

A： So you agreed to differ？ 所以你就求同存异？

B： That’s right. 没错。

3. all told

合计；总之。此语原义为“总计，合计”，引申为“总之”。如：All told，it was a great credit to them.(总之，这给他们大大增了光。)

A： How many people attended today’s meeting？有多少人参加了今天的会议？

B： There were seventeen of us at the meeting, all told. 一共有十七个人。

A： Issue an announcement that if somebody doesn’t attend meeting next time, his or her bonus will be deducted. 发布一则通知，就说如果有人下一次不参加会议，他或她的奖金全扣。

4. all wet

搞错了。wet原义为“湿的”，引申为某人“没经验”。All wet多见于美国俚语，意为“大错特错”。

A： I made a reservation two days ago. My name is David Johnson. 我前天在这儿预订了房间，我叫戴维-约翰逊。

B： Reservation? What do you mean? 预订？什么意思？

A： I booked a single room here for tonight. 我订了一间今晚的单人房。

B： Oh! You’re all wet, actually. This is not a hotel. The hotel is the building across the road. 哦，你搞错了。这不是旅馆，旅馆是路对过的那座楼。