礼节美语 192 Power Struggle 2

David跟Sandra聊天，说起自己以前有个同事，特别喜欢name-drop. David说，

D: We would be in a meeting and she would say. "Yesterday I was chatting with Tom." She meant Tom Solomon...our CEO.

S: Basically she was trying to impress people by using the CEO's name...but who knows if she really talked to him?

D: You don't know...and name-dropping is a really bad habit. It gives everyone else negative feelings about you. If you have a good idea, just speak up. You don't need to use someone else as a cover.

David 举例说，他们开着开着会，那个同事就会突然说，我昨天跟 Tom 聊天，大家都知道，Tom 是公司首席执行官CEO。David说这样做其实是个坏习惯，会让别人对你有负面看法。如果你有什么好主意，just speak up. 直截了当说出来就好了，you don't need to use someone else as a cover. 不用打着别人的旗号。

S: Yeah... Tim does that too sometimes. But the worst thing he does is try to push me to the sidelines. 

D: What do you mean?

S: When we have meetings sometimes people bring up my accomplishments and Tim always has to jump in and say something like, "Yes, but that was last year. We need fresh thinking this year." Why can't he just be nice?

Sandra说，她对Tim最反感的地方是，he tried to push me to the sidelines. sidelines is spelled s-i-d-e-l-i-n-e-s, sidelines 边线，to push someone to the sidelines 就是排挤某人的意思。另外一种说法是 stay on the sidelines 站在边线上，意思是不积极参与。Sandra举例说，比如开会时，只要一有人提到 Sandra 以前的工作成绩，Tim 就会马上说，那都是去年的事了，我们需要新思维 fresh thinking. 以此削弱 Sandra 的影响和份量。

D: Well like you said earlier, he might feel threatened by you. He sees you as a rising star and he's afraid you'll shine brighter than he'll. Some people don't know how to react in situations like that.

S: I don't hate Tim. He'not totally bad; in fact he's pretty clever sometimes. I just hate all the office power struggles!

D: Unfortunately every workplace has its wars for power. That's how the game is played.

David 觉得，Tim可能真是觉得Sandra对自己构成威胁。他怕你会 shine brighter than he'll 比他更耀眼，这里也可以用 outshine, He's afraid you'll outshine him. Sandra 说，其实她不恨 Tim, 她是不喜欢办公室里的权力之争，all the office power struggles. 然而，所有工作场所都难免有这种争权夺利，勾心斗角，按照 David 的话说，That's how the game is played. 如果遇到这种争权夺利的情况，有什么好的处理办法吗？我们下次继续听。