Special Terms in the World of Business

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
现在是美国之音慢速英语词汇掌故节目。

There are many special terms in the world of business.
商界有许多专门术语。

The following story is about a sweetheart deal which I made last week. I made the deal with a friend, and we both made a profit.
接下来的故事是关于我上周和朋友做的一笔私下交易，我们俩都赚了一笔。
sweetheart deal :私下交易。

I had started a small company several years ago. I worked hard to make it successful. It was a sign-making business. It was a small company, not a blue chip company. It was not known nationally for the quality of its signs. It did not make millions of dollars in profits. And it was private. It was not a public company with shares traded on the stock market.
几年前我开设了一家小公司。我努力经营谋求成功。这是一家广告牌制作公司。它是一家小公司并非什么蓝筹大企业。这家公司并未因为其制作的广告牌质量而享誉全国，也赚不到数百万美元的利润。这是一家私营公司，并非一家股票在股市交易的上市公司。
blue chip company:蓝筹股企业

Still, I worked hard building up my business. I did not work only a few hours each day -- no banker's hours for me. Instead I spent many hours each day, seven days a week, trying to grow the company. I never cut corners or tried to save on expenses. I made many cold calls. I called on possible buyers from a list of people I had never seen. Such calls were often hard sells. I had to be very firm.
不过，我努力壮大业务。我的工作并不轻松，一周7天都在努力壮大公司。我在经费方面从不刻意节省。每天都打很多推销电话进行硬性推销。
banker's hours:Banker是银行家。三十多年前银行开门营业的短，从早上十点到下午两、三点就结束了，银行家的上班每天四、五个小时，于是人们就开始流行用banker's hours说法来特指安逸舒适的工作了。

cut corners: 节省开支；cold calls: 推销电话；hard sells: 强行推销,硬性推销。

Sometimes I sold my signs at a loss. I did not make money on my product. When this happened, there were cut backs. I had to use fewer supplies and reduce the number of workers. But after several years, the company broke even. Profits were equal to expenses. And soon after, I began to gain ground. My signs were selling very quickly. They were selling like hotcakes.
有个阶段我亏本销售广告牌，这时只能降低成本。但数年之后，公司收支平衡了。不久之后，我开始发展壮大，我的产品开始畅销。
at a loss: 亏本； cut backs: 削减开支,降低成本；broke even: 收支平衡；gain ground:发展壮大,赢得一席之地。selling like hotcakes：卖得火热。

I was happy. The company was moving forward and making real progress. It was in the black, not in the red. The company was making money, not losing it.
我非常高兴，公司正稳步推进。账面出现盈余。
in the black: 赢余；in the red亏损，出现赤字。 财务报表上通常用黑色字体表示赢余,红色表示亏损。

My friend knew about my business. He is a leader in the sign-making industry – a real big gun, if you know what I mean. He offered to buy my company. My friend wanted to take it public. He wanted to sell shares in the company to the general public.
我的朋友听说了我的公司。他是广告牌制作行业的领军人物。他出价想收购我的公司并上市。
big gun：大人物；take it public：上市。

My friend believed it was best to strike while the iron is hot. He wanted to take action at the best time possible and not wait. He offered me a ball park estimate of the amount he would pay to buy my company. But I knew his uneducated guess was low. My company was worth much more. He asked his bean-counter to crunch the numbers. That is, he asked his accountant to take a close look at the finances of my company and decide how much it was worth. Then my friend increased his offer.
我的朋友认为最好趁热打铁。他就我的公司提出了一个大致报价。但我知道他的估算太低了，我的公司价值比他说的高多了。他便要求他的会计师核算并估价。随后我的朋友提高了报价。
to strike while the iron is hot：趁热打铁；ball park estimate ：大致估计。ball park是棒球场，美国的棒球场规格不一，说到棒球场规格时通常是大致估计，从而产生了这个习惯说法。

My friend's official offer was finally given to me in black and white. It was written on paper and more than I ever dreamed. I was finally able to get a break. I made a huge profit on my company, and my friend also got a bang for the buck. He got a successful business for the money he spent.
我朋友的最终报价终于黑纸白字的交到我手里。我最终时来运转，而我的朋友做的交易也物有所值。
in black and white：黑纸白字；get a break：交好运，时来运转；bang for the buck：物有所值。
This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.