威爾斯美語新竹分校

使……稍等一下

Operator: Good morning. This is Vortix Investment. How can I help you?

接線生﹕早安，我們是沃蒂斯投資公司，有什麼要我效勞嗎？

Mr Smith: Good morning. I would like to speak to Mr Jones.

史密斯先生﹕早安，我想跟瓊斯先生談談。

Operator: We have two Mr Jones, John Jones, the Investment Adviser, and David Jones, the Facilities Manager.

接線生﹕我們有兩位瓊斯先生。一位是投資顧問約翰．瓊斯，另一位是公司設施經理大衛．瓊斯。

Mr Smith: Oh, I'd like to speak to the Investment Adviser, John Jones.

史密斯先生﹕啊，我想找的是投資顧問約翰．瓊斯。

Operator: Very good. I'll try to connect you.... Hello. I'm afraid Mr Jones is not at his desk, so I'll put you on hold and try to locate him for you.

接線生﹕好，待我把電話接駁給他……喂，瓊斯先生現在不在辦公桌前。請等一下，我設法找找他。

Mr Smith: Thank you. I hope it won't take too long, as it's a rather urgent matter.

史密斯先生﹕謝謝，希望不必等待太久，事情頗為緊急。

Operator: I'll do my best.

接線生﹕我會盡力而為。

電話接線生請來電者「稍待」，英文會用hold字﹕作動詞，可說to hold on或to hold the line；作名詞，則可說to put someone on hold，例如﹕(1) The caller was put on hold until the person in charge could speak to him（來電者須稍待，等候負責人有空和他說話）。(2) I'll connect you with Mr Kogawa. Please hold on / Please hold the line（我把你的電話接駁給小川先生，請等一下）。

「把你的電話接駁給某先生」，英文除了說to connect you with Mr So-and-so，還可以說to switch / tranfer your call to Mr So-and-so以及to put you through to Mr So-and-so。

又接線生說某人未能接聽電話，按不同情，會有不同說法。例如「他不在辦公室」，可說 (I am afraid) He is not in just now；「他出去了」，可說He is out now；「他去了吃午飯」，可說He is at lunch；「他正在打電話」，可說He is on another line / phone right now；「他今天休假」，可說He is off today；「他正在放長假」，可說He is on long leave；「他今天病了，沒上班」，可說He is off sick；「他正在開會」，則可說He is tied up in a meeting。Tie up本是「縛起來」的意思，例如﹕The burglars tied him up（入屋行竊者把他縛起來）。引伸其義，tie up也可以指「（工作等）纏身」，例如﹕The meeting tied me up all morning（我整個上午都要開會，沒有空閒）。

作者簡介﹕專研中英文，著有時事評論、英語學習、散文等書籍。

作者︰古德明