Archive for November 21st, 2009

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 699

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Click to Watch Video Podcast

韩佳:快乐学汉语,

Learn Chinese the fun way.

谭嘉煦:轻松过周末!

And spend a relaxing weekend!

韩佳:大家好,我是快乐的韩佳!

Hello there! I am Merry Han Jia.

谭嘉煦:我是你们的新朋友

And I am your new friend,

谭嘉煦。

Tan Jiaxu.

今天就由我和韩佳一起来陪您

Today, Han Jia and I would like to

度过这个快乐的周末。

accompany you through a most enjoyable weekend.

谭嘉煦,28岁,来自美国。

28-year-old Tan Jiaxu is from the United States.

曾经在北京大学担任过翻译的工作。

At one time, he worked as a translator

for Peking University.

谭嘉煦爱好旅游、中文、音乐、读书。

Tan Jiaxu loves traveling, Chinese, music

and reading.

他还曾经参加过外国人

He once even participated in a Chinese artistic

中华才艺大赛,

talent contest for foreigners.

的确是多才多艺。

A very versatile young man indeed.

韩佳:哎,谭嘉煦,

Eh, Tan Jiaxu,

这周的节目你看了吗?

did you watch all the shows of our program

this past week?

谭嘉煦:我当然看了,

Sure, of course.

这周是把以前播过的精彩节目

We put together some of the excellent editions

集中起来播出,对吧?

from the past and rebroadcast them, right?

韩佳:没错,那你看完之后,

Exactly. What’s your impression

感觉怎么样啊?

after you watched them?

谭嘉煦:能一下子看到这么多

It’s of course really fun to watch

好看的节目,当然很开心了!

so many excellent shows in succession!

韩佳:我这儿有一位观众朋友

Here’s a member of our audience

跟你的感受是一样的。

who shares the same opinion with you.

住在美国洛杉矶的Jason

Jason, who lives in Los Angeles of America,

给我们来信说:

says in his letter:

“我很喜欢你们以前播出过的

“I really enjoyed some of the programs

一些节目,

you showed in the past.

现在想起来印象还是很深刻,

When I am thinking about them now,

they remain very impressive.

一直想再看一遍。

I really want to watch them again.

现在《快乐中国》推出了

Now that Happy China has launched

六周的节目集粹,

the Saturday select rerun series,

正好满足了我的这个愿望。

it would make my long-cherished wish come true.

真是太谢谢你们了。

I am really grateful to you for this.”

谭嘉煦:相信这也是很多

I’m sure many of our viewers

观众朋友的心声!

would feel the same.

哎,韩佳,我们这六周的周末版

Eh, Han Jia, does the new Saturday weekend series

是不是也会给大家带来

also include

一些新鲜的内容呢?

some new content?

韩佳:那当然了,

Of course, it does.

我们在周末版中新增加了

The new elements added to our new weekend editions

拍摄花絮,还有风光音乐欣赏。

include filming tidbits and musical travelogues,

可以让大家在美丽的风光中

intended to help our audience

度过一个充满欢笑的周末。

spend a laughter-filled weekend.

大牛:我总是看着这些小动物…

I always see these little creatures …

韩佳:离你而去是吧?

… parting from you?

大牛:没错儿,

Exactly.

我眼睁睁地看着它们离我而去,

I see them parting from me helplessly.

而且我拍好了,

I am done with the filming part.

我台词记住了…。

And I memorized all my lines.

韩佳:大牛,别伤心了,

Daniel, don’t be upset

虽然摩托车又来了。

though a motorbike is passing by again.

韩佳:这两个字不是用毛笔写的,

These two characters were not written

with a writing brush.

当时他没有找到毛笔,

Because he didn’t find any writing brush,

所以就用刷锅的刷子写的。

he had to use a pan scouring brush instead.

大牛:啊?

What?

那后来他用什么刷锅呀?

What would he use to scour his pans?

大牛:开个玩笑嘛,

I was just kidding.

这个…,对。

As for this … yeah.

大牛:其实啊,

In fact,

我根本就不怕什么火山

I am not afraid of volcanoes at all,

更何况…!

let alone …!

韩佳:哇!多美的湖光山色啊!

Wow, what a beautiful landscape!

多看几眼,感觉眼睛…。

I’d like to see some more, but my eyes feel …

大牛:我爬过万里长城,

I’ve climbed the Great Wall

我练过中国的功夫,

and practiced Chinese kungfu.

我已经是百分之一百的好汉,

I’m already a one-hundred-percent real man.

Let’s go。

Let’s go.

韩佳:小心哪。

Be careful.

谭嘉煦:花絮还挺多呀,

There were lots of anecdotal tidbits indeed.

我还没看够呢。

I haven’t seen enough of them.

韩佳:那当然了,你想啊,

That’s for sure. Just imagine,

我们拍了六百多期节目,

we’ve shot over 600 episodes,

拍摄花絮当然多啦!

there were certainly a lot of anecdotal tidbits.

不过没关系,

But that doesn’t matter.

下周我们会有更精彩的内容,

There’ll be more of wonderful content

next week.

到时候接着看。

You can go on watching then.

谭嘉煦:那接下来咱们就看看

Now let’s take a look at

快乐成语的flash。

the Happy Idiom flash.

韩佳:别着急嘛,

Be patient.

你看这景色多好啊!

Look how beautiful the scenery is.

先看看美景吧!

Let’s look at the beautiful sight first.

谭嘉煦:你还挺从容的嘛!

You look quite composed and calm.

韩佳:哎,一不小心,

Oh, due to your carelessness,

把我们今天的快乐成语

you accidentally revealed

都说出来了!

today’s Happy Idiom!

谭嘉煦:哦?是什么成语啊?

Oh, what idiom?

韩佳:从容不迫。

“Congrong bupo”.

从前有个人特别喜欢喝酒,

Once upon a time, there was a man

who extremely enjoyed drinking wine.

一闻到酒香就像丢了魂儿似的。

He became enthralled whenever he smelled

the aroma of wine.

一次他在朋友家喝酒,

Once he is drinking at his friend’s place.

忽然天空乌云密布,

Suddenly the sky turns overcast.

眼看就要下雨了。

It’s likely to rain soon.

仆人催他道:

His servant urges him:

“老爷,您看这天就要下雨了,

“Master, look it’s going to rain.

咱们还是早点儿回家吧。”

Let’s go home now.”

这人听后说:

The man replies:

“这天既然要下雨了,怎能回去?”

“Since it’s going to rain, why should we go back?”

说着又斟满一杯酒。

With this, he fills up another cup of wine.

“来,干一杯。”

“Come on, cheers!”

果然没过多一会儿,

Soon,

雨就下了起来,

it really starts to rain.

仆人看这雨势不小,

Seeing the downpour,

就不由得担心起来,

the servant becomes worried.

说道:“老爷,雨下得这么大,

He says: “Master, it’s raining so heavily.

不知什么时候才能停啊?

I wonder when it’ll stop.

刚才早点儿走就好了!”

How nice it would be if we left just now!”

这人听了很不高兴,

Displeased to hear this, the man says:

就说:“你这个家伙,

“You scoundrel!

我今天就是来喝酒的,

I came here to drink.

这雨它爱怎么下就怎么下?

Let it rain no matter how hard it does.

跟我没关系。”

It doesn’t matter to me.”

仆人被训了一顿,不敢再说话,

After the reprimand, the servant does not

dare to speak again.

闪到了一边。

He steps back aside.

过了一会儿 雨停了,

After a while, the rain stops.

仆人很高兴,

The servant brightens up.

急忙走过来报信:

He hastily comes in to report:

“老爷,老爷,雨停了,

“Master, Master, the rain has stopped.

这下可以走了。”

We can leave now.”

这人却说:“哦,既然雨都停了,

But the man says: “Oh, since the rain has stopped,

还急什么?

what should we worry about now?

正好接着喝。”

I can just go on drinking!”

啊,哈哈哈,

“Ah, ha, ha, ha!

老兄,你喝起酒来,

Pal, when you drink,

那可真是处变不惊,

nothing could really disturb you!

从容不迫啊!

‘Congrong bupo’ indeed!”

从容不迫

“Bupo” in “congrong bupo”

不迫是不紧张不慌乱的意思。

means “composed and unperturbed”.

这则成语的意思是

This idiom is used to describe someone

形容人非常镇定

who acts in a calm

不慌不忙的样子。

and unperturbed manner.

谭嘉煦:原来从容不迫这个成语

Oh, that’s where the phrase “congrong bupo”

是这么来的?

comes from.

韩佳:对呀,这回知道了吧?

Yeah. Now understand?

谭嘉煦:嗯。

Yes, I do.

韩佳:那接下来这个环节

Coming up next,

还是跟成语有关。那就是

it’s still relevant to idioms. It is …

合:成语猜猜看。

Idiom Guess.

谭嘉煦:万里海疆快乐行,

The name, Happy Journey across China,

光听这个名字就够让人期待的了。

sounds good, making people expectant

of its early launch.

韩佳:是啊,

Yeah.

虽然具体的内容我们还是要

I have to keep you in suspense

给您留点儿小悬念。

about its content,

不过没有关系,

but it doesn’t matter.

相信改版之后的节目

I’m sure the revamped version

一定会更加精彩,

will be more exciting.

不会让您失望的。

It won’t let you down.

谭嘉煦:一起耐心等待吧。

Let’s be waiting patiently.

韩佳:好了,不知不觉

Okay. We barely notice

又到了跟您说再见的时候了。

it’s time again to say goodbye to our audience.

谭嘉煦:快乐的时光

A happy moment

过得就是快呀!

always passes quickly!

韩佳:嗯,不过没有关系,

Yeah. But it doesn’t matter.

您可以通过屏幕上的方式

You can continue to contact us

继续跟我们联系。

using the method shown on the screen.

谭嘉煦:还有,还有,

But apart from that,

不知道大家对我今天的表现

I have no idea

感觉怎么样?

what you think about my performance today.

不要忘了来信告诉我们啊!

Please don’t forget to tell us about that!

韩佳:也别忘了我们的口号,

And also don’t forget our slogan:

合:学说中国话,朋友遍天下。

Learn Chinese and make friends everywhere!

韩佳:节目的最后,

As the wrap-up,

我们为您精心编辑了一段

we carefully prepared a short

音乐风光片,

musical travelogue

大家一起来轻松一下。

to help you relax for a while.

(Source: cctv.com)

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 699

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Click to Watch Video Podcast

快乐学汉语

Learn Chinese the fun way

万里海疆行

and enjoy a happy journey

across China!

哎 停

Oh, stop.

今天的口号得改一改了

Today’s slogan has to be different.

那应该说什么呢

Then what should I say

轻松过周末啊

Enjoy a relaxing weekend!

还真是

Yes indeed.

不知不觉又过了一个星期

It’s been unknowingly already

another week.

我们是应该好好轻松一下

We should indeed relax for a while.

就是嘛

That’s right.

这一周我们的收获可真不少

It’s been a very fruitful week.

既看了海 又爬了山

We’ve not only seen the sea

and climbed mountains,

而且还写了好几篇快乐周记

but also written several happy

diaries of the week.

这周是我们“万里海疆快乐行”

It was the first week we have

spent since the start

车队出发的第一周

of our Happy Journey across

China caravan.

我们从中国海岸线

We started off from Donggang,

the northernmost

最北端的东港出发

city along China’s coastline

经过了中国最大的边境城市丹东

and passed through Dandong,

the largest border city of China

最后到了位于丹东西北50公里的

before arriving at Phoenix Mountain

凤凰山

50 kilometers northwest of Dandong.

东港是丹东下辖的一个县级市

Donggang is a county-level city

within the jurisdiction of Dandong.

有中国最北端的港口丹东港

It is the location of China’s

northernmost port, Dandonggang.

在那里 我们第一次看到

The tablet marking the separation

of the Yalu River

鸭绿江和黄海的分界线

from the Yellow Sea is right here.

如果您也是个观鸟爱好者

If you are a bird watcher,

建议您去鸭绿江口

we suggest you go to the

Coastal Wetlands

滨海湿地自然保护区看看

Nature Reserve at the mouth

of the Yalu River.

丹东市坐落在鸭绿江畔

Dandong is located at the bank

of the Yalu River,

和朝鲜隔江相望

facing the DPRK across the river.

江上著名的断桥和中朝友谊大桥

The well-known Broken Bridge

and the Sino-Korean Bridge

可是历史和友谊的见证

are witnesses of history and friendship.

在这周的行程中

The most impressive place

on our way

给我们留下印象最深的地方

this past week

就是凤凰山了

is the Phoenix Mountain.

虽然它的海拔只有840米

Although it is only 840 meters

above sea level,

但山势的险峻程度

its steepness

足以与华山相比

is comparable to that of the

Huashan Mountain.

说实话 过“老牛背”的时候

To be frank, when we passed

the Cow Back,

我还真想过打退堂鼓

I did think of quitting.

不过 看韩佳都那么勇敢

But after seeing Han Jia was

so brave,

我当然也不能示弱呀

how could I quit!

哎 渊源 你发现没

Eh, Yuanyuan, did you find that

从船上看鸭绿江的姊妹桥

the sister bridges on the Yalu River

感觉又不一样了

would look different when we

see them on a boat

是啊

Yeah.

而且好像从这儿看

And I’m feeling as if

我们离朝鲜感觉更近一些

we were getting even closer

to the DPRK.

渊源 看我们今天的快乐成语吧

Yuanyuan, let’s watcj today’s Happy Idiom.

一天 庄子在湖边散步

One day, Zhuangzi is taking a walk

along a lakeside.

忽然看见他的学生蹲在水边哭泣

Suddenly he sees one of his students

squatting at the waterside crying.

于是庄子就问他

Zhuangzi asks him:

你为什么一个人在这里哭呢

“Why are you crying here alone?

有什么伤心的事吗

Is there anything you are unhappy about?”

我有一个要好的朋友

“A close friend of mine

就要搬到很远的地方去了

is about to move to a very far place.

我担心以后再也见不到他了

I fear I won’t see him again.”

哦 是这样啊

“Oh, I see.”

庄子走到湖边

Zhuangzi walks to the edge of the lake

看见两条小鱼在岸边的浅水里

and sees two little fish in the

shallows near the bank.

来 你看这里

“Come on and look here.

你看这两条小鱼

These two little fish

它们被湖水冲到了岸边

are washed to the shore by

the lake water.

可是它们却相互帮助

But they are helping each other

吐出泡沫喂到对方嘴里

by feeding each other their own

bubbling saliva

用这种方法来保持湿度

in order to keep their gills moist.

尽管力量微薄

Despite their weakness,

它们还是为此努力着

they keep doing so perseveringly.

这也算是生死之交吧

This may be regarded as a

life-and-death friendship.”

嗯 它们真可怜啊

“Yeah, they are so pathetic!”

一旦湖水再次涨起的时候

“When the lake water rises again,

它们就会回到湖里

they’ll return to the mass of water

of the lake,

不知道会游向何方

unaware in which direction they’ll

each be swimming.”

它们也许再也不会见面了

“It’s possible they won’t see each

other again …”

是啊 它们以后可能会生活在各自的天地里

“Yeah. They may each live in a

different part of the lake,

但它们永远不会忘记在困境中

but they’ll never forget their time

相依为命和相互救助

of sticking together and helping each

other out in a predicament.”

人生 也是如此啊

“This is also true of humans …”

相濡以沫 “濡”是沾湿的意思

“Ru” in “xiang ru yi mo”

means to wet.

“沫”是指唾沫

“Mo” means saliva.

原指离开水的鱼相互吐沫沾湿

Originally the phrase means two fish

out of water moisten each other

以求得暂时的生存

with saliva to keep each other

alive temporarily.

比喻在困境中的人

It is used as a metaphor for people

相互以微薄力量救助

in a predicament doing what little

they can do help each other.

二十几年时间

Over a period of a little more

than 20 years,

大梨树村由一个

Dalishu has turned

贫穷落后的小山村

from a poor and backward small

mountain village

发展成像今天这么富裕的

into today’s prosperous

社会主义新农村

and socialist new village

主要得益于大梨树村始终发扬

thanks mainly to the spirit of

实干 苦干加巧干的精神

working steadily, hard and innovatively.

把大梨树村的山山水水

Thus, the mountains and rivers

in Dalishu Village

都建设得非常美丽

are becoming more beautiful.

相信大梨树村明天一定会

I’m sure Dalishu’s tomorrow

越来越美好

will become even better!

说得太好了

How nicely said!

相信听到这里呀

After hearing this, I’m sure

观众朋友们肯定知道了

our audience must have known

大梨树村人的成功秘诀是什么了

the secret of Dalishu villagers’ success.

哎 我知道了

Oh, I know.

就是总的来说要有一种实干精神

It is their hardworking spirit.

嗯 对了

Yes, that’s right.

其实这个秘诀走到哪里都很管用

Actually this secret of success

is applicable anywhere.

那我们的节目也不例外

And there is no exception for

our program.

说到节目

Talking about our program,

我们是不是应该连线北京了

I think it’s time to hook up to Beijing

韩佳 渊源 你们好

Han Jia and Yuanyuan,

how are you

拍摄得还顺利吗

Is the filming going smoothly

嗯 我们大家都挺好的

Yes, we are all very well.

拍摄也非常顺利

The filming work is also

going smoothly.

这周是我们

It has been the first week

“万里海疆快乐行”系列节目

since our Happy Journey across

China series

播出的第一周

went on the air.

那我们现在已经收到

So far, we’ve received

很多观众朋友们的来信了

many letters from our audience.

是吗

Really?

观众朋友们说了些什么呢

What did they say

快给我们念念吧

Please read some to us.

哎 大家有没有注意到

Yes. Did you notice

我们身后的这个留言板呢

this message board behind us

您看这上面贴的

Look, all these attached to it

都是我们观众朋友们寄来的

are happy messages

快乐留言

our audience sent us.

以后我们会把陆续收到的

From now on, we’ll hang all

viewer messages

观众留言都贴在上面

on this board.

相信很快我们这个留言板

I’m sure this message board

就会变得五彩缤纷了

will soon become more colorful.

赶紧看看今天的留言吧

Let’s hurry and read

today’s messages.

Okay.

厦门的李璐朋友说

Li Lu, a friend from Xiamen says:

通过“万里海疆快乐行”

“I feel Happy Journey across China,

这种自驾出游的形式学习汉语

a way of learning Chinese

by means of drive travel

感觉更轻松 更时尚

is more relaxing and more innovative.”

还有一位上海的卢彦斌朋友

Lu Yan, a friend from Shanghai says:

他说“万里海疆快乐行”

“The Happy China across China series

这个系列的节目

is shot

以车队前进的形式进行拍摄

while the caravan travels along.

每一集节目的结尾都留有

At the end of each episode,

一个小悬念

there is a little suspense,

增强了大家连续观看节目的兴趣

which really whets the viewers’ interest

to watch the program continuously.”

法国巴黎的Nathan朋友说

Nathan, a friend from Paris, says that

新的系列节目中

in the new series,

汉语教学的难度比以前低了

he has much less difficulty

learning Chinese.

大部分内容他都能看懂

He can understand most part

of the program.

他觉得自己学习汉语的积极性

He feels his enthusiasm to

learn Chinese

比以前更高了

has become even stronger.

很高兴

I’m glad to hear

我们的新节目给Nathan朋友

our new program has given Nathan

学习汉语带来了一些帮助

some help in his effort to

learn Chinese.

对了 还要提醒大家的就是

By the way, we’d like to remind

our audience

我们已经在新浪网

we have set up

和中国汉语网上开辟了

our Happy Journey across China blog

“万里海疆快乐行”的博客

on both sina.com.cn and linese.com.

您可以进入新浪网

You can get online to sina.com.cn,

点击博客 在这里

click on the blog section and

in the search blank,

输入《快乐中国—学汉语》

type in Happy China-Learning Chinese

或者在热点blog检索中查找

or just search in the hot blogs.

就找到我们的博客了

You can easily find our program’s blog.

您还可以登录中国汉语网

You can also click on the blog section

点击左侧的blog

on the left-hand side of the

linese.com webpage.

在推荐博客栏中找到

Check out Happy Journey

across China

“万里海疆快乐行”

from the recommended blogs

就可以看到我们的博客了

and you can find our blog.

有兴趣的观众朋友

If you are interested,

还可以在上面给我们留言

you can also leave a message on it

说出您的感想和建议

to tell us your thoughts and suggestions.

一口气说了这么多

Oh, we’ve said so much in one breath.

时间也不早了

And we don’t have much time left.

虽然我这儿还有很多

Although I’ve still got many

other letters

观众朋友们的来信

from our audience,

只能下周和大家继续分享喽

I have to leave them for next week

to share with our audience.

非常感谢观众朋友们

We thank our audience

对我们的支持

for their support for us.

那我们也会更加地努力

We’ll work even harder

制作出更多更精彩的节目

to make our program

奉献给大家

even better.

嗯 也感谢二位

Yeah. Thanks very much,

the two of you.

那咱们下周再见

See you next week.

下周见

See you next week.

好了

Well,

又到了今天最激动人心的时刻了

today’s most exciting moment

has arrived.

对 我们有请大梨树村的

Yes. Let’s invite Secretary Mao

of Dalishu Village

毛书记来为我们抽奖

to draw raffles for us.

有请毛书记

Secretary Mao, please.

恭喜这些朋友

Congratulations to these friends!

也谢谢毛书记为我们抽奖

And thanks very much, Secretary

Mao, for drawing raffles for us.

谢谢

Many thanks.

那我们在近期就会把

We’ll be sending out

精美的纪念品寄出的

a beautiful souvenirs to each

of the winners.

要注意查收哦

Please check it out.

那在这里还要告诉大家

Now we’d like to tell you

一个好消息

some good news.

那就是从下个月开始

Starting from next month,

我们在每个月的第一周

we’ll draw a grand award winner

in the first week of each month

都会从上个月回答对所有问题的观众中

from all those who answered correctly

抽出一名大奖来

throughout the previous month.

这位获奖的朋友

This winner

将会随摄制组到拍摄地

will be invited to the filming crew

体验三天的拍摄生活

and experience our filming work for

three days at the filming locations.

那我们会提供往返的机票

We are responsible for providing

the winner with air tickets,

还有三天内的食宿和交通

board and lodging and transports

during the three days.

赶快行动起来

Act now!

我们期待着与您一起快乐海疆行

We are looking forward to taking you

on a Happy Journey across China.

好了 接下来还是要进入

Okay. Now let’s move into

我们今天的成语猜猜看

today’s Idiom Guess.

八月七号到八月十一号

The Happy Caravan will continue

its journey

快乐车队继续前进

from August 7 through August 11.

快乐的韩佳 王渊源仍将带您

Merry Han Jia and Happy Wang

Yuanyuan will

在辽宁学习汉语

still be in Liaoning learning

Chinese with you.

介词“从”就是表示起点

The preposition “cong” means a

starting point,

后面一般可以跟表示时间

normally followed by a word

expressing time

或者是地点的词

or place.

“离”表示时间或者空间上的距离

“Li” expresses a distance of

time and space.

中国中央电视台中文国际频道

On CCTV International’

Chinese Channel,

周一到周五 每天十分钟

the 10-minute program,

Happy China-Learning Chinese,

《快乐中国—学汉语》

meets you daily on time

与您准时相约

Mondays through Fridays.

观众朋友们

Audience friends,

不知道您对我们今天的节目

we’re wondering

满不满意呢

if you are satisfied with today’s program.

希望我们的周末加油站

We hope our Weekend Filling Station

在给您带去快乐的同时

can provide some tips for your

travels here

也为您出行提供方便

while bringing fun to you.

Yes.

如果您还有什么要对我们说的

If you have something to tell us …

请用屏幕上的方式与我们联系

Contact us according to the

information on the screen.

好了 今天的节目就这样了

Well, that’s it for today.

我是快乐的韩佳

I am Merry Han Jia.

我是快乐的王渊源

And I am Happy Wang Yuanyuan.

咱们下周再见

See you next week.

口号不能忘

We mustn’t forget our slogan:

学说中国话 朋友遍天下

Learn Chinese and make friends everywhere!

(Source: cctv.com)

Chinese Conversation – lesson 632

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

对美国人来说,守时是一种尊重他人时间的表现。通常若约会迟到超过10分钟,就应该向对方道歉或解释原因。知道自己会迟到的人往往会先打个电话告诉对方。 当然,活动愈不正式,准时的重要性就愈小。例如,在非正式的聚会中,人们往往会在约定时间过后30分钟才到,不过,他们工作中通常就不会这样做。

To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people’s time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology, and maybe an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time. But they usually don’t try that at work.

(Source: wwenglish.com)