百度首页langke1216餐厅服务员说“Say when”,可不是问“什么时间”!
01say when怎么理解?
其实,大家不要把say when这个词想复杂了,事实上这种场景我们都曾经历过。
Say when" 通常用于饮食场景中,当服务员给你倒饮料、倒酒水或帮你撒佐料的时候,表示当需要停止加入某种食物或饮料时,告诉他人或服务员何时停止。这个习语也可以用于其他情境,表示告诉他人何时继续或停止某个动作
- The bartender poured the beer and said, "Say when," waiting for the customer to indicate when to stop.(酒吧调酒师倒啤酒时说道:"告诉我什么时候停",等待顾客示意何时停止。)
- As the waiter grated cheese onto her pasta, she had to remember to say when before he covered the entire dish.(当服务员在她的意大利面上撒奶酪时,她必须记得在他把整道菜覆盖之前说停。)
- During the meeting, the team leader asked for feedback on the new project plan and told the team members to "say when" if they had any concerns.(在会议期间,团队领导要求对新项目计划提出反馈,并告诉团队成员如果有任何疑虑就告诉他们。)
02how much错在哪里?
在歪果仁的文化中,用how引导的疑问句或多或少涉及隐私问题,最典型的就是how old,一定不能直接问,同样的how much也是如此,这么问太直接了,不符合社交礼仪(social etiquette),我们可以采用以下两种关于“结账”的正确用法:
01、Check, please.
说到“账单”,我们的脑海中会立刻想到bill和check这两个单词,没错这两个单词的确都是“账单”的意思,不过check主要在美国使用,bill是世界通用,所以在“美国的餐厅”,我们按照当地的习惯表达为Check, please,是最恰当的。
02、What's the bill?
我们都知道bill有“账单”的意思,而且bill不光指餐厅账单,还可以指各种生活账单,比如说“electricity bill 电费单”、“water bill 水费单”、“gas bill 煤气账单”等等……
所以,我们就可以对服务员说What's the bill;如果想说得更简单随意一些,可以这样说Bill, please,来问服务员“账单多少钱?”,都是合理的。
- After finishing their meal at the restaurant, John asked the waiter, "What's the bill?"(在餐厅用餐结束后,约翰问侍者:"账单是多少?")
- When they were done shopping for groceries, Sarah turned to her friend and said, "Let's go to the cashier and ask, 'What's the bill?'"(购物结束后,莎拉转身对朋友说:"我们去收银台问问,'账单是多少?'")
- At the end of the business meeting, the client looked at the consultant and inquired, "What's the bill for your services?"(在商务会议结束时,客户看着顾问问道:"你的服务费是多少?")
那么,how much这个表达就真的不能用了吗?也不能这么绝对,除了在比较正式的地方,平时小吃摊吃东西,菜市场买菜等等生活化的地方,还是可以说how much的,但要注意把句子说完整:
- How much is this shirt?(这件衬衫多少钱?)
- How much do you charge for a haircut?(理发多少钱?)
- How much sugar do we need for the recipe?(这个食谱需要多少糖?)
- How much does it cost to park here?(在这里停车要多少钱?)
- How much time do we have before the meeting starts?(会议开始前我们还有多少时间?)