西方人把金錢看得比較隱私，所以對“談錢”比較避諱。今天我們就來學習8個常用的不出現money的談“錢”習語。

1. Balance the books: to add up all the credits and debits of an account
結算、結賬

例：

Thomas is in charge of balancing the books at the end of each quarter for the business.
托馬斯負責公司每季度末的帳目清算。

2. Bring home the bacon: to earn money to support the family
賺錢謀生、養家糊口

例：

James does overtime so that he can bring home the bacon.
詹姆斯經常加班賺錢養家。

3. Go Dutch: splitting (sharing) the bill equally
AA制、平分賬單

例：

Matthew and Hazel always go dutch when they eat out.
馬修和黑茲爾下館子吃飯的時候一向是AA制。

4. Gravy train: A job that pays a lot of money for very little effort
賺大錢的清閑差事、美差、肥缺

例：

Ian earns a fortune for three hours’ work a day. He’s really on the gravy train!
伊恩每天只用工作三小時，薪水卻很高，他真是得了一份美差！

5. Nest egg: Money that has been saved up over a period of time
儲蓄金、籌備的積蓄

例：

Over the years Leo has been very disciplined and saved every month. He now has a big nest egg on which he can retire.
利奧這些年來一直很自律，每個月都存錢。現在他有很大一筆積蓄，都可以退休了。

6. Cook the books: dishonest accounting
做假賬

例：

The financial world has seen many businesses that have cooked the books to make their businesses attractive to potential investors.
在金融界，許多公司為了使自己對潛在的投資者具有吸引力而做假賬。

7. Golden handshake: A large sum of money that a company gives to an employee when he or she leaves (normally the top executives)

豐厚的解雇金、退職金

例：

As CEO, Ross was given a golden handshake when he agreed to leave the company.
作為CEO，羅斯同意離開公司的時候得到了豐厚的離職金。

8. Cheapskate: A person who does not like to spend money on people (This is not used as a compliment)

小氣鬼、吝嗇鬼

例：

Thomas did not want to spend $5 on flowers for his mother. What a cheapskate!
托馬斯給媽媽買花連5美元都舍不得花，真是太摳門了！

（來源：English with a Twist 編輯：劉明）