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美国习惯用语 - explain away
我记得一个月前，我们办公室来了一位新同事。但是最近一直没看见她。问了其他同事才知道，她被炒鱿鱼了! 原来是，她工作拖拉，而且还推辞说是因为自己患有维他命缺乏症。公司最终还是决定开除她。这也让我想到一句习惯用语，那就是: explain away.
Explain是解释的意思，explain away就是搪塞，辩解的意思。上面的例子里，我的同事显然试图用缺少维他命来为她的工作效率低下做辩解，in the end, that excuse couldn't explain away her inefficiency at work. 最终，她没法再为自己的低效率辩解。下面例子里，我们的职业顾问要给我们一些工作中的建议，让我们来听听看：
Are you having trouble finding employment because of gaps in your resume? Rather than explaining away why you were laid off or took time off, consider being honest. Let employers know why you lost your job or needed to stop working to raise a family or tend to a sick relative. Often a good reason will help you get hired again.
这段话是说：你是否也曾因为简历里有断层而没被雇佣呢？与其极力辩解自己为什么会被开除或者有段时间没有工作，不如如实告诉雇主到底发生了什么。告诉雇主你为什么丢了饭碗，或者必须停止工作来照顾孩子，或是照看生病的亲人。真实的原因一般都能帮助你再找到下一份工作。
我觉得，大家一般都是害怕雇主不能理解他们的境遇，迫不得已，才编出各种故事来掩饰事实。与此相同的，如果你觉得工作太难或者有什么不懂的地方，不如诚实地告诉你的老板，rather than explaining away why you didn't finish the work, you should just go ahead and let your boss know what you don't understand.
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Explain away解释，搪塞 。一般来说，父母最爱的都是自己的孩子，会对他们百般呵护。但是下面例子里的这位母亲却不是这样，让我们来听听看:
The daycare worker asked the mom how her child had gotten such a terrible bruise. She said he'd fallen out of bed. But that didn't explain away some of the other marks found on his body. When investigators determined he'd been beaten by his mother, she stopped trying to invent reasons for her son's injuries.
这段话是说: 幼儿园的工作人员问这位母亲为什么她的孩子身上有一块特别严重的淤青。她说，这是孩子从床上掉下来摔的。但这并没有解释清楚孩子身上的其他伤痕。调查人员最后得出结论，孩子是被妈妈打的，她这才停止为自己孩子的伤痕寻找借口。
据说全世界每天有数百万孩子受到父母或者监护人的殴打或者虐待。所以如果你听到了什么或者怀疑什么，千万要站出来质问。Be suspicious when someone's trying to explain away a cause of concern, you may be saving a life! 对一些试图辩解的人特别小心，你可能将挽救一条生命!