pile, 社会底层英语翻译，处于社会（组织）的底层/上层

bca

经常有人说自己处于社会底层，到底怎么表达才是地道的英语呢？
◎◎pile 这个词构成短语，用来形容“处于社会或者某组织的底层/上层”the bottom of the pile, [BrE] the weakest or least important position in a society or organization
• 处于社会（组织）的底层:
»I soon discovered I was at the bottom of the pile in the office hierarchy.
  我很快发现自己在办公室里处于最底层。
»She always puts her own needs to the bottom of the pile.
  她总是最后考虑自己的需求。

the top of the pile, [BrE] the best or highest position in a society or organization
• 处于社会（组织）的高层:
»It's been 20 years since a British tennis player was at the top of the pile.
  英国的网球运动员已经有 20 年没有位居榜首了。

(at the) bottom / top of the 'pile
   in the least / most important position in a group of people or things
   处于无足轻重的/举足轻重的地位
例句：
......were careful to choose their victims from the bottom of the social pile......

◎◎还可以用 heap：

at the top / bottom of the heap,  high up and successful or low down and unsuccessful in an organization or in society
• 在〔机构或社会的〕顶层/底层:
»The very poor are at the bottom of the heap.
贫苦大众处于社会底层。

◎◎还可以用lowest rung搭配ladder来指社会底层

He was moving up the corporate ladder.
  climbing the social ladder
  She worked her way up from the lowest rung on the economic ladder.

america

the  lower classes of society
   下层社会

real

the lower echelon， 底层

ech·elon  / ˈeʃəlɔn; NAmE -lɑːn /
noun
1. [usually pl.]  a rank or position of authority in an organization or a society
   职权的等级；阶层:
   the  lower / upper / top / higher echelons of the Civil Service
   政府部门的低层/上层/最高层/高层
2. an arrangement of soldiers, planes, etc. in which each one is behind and to the side of the one in front
   (士兵、飞机等的)梯形编队,梯队

ech·e·lon
I. \ˈeshəˌlän\ noun
(-s)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French échelon, literally, rung of a ladder, from Old French eschelon, from eschele, eschiele ladder
1.
a. : an arrangement of a body of troops with its units each somewhat to the left or right of the one in the rear like a series of steps; also : any similar formation of units or individuals
  < a long echelon of wild geese — H.L.Davis >
  — often used with in
  < long staggering line of north canoes turned in echelon — Walter O'Meara >
b. : a flight formation in which each airplane flies at a certain elevation above or below and at a certain distance behind and to the right or left of the airplane ahead
c. : one of a number of military units in echelon formation; also : any military or nonmilitary unit or group of individuals acting or appearing to act in a disciplined, organized, or united manner
  < the first echelons in an amphibious assault — Aero Digest >
2.
a. : a group of individuals having a particular responsibility or occupying a particular level or grade (as of command, authority, or leadership) in an organization, profession, or field of activity
  < the financial, supply, and training echelons of the European Army — Newsweek >
  < the lower echelons of the bureaucracy >
  < the higher echelons of the Social Register — Alva Johnston >
b. : one of a series of levels or grades (as of leadership or responsibility) in an organization or field of activity
  < permits employees on every echelon to participate in the development of policy >
3. : a diffraction grating giving spectra of very high order and dispersion and used mainly in the study of fine structure that consists of a series of plane-parallel glass plates of exactly equal thickness each wider than its neighbor by the same small amount and thus forms a miniature stairway, light normally entering at the widest plate and emerging at the successive risers of the stairway
4. : an arrangement of geologic features (as mountains, folds, fractures) in a pattern resembling that of a military echelon
II. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: French échelonner, from échelon
transitive verb
: to place (as troops or fortifications) in echelon
intransitive verb
: to take position in echelon

real

......he remained at the bottom echelon. 来源于：
As a petty thief, he'd been relegated to the lower rungs of the ladder. Abducting a police officer would have elevated him somewhat, but as a loner doing time for non-violent offenses, he remained at the bottom echelon.