地道美語怎麼說 第7課:跟班打雜的

Donny 在北京學漢語，他的中國朋友要是遇到了不知道用美語怎麼說的詞，就會來請教他。今天是方方要問的：跟班打雜的。
Donny: Hey, Fang Fang, what's up? Do you like your new job?
FF: 啊，還行吧。就是初來乍到，專業一點都用不上，盡打雜了。
Donny: 打雜？What do you do everyday?
FF: 無非就是複印文件，取東西，接電話什麼的。哎？美國人怎麼形容這種工作啊？
Donny: Oh! Someone who does small and unimportant tasks at work.is called a go-for. g-o-f-o-r, go-for.
FF: 哦! 這麼說，go-for 就是公司裏的小弟小妹! go-for 的主要工作就是跑腿兒。那“跑腿”又怎麼說呢？
Donny: We say they "run errands for others." Run is spelled r-u-n, errands is spelled e-r-r-a-n-d-s. The word "errand" means a short trip that's taken to finish a necessary task.
FF: Errand 差事，複數加s, errands, 所以 run errands for others 就是替別人“跑腿”的意思。
Donny: That's right. I guess you don't really like running errands for your boss, right?
FF: 是啊，我想做有意義的工作，可老闆總讓我幹些沒用的活兒。
Donny: She gives you a lot of busy work, I'm assuming? The phrase "busy work" refers to tasks that keep people busy but are not very useful.
FF: 哦! 原來，busy work 就是花時間，但沒意義的工作。老闆給我 busy work，並不是因爲這些工作重要，而是因爲她不願意看我閒着!
Donny: That's right! Fangfang, a lot of people start as go-fors and work their way up. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Now let's see what you've learned today!
FF: 公司裏跑腿打雜的小弟小妹叫 go-for；
跑腿是 run errands for others；
消磨時間，但是沒意義的工作是 busy work.