girl Friday 得力女助手
英国王妃凯特的“得力女助手”丽贝卡•迪肯要离职了,她为王室服务了十年,已经成为凯特王妃的密友和深受信任的顾问。今天三八节,咱们就来扒一扒“得力女助手”。
来看《每日邮报》的标题:
Kate loses her girl Friday as Duchess of Cambridge's private secretary leaves her post after 10 years
凯特王妃私人秘书离职 “得力女助手”为王室服务十年
Girl Friday就是指忠诚能干的得力女助手。先来看解释:
The term girl Friday is generally used to indicate a female administrative assistant who handles many organizational tasks. It can also be used to denote a woman who is a personal assistant and takes care of another individual’s private matters.
“得力女助手”通常指的是女性行政助理,负责处理很多组织性的任务;还可以用来指负责照料个人私事的私人秘书。
在《鲁滨逊漂流记》中,鲁滨逊曾在荒岛上救下一个野人,因为那天刚好是周五,就给他取名为“星期五”。“星期五”后来成为鲁滨逊在岛上的好搭档。之后,人们就用Girl Friday来形容得力的女助手。
The expression plays on man Friday, a name for a devoted male servant or assistant. The name Friday comes from Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, whose shipwrecked hero named the young native who became his faithful companion for the day of the week when he found him.
这个表达的原型是man Friday,指的是忠诚的男仆人或男助理。Friday这种说法来自于丹尼尔-笛福创作的《鲁滨逊漂流记》,鲁滨逊给他救下的野人取名为“星期五”,因为遇见他的那天正好是周五,后来“星期五”成为他忠实的伙伴。
“得力女助手”还可以用right-hand woman来形容,来看下面的报道:
Rebecca Deacon, 34, has been Kate's right-hand woman since being appointed in 2012, the year after the Cambridges married. 34岁的丽贝卡•迪肯自从2012年被任命后就成为凯特的得力女助手,当时凯特王妃结婚刚一年。
例句:
I'll have my girl Friday get the papers together.
我会让女助手把文件整理好。