早上來到辦公室，先去飲水機那里接杯水，恰好遇到其他部門的同事，于是閑聊幾分鐘。這樣的場景大概每個辦公室都會出現(xiàn)，可能閑聊的場地不一定在飲水機旁邊，但英文中一直習(xí)慣用watercooler來指代同事們在辦公室聊八卦的場所。

Watercooler games refer to discussions between co-workers, usually about non-work related things like office politics or suspected inter-colleague romances.

Watercooler games指同事之間有關(guān)辦公室政治以及同事間戀情等非工作相關(guān)話題的議論，我們可稱之為“辦公室八卦”。

It's a classic workplace scene: Two or three co-workers arrive at the office watercooler more or less simultaneously and a brief — and ideally non-work-related — conversation ensues. Nowadays, these confabs are just as likely to break out in the coffee room, alongside the photocopier, or while waiting to use the fax machine. But the "watercooler" was long ago chosen as the symbolic location for spontaneous workplace chinwagging.

這個短語為我們展現(xiàn)的是辦公室常見的一個情景：三兩個同事前后來到茶水間，然后一些簡短的寒暄就開場了，寒暄內(nèi)容通常與工作無關(guān)。現(xiàn)在，這樣的寒暄或閑聊可能會發(fā)生在咖啡間、復(fù)印機旁，或者等候使用傳真機的間隙。但是watercooler（茶水間、飲水機）在很久以前就被選為辦公室閑聊的標(biāo)志性場所了。

（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Helen）