The orchestra was great, but apparently, everybody and his brother had a cell phone on him. We were just appalled.
那乐队不错,但好像每个听众都带手机来了。简直气坏了。

字里行间

everyone and his brother可想而知,一定是指“所有可以想到的人”,常有一种讽刺和不满的口吻。同样的意思,也说成everyone and his kid sister。

弦外之音

在眼下的中国,手机已不再是一种身份象征,而是一种普通的通讯工具了。不过,其使用之广泛,总有一些让人难以理解的地方。比如:有些人,明明坐在办公室里,却不用固定电话,而用手机。开会时,有人竟毫无顾忌地接听或拨打电话。即使是在最不方便的时候(电梯里,饭桌上或是厕所里),也还有人不畏艰难地接听电话。

相反,大部分美国人的手机,都是为“应急”而准备的。坐在办公室里,一般都很少开手机,也经常不带手机,不是搁在车里,便是留在包里,因而办公室里很少听到手机铃声。同事间,也不相互交换手机号码。除非“有急事”,否则,直接打手机找人,还是很唐突的(offensive)。

活学活用

1. Once he gets access to these tickets, you can be sure that he’ll pass them out to everyone and his kid sister.
一旦他拿到这些门票,可以肯定,他会送给每一个他所认识的人。

2. The little gadget was such a huge hit that everyone and his brother was talking about it.
那小玩意风靡一时。大街小巷,阿猫阿狗的都在谈论它。

更多关于职场英语的学习资源,欢迎关注“国才”微信公众号(ID:guocaiwx)。“国才”微信公众号关注国际人才、国家人才塑造与发展,培养能登上世界舞台,参与国际竞争与国际事务的时代之才。