流行美語: make a killing ; break even

今天李華和Michael在討論做生意的事。 李華會學到兩個常用語：to make a killing和to break even.

M: Li Hua, what are you looking at on the Internet?

L: 噢，我想在網上買個做豆腐的機器。我和一個朋友想做了豆腐周末拿到農民集市上去賣。 你說有人會買嗎?

M: Of course people would buy your tofu! You'd make a killing!

L: Make a killing? 做豆腐和殺人有什麽關係?

M: No, I said you'd "make a killing". "To make a killing" means to earn a lot of money quickly through some kind of lucrative business.

L: 唷， to make a killing就是通過做生意賺了許多錢！ Michael, 這麽說，你認為我們這個生意能做得成，是嗎？我不知道美國人是不是愛吃豆腐呐。

M: Of course! A lot of people who don't eat meat, or who want to eat healthy foods eat tofu. Also, there are a lot of Chinese in this part of town. I'm sure you'll make a killing.

L: 對，好多美國人現在健康意識很強，不吃肉，愛吃豆製品。Michael, 你說得沒錯，這一帶中國人也很多，肯定有人會買新鮮豆腐的。Michael, 你能不能再給我舉一個例子呀？

M: Well, for instance, my uncle Roger made a killing in real estate. A few years ago, he bought a lot of land and then rich people started building houses in the area, and he made a lot of money.

L: 你叔叔幾年前買了好多地，然後有錢人在這些地上蓋房子，所以他就通過房地產生意賺了好多錢！他可真有遠見呐！

M: You can also say to make a killing in the stock market, in the insurance business or even in the tofu business!

L: 噢，to make a killing in the stock market就是通過買賣股票賺了好多錢，in the insurance business就是保險業。可是，我想靠賣豆腐大概不會make a killing --賺不了太多錢。

******

M: Don't worry about losing money, Li Hua. At the very least, you will break even.

L: 你說我至少會什麽？break even?

M: "To break even" means to neither lose nor gain money. If you do some business and are able to cover the costs of the business, but don't make a profit, you are breaking even.

L: 噢，那就是既不賺錢，也不虧本。做豆腐的機器不是太貴，所以，你說得對，要做到收支相抵， 也就是break even, 應該不會有問題。

M: Even if you don't earn a lot of money, if you break even you lose nothing, plus you get to enjoy lots of fresh tofu.

L: 唷，你倒想得好，不賺不賠沒什麽損失，還能吃好多新鮮豆腐！你不就是想不出錢白吃豆腐嘛！對不對？

M: What? I don't care that much about tofu. Stop being silly and use this phrase in a sentence.

L: 嗯...有了。我和我的朋友Regina上星期第一次去大西洋賭城玩。開始我們各自出了50 美元，可是不到一小時全輸光了。後來我們兩人各出10美元，合在一起，結果終於把100美元又賺了回來。所以，In the end, we broke even.

M: (Sarcastically) Wow. $50. Good thing you were able to break even, or you'd have to sleep in a cardboard box on the sidewalk.

L: Michael, 別小看人哪！輸了50美元，我就得睡在馬路上的紙箱裏呀？哎，不過，說實話，50美元是不少錢，我本來就不該去賭錢。

今天李華學到兩個常用語，一個是：to make a killing, 意思是做生意在短期內賺了很多錢。另一個是：to break even, 意思是做生意沒有虧本，也沒有賺錢。

(ZT)