例句-1:I've been waiting for over a year to get a liquor license for my restaurant, and this guy comes along and gets one in two months. I'm sure he must have paid the official under the table. How else could he have gotten one so fast?
虽说见不得人,但是很多生意都是通过under the table办成的。有趣的是,中国人说在饭桌上谈事,意思是酒足饭饱后就好说话了,但是西方人却说,under the table,在饭桌下面办事。
在一个高度廉洁、高度透明的体制中,公司为了得到政府的合约,应该通过公平竞争,而不需要私下里打通门路,行贿受贿:They should not have to compete under the table with kickbacks.
虽说under the table听上去在生意场上应该是由来已久了,但事实上,这个习惯用语最早出现于二十世纪二十年代,历史并不久远。当时,合法交易都是在桌面上完成的,所以,在桌子下面under the table进行的交易,就是指不光明磊落的。
在下面这个例子中,我们要看看美国一个最可能从under the table得到的收入来源。你能猜到吗?让我们一起听听看。
例句-2:I run a restaurant and I get a lot of young people asking me for part-time job as waiters, and they all want to be paid under the table, you know, cash. This way they can avoid paying taxes. It's easier for me because I don't have to put them in my books.
这也让我想起,很多墨西哥人为什么会愿意背井离乡到美国来打工,原因很简单,an American salary, even if below minimum wage and paid under the table, would be much higher than what they could earn at home. 在美国赚的工资,即使低于政府规定的最低工资,而且是私下里的现金交易,也要比他们在家乡赚到的多得多。