美国习惯用语 | squared away

下个月我要跟老公一起去加勒比海坐豪华游轮,我现在是翘首以待,终于可以暂时逃离华盛顿的严寒,奔往阳光和海水了。可是让人头疼的是,出发前有太多的事情需要处理,包括完成手头的项目,付好所有账单,租车开到佛罗里达去等等。这也让我想起一个习惯用语可以跟大家分享,那就是:square away。

大家都知道,square是正方形的意思。to square away意思是“处理安排妥当”。

  • He is trying to get all his legal troubles squared away as soon as possible.
    他努力尽快把所有法律上的麻烦搞定。

就好象刚才提到的,在启程前往佛罗里达渡假之前,there is a lot you need to square away. 我有很多事情需要处理。

在下面这个例子里,一个怕冷的人想换个工作,搬到温暖的地方去,可是走之前,他有很多事情需要处理。

  • My job interview went so well that I was offered the job in Arizona. I would love to move away from the long cold winter weather here in New York. But it's not that easy. To begin with, I'd have to get out of my contract with my company, and then sell my condo. It's only after I square those away that I can focus on relocating.
    我的求职面试非常成功,他们马上让我去亚利桑那上班。我也很想离开纽约这里没完没了的寒冷冬天,但要走又没那么容易。首先,我必需解除跟公司的合同,然后还得把我现在的公寓卖掉。只有等这些事情都处理妥当了,我才能专心准备搬家。

起码,这个人听起来好象没有拖家带口,来去一身轻,说搬就可以搬,否则,不说别的,就算只有个女朋友,也不是那么容易就能square away的。

square away这个习惯用语常用于被动语态。在接下来的例子中,一位老先生提出了如下建议。

  • Take my advice. Don't wait until you're old to organize your will. What if something tragic happened, such as a fatal accident? Without a legal document to explain your wishes after you die, your loved ones could suffer unnecessarily. Make sure your plans are squared away.
    听听我的建议吧。不要等老了再去定自己的遗嘱,万一遇到车祸之类的意外事件呢?如果没有法律文件说明你死后的愿望,你的亲人们就要受不必要的罪。所有最好是尽快把遗嘱处理好。

虽然谁都不愿意去想死的事,但老人这番话确实有道理。我一个同事的祖母去世时就没有留下遗嘱,结果一家人不得不走法律程度,跟法院打了很长时间的交道。

我侄子那天开着新车来看我。他前一段时间一直怕申请不到贷款。如今看他开着新车,不用问就知道,他一定是拿到了贷款。

  • He must have managed to square away the financing.