therein lies the rub問題就出在這兒

把整個族群的存在壓成一句話：活著就是為了討老闆歡心，荒誕裡透著認真。

Making someone happy was the very reason for existence.

半開玩笑地講某個群體或某個人只為一件事活著時能用，語氣越莊重越好笑；正經總結工作關係時別用。

Pleasing the boss was the whole point of being alive. ／ Its reason to exist was to make one master smile.

literary

master happy 連讀，very reason 重讀，existence 放慢收尾。

Making the manager look good was the whole team's reason for staying late. 讓經理臉上有光，就是全隊留下來加班的全部理由。

先用輕鬆的口吻說找老闆不難，再用 therein lies the rub 把話鋒擰到最難的一步。

Finding X was easy. But keeping X, therein lies the rub.

承認開始容易、維持困難時能用，帶一點文氣；對上級或正式彙報裡不要用，顯得掉書袋。

Getting one is easy; keeping one is the hard part. ／ The rub is not finding a boss but holding on to one.

literary

keeping a boss 重讀，therein lies the rub 放慢，rub 收尾。

Getting a first date is easy, but keeping a partner, therein lies the rub. 約到第一次會不難，可要留住一個人，麻煩就在這兒。

用跳來跳去寫盡漂泊，用完全合拍寫出他們自己都沒察覺的渴望：不是隨便找個主子，而是找對的那個。

They bounced from one ... to another but never found their perfect fit.

形容反覆更換工作、圈子或選擇卻始終不滿意時用；對當事人說時語氣別太輕，免得像幸災樂禍。

They drifted from job to job, never quite fitting. ／ One boss after another, and still no real match.

中性

bounced from one 連讀，perfect fit 重讀收尾。

She bounced from one startup to another, but she never seemed to find her perfect fit. 她從一個創業公司跳到另一個，可似乎總也找不到完全合拍的那個。

把歷史上最陰森的年代說成好玩，一句旁白就把小黃人的視角立住了：人類的苦難，在他們眼裡是派對。

X were actually fun times.

想用一個反差說法把沉重的事講輕時能用，帶調侃；對經歷苦難的人別用，會顯得沒心沒肺。

Those hard years were actually good fun. ／ The worst period turned out to be a blast.

中性

Dark Ages 連讀，actually 輕讀，fun times 重讀收尾。

Boot camp was actually fun times, looking back. 回頭看，新兵訓練其實挺好玩的。