日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

English 中文網(wǎng) 漫畫網(wǎng) 愛新聞iNews 翻譯論壇
中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目(頻道)
當(dāng)前位置: Language Tips > Zhang Xin

Out on a limb?

[ 2011-12-02 10:52]     字號 [] [] []  
免費訂閱30天China Daily雙語新聞手機報:移動用戶編輯短信CD至106580009009

Out on a limb?

Reader question:

Please explain this passage, “out on a limb” in particular:

No sitting Democratic senator has ever lost in New York State. And so I wouldn’t want to be out on a limb predicting it. I’m just saying that there’s a scenario where it could unfold.

My comments:

“I” think the current Democratic senator in New York State may lose his seat. But it’s just a hunch. “I” am not going to make a prediction as it would be too risky to make such a prediction. After all, no sitting Democratic senator has ever lost before. It may happen this time, but “I” am not saying it will happen.

In other words, to make a definite prediction would be like dangling oneself out on a limb – that would be too risky.

“Out on a limb” is a typical American idiom, and a great one. The limb, as you may have guessed out by now, is the far out branch of a tree. Why would anyone go up there? Well, because there’s still a hanging fruit there. This idiom, no doubt, was derived from observing fruit gatherers at work. Gathering apples for instance, you go first for the low-hanging fruit, which is an idiom in its own right meaning the ones that are hanging low and therefore within easy reach. When the low-hanging fruits are all plucked, you move further up and out on the outstretching branches (limbs). The far-reaching branches are, as you can imagine, long and thin and therefore are easy to break as you climb closer to the fruit.

To go out on such a limb portends, therefore, great danger.

Hence the meaning of the idiom: to go out on a limb is to take an extraordinary risk.

Will Rogers, the famous American actor of the silent movie era, actually said this: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is.”

That means Rogers was a willing risk taker. Just as Willie Sutton was a willing risk taker. Sutton was the American serial bank robber who was quoted as saying in court that he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” He was misquoted, actually, as he later said he never said that.

Anyways, willing or unwitting, it’s safe to remember that to “go out on limb” is to assume an obvious, dangerous risk. And since the far out branch is isolated, stood out and alone, the phrase also suggests that he who goes out on a limb is also isolated, alone, singular in his opinion. In other words, few people share his point of view.

Without further ado, here are media examples:

1. Rick Perry went out on a limb Thursday by refusing to back off his support as Texas governor for granting in-state tuition to some of the children of illegal immigrants, and painting critics of the law as heartless — remarks that landed him in the cross hairs of his GOP rivals.

The three-term Texas governor said he still supports the program “greatly” and that the Lone Star State needs “to be educating these children because otherwise they’ll “become a drag on society.”

“If you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they’ve been brought there by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” Mr. Perry said.

- Perry’s support of tuition for children of illegals puts him in GOP cross hairs, WashingtonTimes.com, September 23, 2011.

2. On Tuesday, White Sox general manager Ken Williams stood by his comments -- made during a Monday interview with Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- that the possibility of Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols earning $30 million per season would be bad for baseball.

“All I’m interested in is the game,” said Williams, sitting in his golf cart following White Sox workouts at Camelback Ranch. “We’re just caretakers of this game, all of us: you guys, me, the players. We’re caretakers of this game to the next generation. And then the next generation after that.”

Williams, who made clear that his comments were not in any way a shot at Pujols, went on to note past examples of small-market success stories such as the A’s and Reds of the 1970s, the Pirates of the late ’70s and the Royals in the ’80s to support his argument.

“These are all what? They are all small-market teams,” Williams said. “Teams that, at that time, had a fighting chance or greater than a fighting chance because of their expertise, because of their intellect -- how they put together teams.

“These are cities and these are teams that are responsible for the great popularity, to a large degree, that we now enjoy in the game. Well, these people, these cities and the people in these cities, baseball fans, should not be left out in the cold. That’s all I’m saying.

“It’s important that the people and the cities that I just mentioned and many more have just as much chance to hope and dream about their team winning a World Series as anybody else,” Williams said. “Right now, that’s not happening.”

This concern comes at an interesting time for Williams, whose White Sox enter 2011 with a franchise-record $125 million payroll. Although Williams is comfortable with the team assembled, he’s not comfortable with that lofty total of money spent.

“We’re out on a limb, but that’s our choice,” Williams said. “We made the choice in an effort to give our fans hope and give ourselves a chance to compete for a championship.

“If things don’t fall our way, if we don’t get the support, we’ll lose money. We’re going to lose money, but we’ve gone into this knowing how long can you do that, how much can you absorb? Well, I don't have the answers to those questions just yet. We made this decision, but it’s a risky proposition.”

- GM Williams stands by Pujols comments, MLB.com, February 22.

3. Some final thoughts on PR

1. Be authentic – Nobody likes being spun. Nobody likes talking to a robotron who spews out corporate BS again & again like a politician on a Sunday morning talk show avoiding the questions. Talk like a human. Give real answers. Show a sense of humor and humility. I notice, for example, that some CEO’s on Twitter never do anything but parrot their companies’ news. I find this so inauthentic. And then others will send out company info but occasionally show a human side. Always more appealing. That’s why keeping a personal blog is so great.

2. Have a point-of-view – Too many senior executives are risk averse when it comes to talking with the press so they tend to either be milquetoast in their responses or sit on the fence. That’s fine if you’re a senior exec at Apple – you’ll get inches anyways. But for you as a startup you need to have a point-of-view on topics. You need to be wiling to take risks and be out-on-a-limb with your views. I’m not talking about being aggressive against companies, disparaging people or saying inappropriate things to get covered. I see too many people who do that. But be willing to have an informed view about – GroupOn, Google doing social networking, whether apps is a better metaphor than browsers, whether Quora is really a transformational product – whatever! In doesn’t have to be these cliched topics – you just have to have & express opinions.

- How to Use PR Firms at Startups, AONetwork.com, February 1, 2011.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點,與本網(wǎng)立場無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學(xué)術(shù)問題,尊重他人,禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

我要看更多專欄文章

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: [email protected], or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

相關(guān)閱讀:

Fear of God?

Strange bedfellows?

Jumping on the bandwagon

Cut him down to size?

(作者張欣 中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 編輯陳丹妮)

 
中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津版權(quán)說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創(chuàng)作品,除與中國日報網(wǎng)簽署英語點津內(nèi)容授權(quán)協(xié)議的網(wǎng)站外,其他任何網(wǎng)站或單位未經(jīng)允許不得非法盜鏈、轉(zhuǎn)載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883631聯(lián)系;凡本網(wǎng)注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉(zhuǎn)載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉(zhuǎn)載,請與稿件來源方聯(lián)系,如產(chǎn)生任何問題與本網(wǎng)無關(guān);本網(wǎng)所發(fā)布的歌曲、電影片段,版權(quán)歸原作者所有,僅供學(xué)習(xí)與研究,如果侵權(quán),請?zhí)峁┌鏅?quán)證明,以便盡快刪除。
 

關(guān)注和訂閱

人氣排行

翻譯服務(wù)

中國日報網(wǎng)翻譯工作室

我們提供:媒體、文化、財經(jīng)法律等專業(yè)領(lǐng)域的中英互譯服務(wù)
電話:010-84883468
郵件:[email protected]
 
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久精品一级 | sm高h视频 | 国产精品久久久久久久四虎电影 | 奇米影视在线播放 | 很黄很色的小视频在线网站 | 日本道在线视频 | 91看片在线看| 中文字幕在线一区二区三区 | 日韩成人三级 | 色老头永久免费视频 | 国产一级免费视频 | 国产欧美日本 | 一本一本久久α久久精品66 | 在线观看亚洲一区二区三区 | 亚洲日韩精品AV无码富二代 | 国产精品视频免费观看 | 天堂资源地址在线 | 99精品国产免费久久国语 | 人人插人人草 | 97婷婷色| 国产超级乱淫视频播放 | 国产精品久久久久久亚洲调教 | 96精品专区国产在线观看高清 | 成人在线视频精品 | 97精品伊人久久久大香线蕉 | 日本理论片好看理论片 | 青娱乐精品视频在线观看 | 国产乱码在线观看 | 日韩三级一区 | 国产欧美日韩精品一区 | 97成人精品 | 美女福利视频国产免费观看 | 欧美系列在线播放 | 日日视频| 日本娇小xxxxhd| 成人精品| 夜夜爽网站 | 免费无码毛片一区二区A片 成人18网站 | 中文二区 | 国产毛片不卡 | 免费福利视频在线观看 |