"I can't do that, it's more than my job's worth". 早上去衙門口兒辦事,需要復(fù)印材料,大廳里的復(fù)印機(jī)壞了,得到的答復(fù)是“機(jī)器中午才能修好,辦公室內(nèi)的打印機(jī)不能給外來人員使用。”;大肚子孕婦去家門口的超市買米,管理人員說“我們規(guī)定三袋大米才負(fù)責(zé)送貨,手推車不能外借”......生活中碰上諸如此類在自己的工作崗位上嚴(yán)守工作職責(zé)和規(guī)章制度,死板得一點(diǎn)不愿幫助別人的人,你是不是很光火?
Few stereotypes are hated more than a jobsworth. Everyone has met one at one time or another. To many people's minds, the term conjurs images of small-minded, petty individuals, exercising their authority unreasonably.
What's a jobsworth? A jobsworth is a person who only does the work they're supposed to do and nothing else. A jobsworth 做事情完全是按部就班,一點(diǎn)兒周轉(zhuǎn)的余地都沒有。It often refers to people who have bureaucratic jobs and they never seem to want to help you! 這個詞經(jīng)常用來描繪那些在官僚政府機(jī)構(gòu)工作的人,很死板,很不愿意幫人。
"Jobsworth" 是個貶義用語,同時也是英國一個特有的詞匯。這個詞的起源是什么呢?"Jobsworth" 來自于兩個詞 job's worth——The person won't help you because they think that to be helpful is more than their job's worth,就是說這種人不愿意幫助別人,因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為幫人是超出了他們的工作范圍。這種人常常掛在嘴邊的就是這兩句:"Rules is rules" and, inevitably, "It's more than my job's worth." 。
為什么會有那么多的jobsworth?If you have a real fear of losing your job, why should you risk making an unnecessary mistake for someone who has not played by the rules? Following a clear rule is always going to be easier than exercising a difficult discretion. 按部就班工作,不犯錯就不會惹麻煩的想法讓人們做起事來顯得死板而麻木。
對話1
A: I waited in a queue at the post office for an hour earlier for my stamps and then the man behind the desk told me I had to stand in a different queue to buy an envelope.
B: No way, what a jobsworth!
對話 2
A: So Helen, have you brought the script to the studio?
B: No, that's not part of my job. I'm not responsible for the scripts.
A: So come on Helen, where are those scripts?
B: I told you, it's not my job to bring the scripts to the studio.
A: You really are a jobsworth, aren't you?
B: Only joking! I've got the scripts right here.
Don't be such a jobsworth! 少一些officious and inflexible的職員,少一些petty rule-following and excessive 的職能部門,多一點(diǎn)付出,多一絲關(guān)懷,大家一起在互幫互助的社會氛圍里享受和諧社會的溫暖。
說到這里,Jeremy Taylor的歌聲在耳際回蕩:Jobsworth, Jobsworth, Its more than me job's worth, I can keep you waiting for hours in the queue, And if you don't like it you know what you can do......