Hold on. 等等
用於請人停止做某事或要人稍等一下。在電話中則是「請稍後」的意思。
Hold on. What are you trying to say?
等等。你想說什麼？
Hold on. Are you telling me that Pablo is not from Canada?
等等。你是說巴布羅不是加拿大人？
還可以這麼說
- Wait a moment. 等一等。
- Wait a second. 等一下。
- Wait a minute. 等等。
- Hold up (there). 停。
hold up也有「搶劫」的意思，這個口語起源自搶犯拿槍抵著受害者準備搶劫時，會要求他們把手舉高(hold your hand up)，所以引申有搶劫的意思。順便一提，如果在國外聽到Freeze! This is a holdup!或是Freeze! Stick'em up!就是不幸遇到搶劫了，這時候千萬不要輕舉妄動，先停下手邊的動作才是上策。 - Hang on (there). 等一等 A: If you just sign at the bottom, we’ll be all set.
您在底下簽個名，就都準備妥當了。
B: Wait.Hang on. Give me a chance to read this before I sign it.
等等。簽名前給我個機會把這看一下。
舉一反三
A: Is Terry there? 泰瑞在嗎？
B: Hold on. 稍等
A. 打電話找人時，可以這麼說
- I’m trying to get a hold of Terry.
- Hi, Terry?
- May I speak with Terry?
- Is Terry in?
- I’d like to speak to Terry.
B. 要對方稍等還可以這麼說
- Just one minute.
- Hang on a minute.
- I’ll get him.
- He’ll be right with you.
- Let me check.
要找的人不在或不方便接聽時，可以這麼說
- He’s not in right now. (他現在不在)
- He’s out. (他出去了。)
- He can’t come to the phone. (他不能接電話。)
- He’s not here. (他不在這兒。)
- He’s not available. (他沒空。)
接聽電話時可以這麼說
- This is Terry.
- Speaking.
- You got him.
- You’re speaking to him.
- You’ve reached me.
- This is he.