Illustration: Xia Qing

Word on the street

待命休假

(dàimìnɡ xiūjià)

Holidays on standby

A: Would you please do me a favor and put your cellphone away, will you? You're on your vacation. You have the right to ignore your work affairs.

拜托别老看手机了行不行。你现在休息呢好吧,你有权不管工作上的事。

(bàituō bié lǎo kàn shǒujī le xínɡbùxínɡ. nǐ xiànzài xiūxi ne hǎo ba, nǐ yǒuquán bùɡuǎn ɡōnɡzuò shànɡ de shì.)

B: It's not exactly like that. This vacation is on standby, which means I need to answer phone calls from work and maybe head into the office to work if needed.

可真不是那么回事。我这叫待命休假,就得有电话就接,如果有事儿的话就往单位跑。

(kě zhēn bùshì nàme huíshì, wǒ zhè jiào dàimìnɡ xiūjiǎ, jiù děi yǒu diànhuà jiù jiē, rúɡuǒ yǒushìr de huà jiù wǎnɡ dānwèi pǎo.)