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英文谚语有不少跟食物有关的句子，今举一例：He has a finger in every pie. 直译是‘他染指于所有馅饼之上’，意思是比喻‘他样样事情都要插手’，有‘多管闲事’的贬义。要说某人有很多事情要处理，可以说：He has an involvement in everything. (他样样事情都有份)或 He has a lot of business concerns. (他有很多业务) 。

对 话
Joe: How's Brian's new job coming along?
Simon: Great! He's a real success. He's got a finger in every pie at the company.
Joe: So he's branched out and is working in several divisions? That's impressive for a man with no qualifications.
Simon: I think you've got it wrong. Brian is the official taster at the pie factory. He likes the pumpkin and the pecan but absolutely adores the apple. Fancy a slice ? (Brian enters with finger in a pie)
Joe: Ah… No thanks, I'll pass.
乔：布莱恩的新工作怎么样？
西门：很棒！他真成功，公司内样样事情他都要插手。
乔：那么他是跨部门工作吗？一个没有什么条件的人可以如此，真令人惊讶。
西门：我想你误会了，布莱恩是馅饼厂的试味专员，他爱南瓜及核桃味，但特别喜欢苹果味。(布莱恩用手指点在馅饼上)，要吃一块吗？
乔：喔．．．．．．不用了，谢谢。

布莱思在馅饼厂工作。他的朋友问How's Brian's new job coming along?（布莱恩的新工作做得怎样？）听到He's got a finger in every pie的答案，望着送上的馅饼也没胃口吃了：No thanks, I'll pass。

Pass可以解作‘通过’、‘及格’等，但上文的I'll pass是什么意思呢？按pass可解作‘放弃（权利、机会或奉上的东西）’，例如：In the quiz his answer to almost every question was “Pass”（在答问比赛之中，他对每个问题的答案几乎都是‘弃权’）。这个pass之后不可直接用受词(object)；要说明放弃的是什么东西，可用on字带出，例如：(1) “I'm giving a party tonight. Would you like to come?”“No thanks, I'll pass.”（‘我今晚开派对，你来不来？’‘谢谢，我不来了。’）(2) I passed on his invitation to dinner（我没有接受他吃晚饭的邀请）。

Come along是动词词组(phrasal verb)，意思是‘进展’，例如：(1) My wounded leg is coming along quite well（我伤了的腿正在康复中，进展不错）。(2) Everything is coming along as expected（一切进展都如所料）。 To have/get a finger in every pie直译是‘染指于所有馅饼之上’，一般指‘多管闲事’。把every改为the，是指‘参与其事’，而这参与往往是不受欢迎的，例如：(1) He liked putting his finger in every pie（他什么事都要插手）。(2) I had no finger in the pie of my daughter's marriage.（我没有干预女儿的婚事）。

作者：古德明（香港）