2011年11月18日 星期五

讀孫子兵法學英文/必殺技

電 影《功夫》裡豬籠城寨遭斧頭幫欺凌,不得安寧(put a damper on their peace);居民還擊,個個身手不凡:賣力氣的苦力強是12路譚腿高手;麵店老闆油炸鬼擅長五郎八卦棍;裁縫店裁縫是洪家鐵線拳傳人;包租公與包租婆是 神鵰俠侶-男的是太極拳高手,女的竟會「獅子吼」!三兩下打得歹人狗吃屎(bite the dust),歹徒這才知道在太歲頭上動土(beard the lion in his den )。
武林高手喋血一生(to fight like Kilkenny cats),最終選擇隱姓埋名,無非取其「從眾」(all cats are gray in the dark),金盆洗手之意。但也有人故意藏鋒,像古龍小說《風雲第一刀》中的荊無命,左手劍法讓他江湖成名,足以力擋強敵(keep his enemy at bay);但其右手劍其實更勝一籌,一旦必殺技(game changer)出手,對手定然死亡,也因而無人知曉此一秘密。
孫子說:「角之而知有餘不足之處。」亦即較量之後,雙方便可掂出彼此斤兩;但身懷撒手金間,要不要讓對手知道?
中國人的觀念傾向守密,因為可以穩操勝算(bet our bottom dollar);但西方賽局理論則認為:擁有足以嚇阻對方蠢動的核子武器,卻不讓對方知道,這種想法只能自我壯膽(be whistling in the dark),事實上沒有任何戰略意義。
道理很簡單:當敵人果真動用核武來襲,即使判斷錯誤,損害絕對不堪設想;損害已經造成,再祭出對方不知道的秘密武器,也為時已晚。讓對方根本不敢出手,就要讓他知道代價慘重。亦即擁有撒手金間,就要公諸於世,才能收嚇阻效果。
例:"The invading gangsters are about to put a damper on the peace in the neighborhood."「歹徒囂張橫行,小鎮不得安寧。」"All the Axe gangsters bit the dust when the inhabitants hit back."「居民反擊,斧頭幫潰不成軍。」
"Attacking these Kung-fu masters in the small village is like bearding the lion in his den."「攻擊這些化身市井小民的功夫大師,等於太歲頭上動土。」
"People say, 'All cats are gray in the dark,' the difference between them and the ordinary people counted with these Kung-fu masters."「功夫大師在意他們和市井小民之間(外表上)的差別,因為他們就希望自己不要鶴立雞群。」
"To win the zero-sum game, they need to fight like Kilkenny cats."「戰況激烈,雙方拚得你死我活。」"For Jin Wu-ming, fighting with a sword in his left hand is a way of keeping his enemy at bay."「荊無命左手劍使得虎虎生風,力拒群雄。」
"No one knows he can handle sword with his right hand dexterously. If he goes ahead by surprise it will be a game changing moment."「無人知曉他右手使劍如此威猛;所以他一旦出手,擋者披靡。」
"We would bet our bottom dollar that these Kung-fu masters under the disguise of ordinary people will overwhelm the gangsters."「我們可以確信:這些隱身於野的功夫大師必然打敗歹徒。」
"The Russians seem pretty sure they would win the war with the Doomsday Machine, but they might just be whistling in the dark."「俄國人以為擁有別人不知道的秘密武器,就能贏得戰爭,殊不知這只是自我壯膽而已。」
(作者任教陸軍官校)

【2011/11/18 經濟日報】

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Power By udn.com

2011年11月10日 星期四

Workplace Deals, Sealed With a Kiss?

A line has formed to bid farewell to a longtime colleague who has taken a new job. At last, it's your turn to say goodbye. You:
a) Shake hands
b) Hug
c) Bro-hug
d) Fist bump
e) Chest bump
f) High five
g) Single-cheek kiss
h) Double-cheek kiss
i) Air kiss, with a loud "Mwah!" noise
The correct answer: Unclear.
The "right" response depends on the shifting workplace culture, shaped by increasing international diversity, age differences and workers' casual communications styles. As a result of the confusion, many people hesitate, or can be paralyzed with uncertainty over what's appropriate.
A colleague's going-away party and you stick out your hand to wish him well, but he leans in for a hug and you bump somewhere in between. Another colleague air kisses him on the cheek. Sue Shellenbarger on Lunch Break looks at awkward work manners.
Ashley M. Harris worked for a San Antonio, Texas, public-relations agency that was very "huggy," she says. "You would walk into a meeting and give your client a kiss on the cheek and a hug, saying, 'How good to see you,' while holding onto their arm," she says. "It took a lot for me personally to get used to the hugging."
But at a university where she later worked, she threw her arms around a former professor of hers, and "he literally did a step back" and tensed, she says. "I backed up and said, 'Omigosh, I'm so sorry.' " She stuck thereafter to greeting him with a friendly, two-handed handshake, denoting warmth, she says.
"There's never been a more confusing time in the workplace" to figure out the rules of contact, says executive recruiter Jeff Kaye.

Mr. Kaye, co-chief executive of Kaye/Bassman International in Dallas, allows a "split-second reaction time" to see what the other person does before making contact to avoid offending anyone.
The traditional handshake is still the rule in finance, banking and law—unless you're celebrating somebody's promotion or new job, when a hug or back pat is OK. Kisses and hugs are welcomed by entertainers and restaurateurs, and many twentysomething guys favor bro-hugs.

Discuss on the Juggle

  • Have you ever faced questions about how to greet someone at work or during a business trip? What are your personal rules about greeting clients or business contacts?
The four generations currently in the work world often differ on what is suitable physical contact. Gen-Y workers often see greetings as a chance to establish a distinct identity, says Bruce Tulgan, an author and consultant on generational issues in New Haven, Conn. "They aspire to be a little different," he says, with a "customized self-presentation and style. Uniqueness is very important to them," he says.
Silicon Valley has so many international workers that almost any greeting goes—"cheek-kissing, bowing, the chin nod, and the eyebrow raise with a big smile," says Carolyn Hughes, a vice president at SimplyHired.com, a Mountain View, Calif., job-search site. Extend the traditional American handshake to a woman from parts of Eastern Europe or Asia, though, and you might offend.


Ms. Hughes, 43, tailors her greetings to how she actually feels about someone. "I'm a hugger," she says. "If I'm seeing you for the second time and I like you, the odds are high that you're going to get a big hug from me." She even hugged a job applicant recently when he arrived for his second interview with her. The embrace caught the recruit by surprise, she says, but it also sparked a more candid conversation. "He proceeded to be incredibly open with me. It was like we were old friends."
The worst gaffes happen when people try to be someone they're not. Los Angeles event planner Amy Malin, 34, was preparing to give a marketing presentation to a dozen managers several years ago when an executive in his 50s walked in and greeted her with a chest-bump. "He was trying to show me, 'I'm young and I'm hip and I'm cool,' " says Ms. Malin, president of Trueheart Events. "But he was old enough to be my father. It was really awkward."
Noting her astonishment, the executive tried to explain that he wanted to do "what all the cool kids are doing," says Ms. Malin. "I was laughing pretty hard and so was everyone else in the room, and I said, 'Not in my circle.' " She adds that the executive was a little embarrassed, but was able to laugh.
Complicating the rules of engagement are office celebrations and parties. In his job as an analyst for a New York City financial-services company, Ismail Humet has been taught in sexual-harassment courses that physical "contact is very minimal."
But when an employee leaves for a new job, co-workers hug each other freely. "Although you have all these boundaries and rules, suddenly in that moment they seem to disappear," he says.
Parties bring co-workers' personal feelings and friendships to the fore, turning protocol upside down.
When a previous employer threw a going-away party for Phyllis Hartman after she took a new job, she was surprised when dozens of her co-workers lined up to hug her.
As a human-resource executive at the employer, a professional association, she had to be "pretty tough" with some of the employees, enforcing disciplinary rules, says Ms. Hartman, owner of PGHR Consulting in Pittsburgh. Nevertheless, there were hugs all around. "I remember thinking, 'I didn't think that guy even liked me. Maybe he's just happy I'm leaving,' " she says.


from: 
 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204554204577024233574035816.html?mod=WSJ_GoogleNews

2011年11月4日 星期五

讀孫子兵法學英文/手段高明 take the cake

【經濟日報╱朱文章】

2011.11.04 03:01 am


手段高明 take the cake

100年前(1911),羅浮宮名畫「蒙娜麗莎」遭竊。兩年後,竊賊裴路加將名畫帶到國外叫賣,隨即落網。但這件震驚藝術界的大竊案,內情其實並不單純。

根據專書《蒙娜麗莎失竊記》記載:羅浮宮漆匠裴路加受某神秘「先生」指使,拿了「前金」(layaway plan),夥同內應順利作案。得手後裴路加守著名畫,癡癡等「先生」攜來豐厚的酬金(fast buck),心想鉅款到手,便可手頭闊綽(as rich as Croesus),雖然等待時間難熬,但內心卻不禁狂喜(as pleased as Punch)。

奇怪的是,「先生」要裴洛加好好保管名畫,卻從此杳無蹤影。原來,唆使他偷竊名畫的是個巨騙,名叫伐爾菲諾,他找了擅製偽畫的蕭得隆,已經摹繪六幅假畫,更找定願意在蒙娜麗莎忽然神秘流入市場時收購珍藏的買主。竊案爆發,每個買主篤信自己擁有「蒙娜麗莎」真跡,可見手段何其高明(take the cake)。

果然,這狸貓換太子(to change the baby prince for a leopard cat)高招,讓每位付出30萬美元的買主成了冤大頭(splurge on themselves),也就是說半年內共有180萬美元的進帳,這還是百年前的幣值(時價約5,000萬美元)!

伐爾菲諾一手搞定(lock, stock, and barrel)所有關節:他找漆匠當內應,實現「不知山林、險阻、沮澤之形者,不能行軍;不用嚮導,不能得地利」兵法精髓趁勢撈錢。

他料定買主和竊賊不敢張揚,得手後奢華(Life of Riley)過日,把裴路加完全蒙在鼓裡,僅僅給蠅頭小利(chicken feed),這也是孫子「施無法之賞,懸無政之令。犯三軍之眾,若使一人。犯之以事,勿告以言;犯之以害,勿告以利。投之亡地然後存,陷之死地然後生。夫眾陷於害,然後能為勝敗」上乘兵法表現。

例:"Vincenzo Peruggia agreed to steal Mona Lisa and got paid on the layaway plan offered by a mysterious gentleman."「裴路加收下神秘人物訂金,答應竊取蒙娜麗莎名畫。」

“He tried to make a fast buck from the art theft case.”「他希望從這個藝術品竊案中大撈一筆。」

"He would do anything to fulfill his childhood dream of being as rich as Croesus."「他從小立志賺大錢,也願誓死達成目標。」

"Peruggia felt as pleased as Punch while waiting the further instructions from his business associate."「裴路加等待進一步指示,心中卻無限暢快。」

"It's the con masters in this art theft case that really took the cake."「整個案子手段最高的是那些主謀份子。」

"These collectors would splurge on themselves and bought the stolen portrait."「這些闊佬花錢找樂子,買下這幅失竊的名畫。」

"Eduardo de Valfierno offers a grand strategy which covers operational management aspects lock, stock and barrel."「伐爾菲諾策獨自搞定整個案子,完全不假他人。」

“The con master gave the painter a little chicken feed while he himself lived the life of Riley forever.”「巨騙給漆匠一點零頭,自己卻過著富埒王侯的生活。」

(作者任教陸軍官校,本專欄每周五刊登)

【2011/11/04 經濟日報】

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