今天Michael和李华下了班以后就去逛街。他们边走边聊。

M: Man, it was crazy at work today!

L: 真的？你们办公室今天发生什么事啦？

M: My friend George was late again, so the boss canned him!

L: 你的朋友George今天上班迟到，你们老板对他怎么了？对他大喊大叫吗？

M: No, it's much worse than that. The boss canned him. In other words, the boss fired him!

L: 什么？你是说George被解雇了。所以To be canned就是被解雇的意思啊？

M: Yeah, here, "canned" is the past form of "to can," which means "to put something in a can," or slang for "to throw something in the trash can".

L: 噢，这里canned就是把什么东西扔到垃圾桶。可这跟解雇人有什么关系呢？

M: Hehheh, when your boss "cans" you, he's getting rid of you. It is like he is throwing you in the trash can.

L: 原来这是一种比喻啊。不过这种说法听起来挺吓人的。Michael, 你觉得George应该被解雇 吗？

M: To tell the truth, George was not a very good employee. If I were the boss, I would have canned him too.

L： 哎呀，Michael，你这么说你的朋友未免太过份了吧！George又没做坏事，为什么要解雇他 啊？

M: Well, George was often very late to work. This month, he came in late a least four times. The boss warned George many times before he finally canned him.

L: 看来你一点也不同情George。要是我的朋友碰上这种倒霉事，我至少也会替他难过啊。

M: Hmph. When George was late, it caused me and the other employees a lot of trouble. No one is really sad that he was canned.

L: 也许你说得没错。如果每个人都象George这样老迟到，那会给其他人造成多大的麻烦啊。

M: Well, you are right and wrong. Because George was canned, we all have a lot more work to do right now.

L: 对，希望你们公司会赶快雇一个人来接替George的工作。

M: I'm sure they will.