実践ビジネス英語 Thursday, December 6
1) Breakstone asks about Umemura's impression of his first time in a U.S. hospital, which Umemura says was good, but that the various procedures involved were completely different from those in a Japanese hospital. Collins recalls having terrible food when she was hospitalized, but Umemura says he had a choice of excellent dishes and that the hospital even offered specially made meals for an extra fee.
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Hospital Food, Airline Food (2)
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2) my heart goes out to you: I've always liked this expression: the way it uses the image of someone's heart literally moving toward another person. It means I sympathize with your pain, I feel for your struggle. This past summer, U.S. farmers struggled with a severe drought. You might say, "'My heart goes out to all the farmers' whose business has been threatened."
3) attack: Collins is using "attack" to mean the onset of a disease or symptoms, but it can also refer to being struck by certain feelings or desires. If I get an "attack" of the munchies, that means I'm struck by a desire to snack. Or you could say, "He always gets an 'attack' of nerves before a presentation."
4) find: In this case, "find" means have a certain opinion of something based on experience. Imagine a colleague has a meeting with a potential supplier. You could ask them later, "So how did you 'find' XYZ Auto Parts? Do you think we can do business with them?"
5) take someone's temperature: In addition to measuring someone's body heat, "take one's temperature" can also mean find out how someone feels about something, what they think. You could say, "I'll talk to our supervisor tomorrow. 'Take her temperature' about the possibility of getting new computers." In other words, learn whether that's something she would support.
6) less than appetizing: We use "less than" this way when we want to say, not at all. So the food was not at all appetizing, Collins means. Likewise, "I worked with someone recently who was 'less than modest.'" In other words, this person was not modest at all.
7) believe it or not: We use this when we want to say "This would be hard to believe but...," or "This would be surprising to you, but..." Umemura used it after his surprising statement, but it can also come before. Imagine someone asks you about a colleague who's usually late to work. You might respond, "'Believe it or not,' she's been very punctual lately."
8) made-to-order dish: Umemura uses "made-to-order" to mean food, clothes, other things that are made according to someone's personal specifications. It can also refer to things or people that are made or perfectly suited for a certain purpose or use. For example, "This is a perfect job for her, practically 'made-to-order.'"
9) Will wonders never cease.: This means that's amazing, I'm very surprised. If I learned to cook some day, my friends would probably say, "You? Learn to cook? 'Will wonders never cease.'" On the opposite side is the expression, "No wonder," which means something is not surprising. We often use it in cause-and-effect situations. Like, "She never double-checks her work? Well, 'no wonder' she makes so many mistakes."
