Helen: Hello, welcome to Real English from BBC Learning¹ English. I'm Helen.

Oliver: 嗨，我是Oliver。

Helen: Today we’re looking at words and phrases that you might not find in your dictionary.

Oliver: 地道英语和大家一起学习现代英式英语中经常出现的流行词汇和实用表达。那Helen,今天给我们带来的新词是什么呢？

Helen: Today we are going to concentrate on the phrase – the big cheese.

Oliver: That's interesting, the big cheese. Cheese 是干酪, 就我自己来讲，我非常不喜欢 cheese 的味道，更不在意大大块的奶酪了。

Helen: Good to know that you are not a fan of cheese. I love it. Here the phrase 'big cheese' means something quite different. It actually refers to people in business.

Oliver: 是和生意人有关的？那究竟什么样的人会被叫做大奶酪呢？

Helen: To be the big cheese of a company, you are at the very top of the company, you are very important and you have the power to make things happen in the company.

Oliver: I see, 就像董事级的人物，非常有权力的商场人物。

Helen: That's right, big bosses sometimes are called 'the big cheese'.

Oliver: 让我们听一个例子。

Insert

A: Please make sure you come early tomorrow.

B: Why?

A: Because JP is going to be here tomorrow.

B: Who is JP?

A: Oh, you know, John Parkins, he's the big cheese from head office.

Oliver: Helen, 用这个短语的时候有什么需要注意的地方吗？

Helen: Well, it's an informal phrase. And best not to say it directly to your big boss.

Oliver: 这是个不太正式的用法，不要当着你的老板的面用，也不要直接叫他 – the big cheese.

Helen: Definitely² don't say to your boss, "Hello, how are you today, big cheese?". You might get fired for that.

Oliver: 好了，我们今天学到的是 the big cheese,意思就是公司内部非常重要或有实权的人物，这是个非正式的表达。

Helen: You've been listening to Real English from BBC Learning English. See you next time.

Oliver: 我们下次节目再会。