I was stuck in meetings all day.
    對于日理萬機的生意人，他們每天的工作可能就是開會，他們常抱怨道：I was stuck in meetings all day. (我整天忙著開會)，如果你想跟這種人約會，恐怕要早點預約。要表示忙著公事，英文可以說：I'm stuck at the office. (我很忙不能離開)/I've been tied-up all day. (我忙得不可開交)。
    對 話
    Helen: I called and called you today but couldn't get through.
    Leo: Sorry, I was stuck in meetings all day. I was out of the office. I didn't even get a break for lunch. What did you want?
    Helen: I wanted to tell you that your boss called.
    Leo: What did he want? 　　Helen: He wanted to tell you that you're fired and not to bother going to any meetings. Honey, now that you're free all day there are a few things around the house I'd like you to do. Let's have a family meeting about it.
    海倫：我打了很多次電話給你，但是都沒有接通。
    李奧：對不起，我整天忙著開會、不在辦公室，甚至午餐也沒有吃，你找我什么事？
    海倫：我想告訴你，你老板找你。
    李奧：他想怎樣？ 　　海倫：他想告訴你你被開除，不必去開什么會了。蜜糖兒，現(xiàn)在你整天都有空，家里有些事要你幫忙，一起開個家庭會議談談吧！
    海倫告訴丈夫：The boss wanted to tell you that you're fired and not to bother going to any meetings（老板要告訴你，你被開除了，不必去開什么會了）。這句話，口頭上說來頗覺自然，書面上卻有點問題：問題在于faulty parallelism，即‘平行結構錯誤’。
    And、or是所謂‘對等連接詞’(coordinating conjunction)，所連接的文字，文法上前后應該相稱。例如你可以說He was a coward.（他是個膽小鬼），也可以說He was dishonest.（他并不誠實），但你不能說He was a coward and dishonest，因為coward是名詞，dishonest是形容詞，文法上并不相稱，句子可改正如下：He was cowardly and dishonest。留意cowardly雖以ly結尾，卻是形容詞，a cowardly man即‘膽小鬼’。
    謹再舉一個平行結構錯誤的例子：你可以說I hate staying up late.（我不喜歡熬夜），也可以說I hate to get up early（我不喜歡早起），但你不能說I hate staying up late and to get up early，應說I hate staying up late and getting up early或I hate to stay up late and get up early。
    現(xiàn)在看海倫那句話。Tell之后，可以用‘受詞(object)+that子句(clause)’，也可以用‘受詞＋to＋原形動詞(infinitive)’，但把兩個句式用and接連，就不對稱了。書面上，句子宜修改如下：The boss wanted to tell you that you're fired and you needn't bother going to any meetings。