all hands 所有人
all hands,字面意思是“所有的手”。不过,当老外真的这么说时,可不是表达这个意思哦!
其实这个短语有三层意思:
1 A call for all members of a ship's crew to come to the deck, usually in a time of crisis. (A "hand" is a member of a ship's crew.)
号召船上的所有船员到甲板上来,通常是在危机的时刻。(“一只手”一般指船上的一名工作人员。)
例如:
We're under attack! All hands on deck!
我们遭遇了袭击!所有船员到甲板上来!
2 By extension, everyone available to help with a problem, or a call for those people to help.
延伸意义:每个能帮忙解决问题的人,或者是号召大家帮忙。
例如:
Your grandmother arrives tomorrow and the house is still a mess—I need all hands to help me clean! All hands!
你祖母明天就到了,但是房间还是一团乱——我需要所有人来帮我打扫。所有人!
3 Describing something that requires the presence of all those involved. In this usage, the phrase is usually hyphenated.
指某件需要所有参与人员在场。在这种用法中,短语通常要用连字符连接起来。
例如:
We're having an all-hands meeting tomorrow to go over the new policies, so attendance is mandatory.
我们明天要开全员会议,谈论一下新的政策,所以全员必须到场。
总结一下,其实all hands这个短语的基本上表达的都是「所有人」的意思。这里的hands指代的就是「人」。