加拿大办公室里同事骂了句“so-and-so”,我还以为他在背英语课文

午休时,办公室几个人在茶水间聊周末装修。
同事Mark一边倒咖啡,一边吐槽承包商:
“That so-and-so still hasn’t called me back.”
“那个so-and-so到现在还没给我回电话。”
我一听,脑子立刻开始翻译:
so是“如此”,and so是“如此这般”?
我还很认真地问:
“So… what exactly did he say?”
“所以……他到底说了什么?”
Mark愣了一下。
“What?”
“什么?”
我解释:
“You said ‘so-and-so’. I thought you were skipping part of the story.”
“你刚才说so-and-so,我以为你把中间的话省略掉了。”
旁边同事已经开始笑。
Mark这才反应过来:
“No, I mean that guy. I don’t even want to say his name.”
“不是,我说的是那个家伙。我连他名字都懒得提。”
我更懵了:
“So-and-so means a person?”
“so-and-so还能表示一个人?”
他说:
“Yeah. It can mean ‘某某人’. And sometimes, when you’re annoyed, it’s a polite way of saying ‘that idiot’ without actually saying it.”
“对,可以表示某某人。有时候你很烦一个人,又不想直接骂,就会这么说。”
这时另一位同事补了一刀:
“If Mark says ‘some so-and-so parked in my spot,’ he’s definitely not complimenting him.”
“如果Mark说‘某个so-and-so占了我的车位’,那肯定不是在夸他。”
我终于懂了。
原来北美人口中的so-and-so,有时只是“某某人”:
“Mr. So-and-so called you.”
“某某先生给你打电话了。”
但语气一变,也可能变成一种很克制的吐槽:
“That so-and-so took my parking spot again.”
“那个讨厌鬼又占我车位了。”
最尴尬的是,我以前看到so-and-so,一直以为它就是中文里的“如此这般”。
现在才发现,人家说的可能根本不是“这样那样”,而是在努力文明地骂人。
你们在加拿大办公室里还听过哪些“表面很正常,其实已经在吐槽”的英语?我很需要补课。









