“恢复正常”

今天上午同事们都在伏案工作的时候，忽然感觉到明显的地面晃动，很多人争相下楼，议论纷纷。过了一会发现没事之后，大家也纷纷回到办公桌前，重新拿起手中的工作。这件小事让我想到一个习惯用语，那就是：Business as usual。

Business as usual常用来形容事情经过了异常之后恢复正常状态，可以翻译成“一切照旧，虚惊一场”。例如：People resumed work after a small fire incident, it was business as usual.（大家在着火小插曲之后继续工作，办公室恢复正常。）。这个习惯用语还有别的意思，我们一起来看一下：

例句-1：Imagine preparing breakfast for six kids. Then getting them washed and dressed, packing their lunches and getting them off to school. That might seem like a huge challenge. But for my wife and me, it’s BUSINESS AS USUAL. It’s part of our everyday routine.

想像一下：给六个孩子准备早餐，然后给他们洗脸穿衣服，装饭盒，再把他们统统送到学校去。这看起来是一项巨大的挑战。但是对我妻子和我来说，这是家常便饭，是我们每天要做的工作。

例句-2：Normally, my tiny town is a quiet place. But when a movie director chose it as the site for his upcoming picture, it became incredibly busy. Film stars and production crews flooded Main Street. The local restaurants served overflow crowds, shops saw increased sales, and news reporters came from all around seeking interviews. For three weeks, it was anything but BUSINESS AS USUAL.

平常，我住的小镇特别安静。但是当一名电影导演选中这里拍摄之后，这里就变得忙碌无比。电影明星和制作团队挤满了城里的主路。饭馆里的人目不暇接，商店营业额直线上升，新闻记者也都来到这里寻找采访机会。三个星期以来，这里什么都有，就是没有了往日的宁静。

在这儿business as usual意为“一如往常”。