“恢復正常”

今天上午同事們都在伏案工作的時候，忽然感覺到明顯的地面晃動，很多人爭相下樓，議論紛紛。過了一會發現沒事之后，大家也紛紛回到辦公桌前，重新拿起手中的工作。這件小事讓我想到一個習慣用語，那就是：Business as usual。

Business as usual常用來形容事情經過了異常之后恢復正常狀態，可以翻譯成“一切照舊，虛驚一場”。例如：People resumed work after a small fire incident, it was business as usual.（大家在著火小插曲之后繼續工作，辦公室恢復正常。）。這個習慣用語還有別的意思，我們一起來看一下：

例句-1：Imagine preparing breakfast for six kids. Then getting them washed and dressed, packing their lunches and getting them off to school. That might seem like a huge challenge. But for my wife and me, it’s BUSINESS AS USUAL. It’s part of our everyday routine.

想像一下：給六個孩子準備早餐，然后給他們洗臉穿衣服，裝飯盒，再把他們統統送到學校去。這看起來是一項巨大的挑戰。但是對我妻子和我來說，這是家常便飯，是我們每天要做的工作。

例句-2：Normally, my tiny town is a quiet place. But when a movie director chose it as the site for his upcoming picture, it became incredibly busy. Film stars and production crews flooded Main Street. The local restaurants served overflow crowds, shops saw increased sales, and news reporters came from all around seeking interviews. For three weeks, it was anything but BUSINESS AS USUAL.

平常，我住的小鎮特別安靜。但是當一名電影導演選中這里拍攝之后，這里就變得忙碌無比。電影明星和制作團隊擠滿了城里的主路。飯館里的人目不暇接，商店營業額直線上升，新聞記者也都來到這里尋找采訪機會。三個星期以來，這里什么都有，就是沒有了往日的寧靜。

在這兒business as usual意為“一如往常”。