dirty work

乍一看會以為是「很臟的工作」，

或者「不正經工作」

真實的情況是怎麼樣呢？

怎麼理解

dirty work

dirty 有「臟的」意思，但除此之外，dirty 作為形容詞還有更多含義。

01

dirty adj. （NOT HONEST）

unfair， dishonest， or unkind

不公平的；騙的；

例：

She played a dirty trick on me by telling me Diane was having a party when she wasn‘t.

她告訴我說黛安娜要開一個聚會，而實際上并沒有這回事。

That‘s a dirty lie！

那是可惡的謊言！

02

dirty adj. （NOT POLITE）

used to describe something that is connected with sex， in a way that many people think is offensive

黃色的，[ㄙㄜ.情]的

例：

a dirty magazine/movie/joke

[ㄙㄜ.情]雜志／電影／笑話

You have a really dirty mind！

你的想法太ㄙㄜ.情了！

而dirty work其實就是取上面1的意思，表示

1. 不愉快的，通常是乏味的任務

2. 任何錯誤或不誠實的交易

《柯林斯詞典》

例句：

《億萬》第三季

還有一個用到這個搭配的表達：

do sb‘s dirty work

to do something unpleasant or difficult for someone else who does not want to do it himself or herself

替…做臟活兒，為…做爛事兒

例：

Tell her yourself - I‘m not going to do your dirty work for you.

你自己去告訴她——我才不會替你干這種爛事兒。

《神盾局特工》第二季：

相似的表達：

do the dirty on sb

to behave unfairly towards someone， usually without their knowledge

給…背地里使壞，對…偷偷使壞

He can‘t forgive her for doing the dirty on him and having an affair with his best friend.

他無法原諒她瞞著自己跟他最要好的朋友有染。

give sb a dirty look

to look at someone in a disapproving way

怒視…，瞪…一眼

He gave me a really dirty look.

他惡狠狠地瞪了我一眼。

play dirty

to behave dishonestly， especially by cheating in a game

耍貓膩，耍花招

Don likes hockey， but he plays dirty.

德茲喜歡曲棍球但常玩貓膩。

好啦，今天的小知識點，你學會了嘛？