Buy
作為一個普通顧客，一個明智的消費者，購物時，你會比較不同商店的價錢才下決定：Before you buy something, you may shop around and compare prices at different shops.
購物時，你可以付現金 pay cash，用支票 pay by cheque 或以信用咭 credit card 付款；可以分期付款 on hire purchase，或者在一間商店記賬 run up an account with a shop。
作為一個商人，假如你大量購入貨品，你會取得更便宜的價錢：If you buy in bulk, you buy in large quantities at a cheaper price.
你的生意做得愈來愈大，可以進行收購的行動，買下全部或盡買同業的貨品：Buy up means to buy all or as much as possible of something.
你可以購買公司股份，取得控制權：When you buy out something, you pay someone to give up a share in a business often to secure a controlling interest.
If you buy a pig in a poke, you buy something without seeing it or knowing if it is good enough。這句流行語，表示你買入未看過又不知優劣的東西，很容易上當。A poke is a bag，買回家，打開袋子，已經太遲。便宜莫貪！
Sell
推銷貨物和產品的手法，不外两類：强行推銷 hard sell，勸誘推銷 soft sell：The hard sell method is trying very hard to persuade someone to buy something even if they do not want to. The soft sell approach is a polite attempt to sell something. It is a method of selling that involves persuading somebody to buy something rather than using pressure or aggressive means。
吸引顧客的產品特色是貨物的賣點 selling point：USP is the abbreviation for “unique selling point”（獨有賣點）. The price of a product is obviously one of the main selling points.
Sell 的短語動詞
幾個短語動詞（phrasal verbs）的意義和用法：
sell off 拋售、變賣。賣掉產業、公司或土地，可以說 to sell something off：A shop may sell something off to get rid of the goods which have not sold well so as to free the money invested in them（店子廉價售出滯銷的貨品）。 A holding company has undertaken to sell off a subsidiary company（集團總公司將子公司的資產出售）。
sell out 沽清、sold out 售磬：A shop may sell out of something（某些貨品賣到斷市）。The tickets of the performance are completely sold out（演唱會的門票全部沽清）。I’m sorry, all the Sunday papers have gone：we’ve sold out.（對不起，今天的報紙賣光了。）
sell up 結束企業，賣光家當：You may sell up a business or a house to pay your debts, or because you are moving or retiring. They’re selling up next week, so go round if there’s anything you want to collect before the sale（基於結業原因，你可能買到商店的便宜貨）。
Sell 的習用語（idioms）
sell like hot cakes 非常受到顧客歡迎，很快賣出很多：a simile cliché meaning to be sold very quickly and in large numbers, a great commercial success. The novel Harry Potter was selling like hot cakes.
sell your soul to the devil 出賣靈魂或昧着良心做事：to do something bad in order to succeed or get money or power。關於人類把靈魂賣給魔鬼，以取財富、成就或享樂，最著名是浮士德博士（Dr. Faustus）的故事。
sell somebody down the river 為了自已的利益而出賣他人，或幹某事傷害別人：to do something which harms or disappoints someone who trusted you, in order to get an advantage for yourself。這句成語的出處是美國早期的奴隸主把大批黑奴帶到密西西比河，把棄用的黑奴賣給其他處於河流下游的奴隸主。那些棉花農場和甘蔗林的工作條件更惡劣，生活更艱苦。
Sell 的諺語
you cannot sell the cow and drink the milk 你不能又賣牛，又要喝奶。魚與熊掌，两者不可兼得。
有關「两者不可兼得」的英文諺語（sayings and proverbs），還有以下幾個：
A door must be either shut or open 門非關上即開啟。
No man can serve two masters 一僕難事二主。
You cannot have it both ways 你不能两面討好。
You cannot have the cake and eat it 你不能又要留餅，又要吃掉它。
You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds 你不能與野免同逃，又與獵犬同追。
You cannot serve God and mammon 你不能同時侍奉上帝和財富。
本專欄逢周二、五刊登
