办公室英语口语：办公室里的人情世故

The question

I am getting increasingly weary about having to sign birthday and leaving cards for colleagues. Other people write funny things and add kisses but I can never think of anything original to say， so I usually write "good luck" or "happy birthday" and do not include kisses. I also never know how much money to put in the envelope. For a birthday for a colleague I don't like much， I only put in ￡1 but then feel mean. Are there any rules to make this odd process easier？

针对自身迫不得已在朋友的生日生日卡和辞职服务卡上写留言板留言，我愈来愈觉得厌倦。别人能写成有趣的东西，并送上一个香吻唇印。可是我几乎搞不懂一切原創的物品，因此 一般只写"祝好运气"或是"生日开心"，并且不另附"香吻".因为我从不了解该在信封袋里放要多少钱。如果是我不会太喜爱的朋友过生日，我只放1英镑，但感觉自身很抠门。有哪些标准能够使这类怪异的事儿越来越简易些？

LUCY'S ANSWER

Yes， there are rules， but you seem to know them already. It has taken me decades of pen-sucking over these wretched cards to work out that it is easy. Your colleagues may make this into a contest of lame witticisms， but you can simply opt out.

是的，的确有标准，但你好像早已知道。在写生日卡这一件令人厌恶的事上，我咬了几十年笔尖才下结论：其实不是很难。你的朋友很有可能将它视作一场写打马虎眼顺口溜的赛事，但你彻底能够挑选撤出。

For a birthday card， here is what you say： Happy Birthday. Then you sign your name. You are right about kisses， they are not called for. These little crosses have multiplied on office cards as part of a trend to emotional incontinence. Before long "Luv ya loadz" may be seen on office cards， so it is good to know that you and I， at least， are holding out.

针对一张生日生日卡，你能那么写"生日开心"，随后签上你的名字.。你对"香吻"的观点是对的，这并无必需。做为情绪失控时尚潮流*，这种"香吻"已经公司办公室信用卡上成倍增加。没多久，"Luv ya loadz"这类的俗文本很有可能出現在办公室信用卡上，因而，很高兴了解最少有我与你在遏制这事。

Leaving cards are a bit harder， but there is a formula here， too. I have a repertoire of two comments： "I'll miss you，" and "good luck". If I'm feeling extravagant， I use both.

辞职卡就有点儿难了，但也有一个公式计算。我准备了几句话："我会想念你的"和"祝好运气".假如那时候心思细腻，我也把几句都用上。

Money is hardest. However， there is no need to fret over your meanness， as it seems to be the norm. At my office the money goes into a big envelope， and so you can't usually see how much people are putting in， though if you look at the number of people who have signed the card and the amount collected it always seems low. I'm pretty sure I once saw a man slip in ￡5 and then remove rather more than that in change.

给要多少钱是较难的。可是，沒有必需给你的抠门而觉得苦恼，由于这好像是国际惯例。在我的公司办公室，钱都放进一个大信封袋，那样，你一般没法见到大家往里放了要多少钱，但假如你看一下信用卡上签字总数和集到的钱，便会发觉钱看起来一直太少。失望攒够了，曾经的我见到一个人放进了5英镑，随后从信封袋里取走了比那还多的零钱。

For birthdays I give nothing， as colleagues shouldn't expect to be showered with birthday gifts at work. With leaving collections it depends how much I like the person going. For someone I barely know and don't much like， I give a couple of quid. For someone I've worked with I give either ￡10 or ￡20， depending mainly on which notes are in my purse at the time.

对于生日，我什么也不给，由于朋友不应该寄希望于从所在单位获得很多生日*。辞职*则在于我对要走的这个人有多喜欢。一件事基本上不太了解、都不太爱的人，我也给两欧元。对在一起协作的人，我要不给10英镑、要不给20英镑，关键得看那时候我钱夹里有哪样颜值的纸币。

The most important rule is to stop worrying. There are so many collections at work that if you fret about them all you'll never get any work done.

最重要的标准是不要犯愁。所在单位里凑份子的事儿太多了，假如你需要犯愁，就哪些工作也做不来了。