392. An Untrustworthy Co-worker

📝 Translation

• Original Vicky: Did I imagine it or did you just give Gavin the cold shoulder? Gerard: You didn’t imagine it. I’m not too happy with him. Vicky: Why? What did he do? Gerard: He’s ==two-faced, that’s why.== Last week, he told me he was going to put in a good word for me with the manager for a promotion. Vicky: So that sounds like a nice thing to do. Gerard: I thought so, too. But as it turns out, I heard from Elanda that he was bad-mouthing me behind my back. Vicky: Are you sure? Gerard: I’m sure. He told Elanda that he thought ==I had gone pretty far== in the company for someone who had dropped out of college. That’s a backhanded compliment, if I’ve ever heard one. Vicky: That sounds pretty nasty. At least the manager wasn’t around. Gerard: She wasn’t, but who’s to say what he told her behind my back? Vicky: You know, the manager is pretty sharp and nothing gets by her. I’m sure she’ll put two and two together and realize that Gavin isn’t trustworthy. Gerard: I hope so. With friends like him, who needs enemies!

• Chinese Vicky：是我产生错觉了，还是你刚才真的让 Gavin 碰了一鼻子灰（冷落了他）？ Gerard：你没看错。我对他很不爽。 Vicky：为什么？他做了什么？ Gerard：他是个两面派，就因为这个。上周他跟我说他要在经理面前帮我美言几句，好让我升职。 Vicky：听起来是件好事啊。 Gerard：我也曾这么想。但事实证明，我从 Elanda 那儿听说他在背后说我坏话。 Vicky：你确定吗？ Gerard：我很确定。他告诉 Elanda，说他觉得我作为一个大学退学的人能在公司走得这么远，也挺不容易的。这真是我听过的最典型的明褒暗贬（虚情假意的赞扬）。 Vicky：听起来挺阴险的。好在当时经理不在。 Gerard：她是不在，但谁知道他在背后跟经理说了些什么？ Vicky：你知道的，经理很精明，什么都瞒不过她。我相信她会根据蛛丝马迹推断出真相，意识到 Gavin 不值得信任。 Gerard：希望如此吧。有这种朋友，谁还需要敌人呢！

• First 2026-03-18 12:19 V: Was it my imagine Did I imagine it or did you really just give Gavin a the cold shoulder? G: You didn’t imagine it. I’m ~~ not too happy with him. V: Why? What did he do? G: He’s a two-faced and it’s because it , that's why. Last week, he told to me he would was going to put in some words a good for me to with the manager for a promotion. V: So That sounds like a good nice thing to do. G: I used to think so thought so, too. But in fact as it turns out, I heard from Elanda that he was talking bad words bad-mouthing me behind me my back. V: Are you sure? G: Yes, I do I'm sure. He told Elanda that he thought that it was easy for me to go so far as a drop out of collage I had gone pretty far in the company for someone who had dropped out of college. That’s the of ==a backhanded compliment, if I've ever heard one==. V: That sounds pretty ~~ nasty. Luckly At least the manager wasn’t around there. G: She wasn’t there, but who knows 's to say what he said to the manager told her behind me my back? V: You know, the manager is pretty sharp and nothing gets by her. I’m sure that she will put two to and two together and realize that Gavin isn’t trustworthy. G: I Hope so. With these friends friends like him, who needs enemies!

  Full review: 392. An Untrustworthy Co-worker - Review Key Takeaways:

  • Using “sound like” correctly: That sounds like a nice thing.
  • Phrasal preposition choices: put in a good word with the manager (not to the manager).
  • Answering short questions: Reply to “Are you?” with “I am,” not “I do.”
  • New phrases to learn: two-faced, bad-mouth, a backhanded compliment.

• Second 2026-03-18 20:39 V: Did I imagine it or did you just give Gavin the cold shoulder? G: You didn’t imagine it. I don’t have a good feeling at I'm not too happy with him. V: Why? What did he do? G: He’s two-faced, ~~and ~~that’s why. Last week, he told me he was going to put in a good word for me with the manager for a promotion. V: That sounds like a nice thing to do. G: I thought so, too. But as it turned out, I heard from Elanda that he bad-mouthed was bad-mouthing me behind my back. V: Are you sure? G: I’m sure. He told Elanda that he thought it was not easy that I have I had gone so pretty far in the company as a for someone who had drop out dropped out of collage college. That is the * That's a backhanded compliment, if I’ve ever heard one. V: That sounds too pretty nasty. At least the manager wasn’t around at that time. G: She wasn’t there, but who’s to say what he said to the manager told her behind my back? V: You know, the manager is sharp and nothing gets by her. I’m sure she will put two and two together and realize that Gavin isn’t trustworthy. G: I hope so. With friends like him, who needs enemies!

  Full review: 392. An Untrustworthy Co-worker - Review Key Takeaways:

  • Use tell + person + thing, but say + thing + to + person.
  • Treat put in a good word for someone with ... as one fixed chunk.
  • Use pretty + adjective for mild emphasis; too usually means “more than acceptable.”
  • Use for someone who had ... to show the background before judging an achievement.
  • Learn the full chunk bad-mouth someone behind their back.

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