She might be saying, "I've got a wonderful portfolio to show you."

Yang Li:  大家好我是杨莉，欢迎收听你问我答。  I’ve invited my colleague William to help with today’s question about a difficult word.
 
William:  Hello I’m William. It’s good to be with you Li. Let’s see what the question is, shall we? 
 
Yang Li:  Well, David from China sent us this email:
 
Insert
 
Would you please explain and give some examples for using the word 'portfolio'?
 
 
William:  The word portfolio is spelt P.O.R.T.F.O.L.I.O. portfolio. It’s one of those words that have several meanings. So shall we explain them one by one?
 
Yang Li:  Good idea, let’s start with the easiest. 
 
William:  So as a noun it refers to a portable case for holding material, such as loose papers, photographs, or drawings. 
 
Yang Li:  作为名词，它的第一个意思是，公文包或文件夹。
 
William:  For example:
 
Insert
 
A: May I help you?
B: Yes. I am looking for a portfolio for my boyfriend.
A: OK. Are you thinking of a good presentation portfolio or a more practical one?
B: Just a practical one for holding papers and documents.
 
William:  This word derives from the Italian word portafogli. Portare means carry and foglio means leaf.
 
Yang Li:  Mmm, very knowledgeable. 原来，这个词是由意大利语衍生出来的，意思是携带树叶，树叶被文件取代了。所以这就是文件包 portfolio 的来历。 
 
William:    The second meaning of portfolio is a collection of creative work to be shown to potential customers or employers.
 
Yang Li:  第二个意思是代表作选辑，可以是摄影，绘画或设计图等等。
 
William:  So you often hear of a phrase such as a photographer’s portfolio or an architect’s portfolio.
 
Yang Li:  In that sense I think every actor has a portfolio of photographs, don’t they?
 
William:  Yes, they do. Let’s hear another example:
 
Insert
 
A: I’m getting my portfolio of work ready for tomorrow’s job interview. I feel a bit  nervous. 
B: No, you shouldn’t. Look, you’ve such an impressive portfolio. I’m sure you will get the  job.  
A: Thanks. I hope so.
 
William:    Now the word portfolio has another meaning - the position and duties of a government minister.
 
Yang Li:  Portfolio 的第三个意思是部长的职位。
 
William:    For example, the Prime Minister offered her the foreign affairs portfolio.
 
Yang Li:  首相请她出任外交部长  the foreign affairs portfolio. But I have a question here for you, William. Can you use this word portfolio to refer to the position of a manager or other leaders as well? 
 
William:    Usually not I’m afraid. It’s usually just the government. Well another phrase you often hear is Minister without portfolio.
 
Yang Li:  一个没有具体分管项目的部长，也就是不管部部长。 Minister without portfolio.    
 
William:  Finally in economics and finance the word portfolio means the complete investments held by an individual investor or by a financial organization. 
 
Yang Li:  最后就是作为一种金融投资词汇，它还可以表示有价证券一览表或综合投资一览表。请听例句。
 
Insert
 
A:How is your pension?   
B: Well my pension is quite secure because the fund has a mixed portfolio, so it  should be low risk.
 
Yang Li:  此句里的 portfolio 是总体方案。 Mixed portfolio 也就是混合的，综合的投资方案。
 
William:    Nowadays a lot of people go for portfolio employment. This refers to the practice of working for several employers simultaneously rather than working full-time for a single employer.
 
Yang Li:  同时打多家工就是 portfolio employment.
 
William:  So we’ve looked at quite a few usages there. But of all the different meanings we’ve explained, the basic idea of the word is a portable case.
And the other meanings are just metaphors.
 
Yang Li:  Metaphor 意思是比喻。 Thanks William for a nice round up of today’s programme. Hope it is helpful to you David and thanks for your question.
 
William:  And we’ve built up a good portfolio of Question and Answer of the week programmes on our website, www.bbcukchina.com.
 
Yang Li:  欢迎大家随时登陆我们的网页查看。谢谢收听，下次节目再会。
 
William:  Bye.

The origin of this word

The word portfolio derives 源于 from the Italian word 意大利词语 portafogli.

Portare means carry 携带 and foglio means leaf 树叶.

The basic meaning

The basic idea of portfolio is a portable case containing documents and papers. But it has a few other metaphorical usages.

Metaphorical usages

It can mean a collection of creative work to be shown to potential customers or employers.

It can also mean the position and duties of a government minister

In financial terms it can mean the complete investments held by an individual investor or by a financial organization.

Yang Li and William Kremer explain the various meanings by giving out some specific examples of everyday conversations.

If you have a question for our team, send it to us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk and we might answer it on this programme.

Glossary

derive from 源于

portable 可携带的/手提的

metaphorical usages 比喻的用法

potential 有潜在可能性的

the complete investment 有价证券之总和或投资一览表