ESL Podcast 604 – Harming a Professional Reputation

Alex: Good morning. What’s with the gloom and doom¹?

Paige: Have you seen this morning’s newspaper?

Alex: No, I haven’t.

Paige: You’d better read this. It’s an article about our company.

Alex: Let me see that. This is outrageous²! How can anybody print such lies? We’re not on the verge³ of going under. How did they get a hold of so much misleading and outright⁴ wrong information?

Paige: What I’m irate⁵ about is what it says about you, as the owner. The article is full of innuendos⁶ about your background. It’s nothing short of character assassination⁷. We’ll sue the paper for defamation⁸ of character.

Alex: I’m not worried about my personal reputation. I’m more concerned about the company’s image. I’m going down to that paper and making them print a retraction⁹.

Paige: How’re you going to do that?

Alex: After I call the reporter a no-good mudslinger, I’ll give him the facts, the ones he neglected to include in this story.

Paige: Be careful what you say to him, especially in front of his coworkers. You don’t want him suing you for slander¹⁰!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

2 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

3 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

4 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

5 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

6 innuendos   

n.影射的话( innuendo的名词复数 )；讽刺的话；含沙射影；暗讽

参考例句：

• Miss Moneypenny:Some day, you will have to make good on your innuendos. 彭妮：有朝一日，你会报偿你的暗示。 来自互联网
• Don't spread gossip, rumor, innuendos, unkindness, malicious words or physical anger. 不要散布谣言、闲话。 来自互联网

7 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

8 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

9 retraction   

n.撤消；收回

参考例句：

• He demanded a full retraction of the allegations against him.他要求完全收回针对他的言论。
• The newspaper published a retraction of the erroneous report.那家报纸声明撤回那篇错误的报道。

10 slander   

n./v.诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。
• He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。