Do the Needful

语言是思维和情感表达的工具，也是反映社会文化的镜子，包罗万象又细致入微。别看英语语法条条框框，真的把英语放到不同的语言文化环境中，她的适应力是很强的。因此，不仅有paper tiger（“纸老虎”）这样的中国英语（China English），也有印度英语“Do the needful”，你猜“do the needful”是什么意思呢？

When I first worked in India in the early 1990s, in a multinational bank, I received a letter from the friend of a friend of a friend. It requested a job for his daughter and ended with the phrase: “Please do the needful.”

I was struck. Since then, I’ve seen this phrase used umpteen times—and each time I realize afresh its simplicity, practicality, comprehensiveness and wide applicability.1.从那时起，我无数次地看到这个短语——每一次我都重新体会到这一表达的简洁、实用与全面，以及其应用范围的广泛性。applicability: 适用性，适应性，下文出现的applicable为形容词，意思是“ 可用的，合适的”。

Therefore I feel it is my duty—nay, my privilege—to present it to the rest of the English-speaking world.2. nay: 否，不；privilege: 特权，特别待遇；present: 展示，呈现。

“Do the needful” means “do whatever the heck3. the heck:〈口〉究竟，到底（用于加强疑问语气）。it takes to get this thing done.” It is comprehensive4. comprehensive: 内容广泛的，丰富的。. It implies leaving no stone unturned5. leave no stone unturned: 千方百计，不遗余力。in trying to accomplish the goal. And it is most effective when written at the end of a letter—or, these days, an e-mail or instant message—because the recipient has no chance to protest.6. instant message: 即时讯息；recipient: 接受者。

The phrase is a throwback to India’s Colonial days.7. throwback: 返古者，复古现象；colonial:殖民的，殖民地的。I don’t know that the British still use it, but it’s definitely8. definitely: 肯定地，一定地。part of Indian-English today.

There are, of course, many other phrases that fall into this category9. category: 种类，分类。.For example, the man who wrote to me could well also have written the following: “For bunking classes and spending all her time at the mess,my daughter was on the verge of being expelled from college.10. 因为逃课，整天惹事生非，我的女儿曾经差点被学院开除。bunk:〈口〉逃课；mess: 混乱，麻烦；expel: 驱逐，开除。However,she was a topper and passed out last year.11. topper: 名列前茅者；pass out: 〈美〉毕业。But now that her rich uncle has expired, I am out-of-station and her mother has shifted to Mumbai, she can no longer afford to watch films as a time-pass until we find her a boy.12. 但是现在她富有的叔叔已经去世，我也离开要职，她的妈妈移居孟买，因此她无法支付看电影作为消遣的花费，除非我为她找到一个男朋友。expire:〈文〉死去。Therefore she needs this job at your bank.”

But even in the midst of all that, “Please do the needful” would stand out13. stand out: 引人注目，突出。.This phrase is applicable in almost any situation.

When your home phone line is dead for the third time this month, you can phone (using your mobile) your friend in the state phone company and say,“Please do the needful.”

When you are desperately looking for nursery-school admission for your three-year old, you can approach your neighbour whose cousin runs a school and say, “Please do the needful.”14. desperately: 绝望地，拼命地；nursery school: 幼儿园；admission:加入许可，入学许可；approach: 找（某人）商谈，与（某人）联系。

If you need a driver’s license but can’t drive, you can contact that in fluential public servant you impressed at a cocktail party last month and say,“Please do the needful.”15. public servant: 公职人员； impress:（使）留下深刻印象；cocktail party:鸡尾酒会。

This phrase is not just useful in an Indian context16. context: 情景，语境。, but internationally as well.

Want to have a nice weekend? Tell your husband to do the needful. Want to go to private college but have no private funds17. funds: 资金，现金。? Tell your parents to do the needful. Want your kid to get straight As18. straight A: 学习成绩全优。? Just tell him to do the needful.Want to lose weight? Then you do the needful.

The nice thing is that you, as the user of the phrase, don’t actually have to know what “the needful” is; leave that to the recipient. In some cases, where dubious means or shady people are incorporated, you might not want to know.19. dubious: 不确定的，靠不住的；shady:秘密的，靠不住的；incorporate: 包含，列入。Instead, you are magnanimously trusting in the recipient’s intelligence and other resources, and giving him the latitude to solve the problem in whatever manner he thinks most effective.20. 相反，你会大度地信任听话人的悟性和其他资源，给他足够的自由，使他以自己认为最有效的方式来解决问题。magnanimously: 慷慨地，有气度地；latitude: 自主行事的自由，选择的余地。

This phrase may well have inspired Nike’s slogan “Just Do It.” But while Nike seems to be saying “do whatever you want without thinking too much about it,” “Do the needful” is focused and deliberate: “Do what is necessary to get the job done.”21. focused: 专注的，专心的； deliberate:沉着谨慎的，不慌不忙的。

And imagine how it could have shortened innumerable Do-It-Yourself manuals, not to mention surgical procedure door-stoppers.22. 想象一下这个词很可能会把数量繁多的DIY系列手册的内容大大缩短，更不用说那些关于外科手术流程的入门教程了。

The power of this phrase is definitely unique.