Do the Needful

語言是思維和情感表達(dá)的工具，也是反映社會(huì)文化的鏡子，包羅萬象又細(xì)致入微。別看英語語法條條框框，真的把英語放到不同的語言文化環(huán)境中，她的適應(yīng)力是很強(qiáng)的。因此，不僅有paper tiger（“紙老虎”）這樣的中國(guó)英語（China English），也有印度英語“Do the needful”，你猜“do the needful”是什么意思呢？

When I first worked in India in the early 1990s, in a multinational bank, I received a letter from the friend of a friend of a friend. It requested a job for his daughter and ended with the phrase: “Please do the needful.”

I was struck. Since then, I’ve seen this phrase used umpteen times—and each time I realize afresh its simplicity, practicality, comprehensiveness and wide applicability.1.從那時(shí)起，我無數(shù)次地看到這個(gè)短語——每一次我都重新體會(huì)到這一表達(dá)的簡(jiǎn)潔、實(shí)用與全面，以及其應(yīng)用范圍的廣泛性。applicability: 適用性，適應(yīng)性，下文出現(xiàn)的applicable為形容詞，意思是“ 可用的，合適的”。

Therefore I feel it is my duty—nay, my privilege—to present it to the rest of the English-speaking world.2. nay: 否，不；privilege: 特權(quán)，特別待遇；present: 展示，呈現(xiàn)。

“Do the needful” means “do whatever the heck3. the heck:〈口〉究竟，到底（用于加強(qiáng)疑問語氣）。it takes to get this thing done.” It is comprehensive4. comprehensive: 內(nèi)容廣泛的，豐富的。. It implies leaving no stone unturned5. leave no stone unturned: 千方百計(jì)，不遺余力。in trying to accomplish the goal. And it is most effective when written at the end of a letter—or, these days, an e-mail or instant message—because the recipient has no chance to protest.6. instant message: 即時(shí)訊息；recipient: 接受者。

The phrase is a throwback to India’s Colonial days.7. throwback: 返古者，復(fù)古現(xiàn)象；colonial:殖民的，殖民地的。I don’t know that the British still use it, but it’s definitely8. definitely: 肯定地，一定地。part of Indian-English today.

There are, of course, many other phrases that fall into this category9. category: 種類，分類。.For example, the man who wrote to me could well also have written the following: “For bunking classes and spending all her time at the mess,my daughter was on the verge of being expelled from college.10. 因?yàn)樘诱n，整天惹事生非，我的女兒曾經(jīng)差點(diǎn)被學(xué)院開除。bunk:〈口〉逃課；mess: 混亂，麻煩；expel: 驅(qū)逐，開除。However,she was a topper and passed out last year.11. topper: 名列前茅者；pass out: 〈美〉畢業(yè)。But now that her rich uncle has expired, I am out-of-station and her mother has shifted to Mumbai, she can no longer afford to watch films as a time-pass until we find her a boy.12. 但是現(xiàn)在她富有的叔叔已經(jīng)去世，我也離開要職，她的媽媽移居孟買，因此她無法支付看電影作為消遣的花費(fèi)，除非我為她找到一個(gè)男朋友。expire:〈文〉死去。Therefore she needs this job at your bank.”

But even in the midst of all that, “Please do the needful” would stand out13. stand out: 引人注目，突出。.This phrase is applicable in almost any situation.

When your home phone line is dead for the third time this month, you can phone (using your mobile) your friend in the state phone company and say,“Please do the needful.”

When you are desperately looking for nursery-school admission for your three-year old, you can approach your neighbour whose cousin runs a school and say, “Please do the needful.”14. desperately: 絕望地，拼命地；nursery school: 幼兒園；admission:加入許可，入學(xué)許可；approach: 找（某人）商談，與（某人）聯(lián)系。

If you need a driver’s license but can’t drive, you can contact that in fluential public servant you impressed at a cocktail party last month and say,“Please do the needful.”15. public servant: 公職人員； impress:（使）留下深刻印象；cocktail party:雞尾酒會(huì)。

This phrase is not just useful in an Indian context16. context: 情景，語境。, but internationally as well.

Want to have a nice weekend? Tell your husband to do the needful. Want to go to private college but have no private funds17. funds: 資金，現(xiàn)金。? Tell your parents to do the needful. Want your kid to get straight As18. straight A: 學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)?nèi)珒?yōu)。? Just tell him to do the needful.Want to lose weight? Then you do the needful.

The nice thing is that you, as the user of the phrase, don’t actually have to know what “the needful” is; leave that to the recipient. In some cases, where dubious means or shady people are incorporated, you might not want to know.19. dubious: 不確定的，靠不住的；shady:秘密的，靠不住的；incorporate: 包含，列入。Instead, you are magnanimously trusting in the recipient’s intelligence and other resources, and giving him the latitude to solve the problem in whatever manner he thinks most effective.20. 相反，你會(huì)大度地信任聽話人的悟性和其他資源，給他足夠的自由，使他以自己認(rèn)為最有效的方式來解決問題。magnanimously: 慷慨地，有氣度地；latitude: 自主行事的自由，選擇的余地。

This phrase may well have inspired Nike’s slogan “Just Do It.” But while Nike seems to be saying “do whatever you want without thinking too much about it,” “Do the needful” is focused and deliberate: “Do what is necessary to get the job done.”21. focused: 專注的，專心的； deliberate:沉著謹(jǐn)慎的，不慌不忙的。

And imagine how it could have shortened innumerable Do-It-Yourself manuals, not to mention surgical procedure door-stoppers.22. 想象一下這個(gè)詞很可能會(huì)把數(shù)量繁多的DIY系列手冊(cè)的內(nèi)容大大縮短，更不用說那些關(guān)于外科手術(shù)流程的入門教程了。

The power of this phrase is definitely unique.