我们经常可以在媒体上看到"底线"一词。如某记者推测某市"接收和医治SARS病人的底线是6000人。""坚持一个中国原则是我们的底线。"等等。如今，汉语中出现了许多新词，其中不少是外来语，那么"底线"一词是汉语先有的呢，还是从英语的"bottom line"翻译来的呢？两者有何关系？是否可以互译呢？

"bottom line"原义指财务帐目表上最下面的一行或那一行上写的表示盈亏的数目。英文定义是"the final line on a company's accounting statement that shows profit or loss that the company makes at the end of a given period of time after everything has been calculated."

例如：1.The bottom line for 2001 was pre-tax profit of ￡ 5 million （2001年公司财务状况是税前利润500万英镑。）

2.Sales last month failed to add to the company's bottom line.（上月经销额没能使公司盈利增加。）

3.How will the rise in interest rates affect our bottom line?（利率的提高对我们的利润有何影响？）

对公司来说，盈亏是大事，所以"bottom line"的第二个定义是"the deciding or crucial factor; the essential point in a discussion or an argument; the most important thing that one must consider or accept; the most important factor that must be accepted, however reluctantly or even you may not like it"这里强调两点：一是重要，关键，二是无法回避，必须考虑或接受。

例如：4. The bottom line is that we have to increase our sales or take a cut in pay. （关键问题是我们必须增加销售额，否则就得减工资。）

5."If you don't make a profit, you go out of business: that is the bottom line."（如果不盈利，你就会破产，这是必须面对的现实。）

此外，"bottom line"还常表示"最起码的条件""可接受的最低价格"等，其第三个定义是"the lowest price or the lowest acceptable amount of money regarded as acceptable in a business deal."例如：6. A: What's your bottom line for selling the car? B: I can go down to ￡450.（甲：这辆车底价是多少？乙：最低450英镑。）