入乡随俗要从称呼做起

与同事相处，称呼是必不可少的。有的公司喜欢毕恭毕敬地加上头衔，有的公司可能比较随意地直呼其名，还有的公司会更亲切地用昵称……无论用哪种方式，关键是你得“入企随俗”！

Palmer: How's everything going, Tom? I know you've been pretty swamped lately.
Palmer: Tom，一切都顺利吗？我知道你近来非常忙。

Tom: Everything's going well, Mr. Palmer. Except for one thing.
Tom: 一切顺利，Palmer先生，除了一件事……

Palmer: Oh? What is it?
Palmer: 噢？是什么事？

Tom: This copier. I really think we need to buy a new one. It's been breaking down about twice a week.
Tom: 是这台复印机。我认为我们需要买一台新的。因为差不多每个星期它都会坏两次。

Palmer: Is that so? That must really make things difficult. I'll have Dennis take care of it right away.
Palmer: 是吗？做起事来一定很麻烦吧！我马上叫丹尼斯来处理。

Tom: Thank you, Mr. Palmer.
Tom: 谢谢你，Palmer先生。

Palmer: By the way, there's another change I want to make, if it's okay with you.
Palmer: 顺便提一下，假若你同意的话，我另外有一件事要你改一改。

Tom: What's that, Mr. Palmer?
Tom: 什么事，Palmer先生？

Palmer: That's it – “Mr. Palmer.” I'd feel much more comfortable if you'd call me Don. Everyone else does.
Palmer: 那就是Mr. Palmer。假如你能叫我Don的话，我会觉得比较舒服，其他的人都这么叫我。

Tom: Oh…certainly, Mr….uh, Don. I guess I'm still not used to calling my superiors by their first name. In our country, we sometimes work with people for months before we even learn their first name.
Tom: 哦，当然，Palmer先……不对，Don。我还是有点不习惯对上司直呼其名。在我国，即使在一起工作了很长一段时间，我们甚至还不知道他们的名字叫什么。

Palmer: Well, this is NY. Here, we can go for months without learning a person's last name.
Palmer: 可这儿是纽约呀。我们有时在一起很久，却不知道对方的姓氏。

*对话中出现了一个单词swamped。to be swamped 的意思是 to have too much work to do，陷入大量工作。swamp一般是指“沼泽地”，而如果你说 swamped with work，那就表示工作太多，好像陷进了沼泽地一样，让你喘不过气。