lin ruby的部落格

「爆響口」 Let slip
Meaning: Accidentally tell something that you originally intend to keep secret.
Example: Debbie let it slip that the sales director has resigned.

「揹鑊」Take the rap
Meaning: To be punished for something which is not your fault.
Example: Joanne took the rap for her team-mates’mistakes in the company project.

「 篤背脊 」 Backbiting
Meaning: Unkind words said about someone who is not present
Example: I resign from this company because I find a lot of backbiting in our office.

「 食死貓 」 Being wrongly accused of
Meaning: You have not done something wrong, but other people claim or believe that you did
Example: John's secretary was wrongly accused of leaking his business plan to the company's competitor.

「 話晒事 」 Call the shots
Meaning: Being in a position telling others what to do
Example: Mr Lee is our manager and he calls the shots in our team.

「照肺 」 Chew out
Meaning: To tell someone angrily that they have done something wrong
Example: Peter was chewed out by the manager for not submitting his work on time.

「王馬褂」 Connections
Meaning: People who you know and have the power to help you. The Chinese term has a meaning of one’s relatives.
Example: Angus used his connections to get a promotion.

「燉冬菇」Demote
Meaning: Being given a lower rank or less important position than one already has
Example: Teresa was demoted because she was incapable of doing her job.

「符碌」Fluke
Meaning: It means something good that has happened as a result of chance rather than planning or skill.
Example: Angus is a lazy salesman. His good sales performance is something of a fluke.

「吊鹽水」 Get by
Meaning: To manage to survive or make ends meet
Example: It is hard for Philip to get by on this low salary.

「上位」 Get somewhere
Meaning: To make progress towards achieving something
Example: Peter has been working very hard over the years, and finally he is getting somewhere.

「跟大隊」 Go with the flow
Meaning: Follow what others are doing instead of control what happens yourself
Example: Raymond went with the flow and did not give any opinion in the meeting.

「吞 pop」 Goof off
Meaning: Waste time and not doing any work
Example: They goof off as the manager leaves for a meeting.

「收風」 Hear through the grapevine
Meaning: To hear news from someone who heard it from somewhere else
Example: I heard through the grapevine that Jeff is going to resign.

「潛水 」 Keep your head down
Meaning: To avoid trouble or drawing attention to yourself at a time of danger
Example: It is better to keep your head down when the boss is in a bad mood.

「擦鞋 」 Lick someone's boots
Meaning: To be extremely obedient to someone so as to get an advantage
Example: I will not lick my manager's boots in order to get pay rise.

「釣魚」 Nod off
Meaning: To fall asleep, especially not intentionally
Example: Carmen is nodding off at the meeting because she did not have enough sleep last night.

「大信封」 Pink slip
Meaning: A document given to an employee to terminate his/her employment
Example: The company is cutting the number of staff, and John is the unfortunate one in our team getting a pink slip .

「腰斬」Pull the plug
Meaning: To prevent an activity from continuing
Example: In preparing the project, colleagues faced lots of problems. So, the manager decided to pull the plug.

「新丁 」 Rookie
Meaning: Someone who is new to a job and does not have much experience
Example: Mary looks young and is considered a rookie . In fact, she has more than 10 years of working experience in the field.

「懶醒」 Smart arse (in US: smart ass)
Meaning: a person who likes to show off being cleverer than others in an annoying way
Example: I don't like that smart arse in the other department telling me how to do my job.

(ref: http://www.jobsdb.com/HK/EN/V6HTML/JobSeeker/Resources/english/idiom_of_the_week/idioms_c.htm)