つかえる英会話Daily / Travel

Lesson 368 中級

Working our guts out

Paul is complaining to his wife Cathy about the situation at his office.

Lesson

Dialogダイアログ
Explanationsフレーズ解説
Translation日本語訳

Dialog

繰り返し聴いて英語の自然なリズムを身につけましょう。

Paul is complaining to his wife Cathy about the situation at his office.

C: Honey, you look exhausted. What are they doing to you at work?

P: We’re still short-staffed, and to make things worse, Jason’s
on extended sick leave as of this week, so our workloads have
increased even more.

C: Surely the management realise how understaffed you are? I mean,
how can they expect you all to get through the same amount of
work when you’re two people short?

P: The thing is they don’t see the problem because the rest of us
have managed to cope by working our guts out. Nobody takes
breaks anymore, and if you do take a lunch break, you feel like
you’re letting the team down.

C: You mean you don’t eat lunch?

P: We do ? just at our desks while we work. There’s so much work
to do that we even feel guilty stopping to chat to each other.

C: That’s outrageous! They can’t make you work all day without a
break! You guys have to get together and talk to your management.
If this situation goes on, you’re only going to get even more
stressed and run-down.

P: Yeah, you’re right. I think we’re going to have to speak up
about this. I don’t think I can take it much more.

Explanations

そのまま使える便利なフレーズを覚えましょう。

We're still short-staffed, and to make things worse, Jason's on extended sick leave as of this week

「まだ人手不足で、さらに悪いことに、ジェイソンは今週から長期病気休暇で」
“to make things worse" は、「その上悪いことには、さらに悪いことには」という意味のイディオム。"things" は、"matters" でもＯＫ。また、"worse still" で表現することもできる。
Ex. We missed the bus, and to make things worse, we didn't have enough money to buy new tickets.
（バスに乗り遅れて、更に悪いことに新しいチケットを買うお金がなかった。）

“sick leave" で、「病気休暇」の意味になる。休暇にはさまざまな種類があるので、いくつかあわせて覚えておくと便利でしょう。
「結婚休暇」“marriage leave"、「産休休暇」 “maternity leave"、「育児休暇」“child-care leave"、「有給休暇」“paid leave"、「介護休暇」“nursing leave"、「傷病休暇」“medical leave"、「忌引休暇」“bereavement leave".
Ex. The office manager is currently on maternity leave.
（業務マネジャーは現在産休休暇を取っています。）

if you do take a lunch break, you feel like you're letting the team down.

「お昼休みをとると、なんとなく仲間を裏切ってるような気になるの。」
“let 〜 down" には、いろいろな意味があるが、ここでは「裏切る、失望させる、がっかりする」などのニュアンスを含む。その他、「飛行機が下降する、力を抜く、髪をおろす」などもよく使われる表現です。
Ex. I didn't want to let my parents down so I worked hard to pass the exam.
（両親をがっかりさせたくなかったから試験を合格するために一生懸命勉強した。）

I think we're going to have to speak up about this.

「この事について、はっきり意見を述べなきゃね。」
“speak up" は、「思い切って／率直に意見を述べる、大声で／はっきり話す」という意味。"speak out" でも大丈夫です。
Ex. You should speak up and ask your employer for higher wages.
（あなたは雇い主に対して貸上げをはっきり主張すべきです。）