名人教英文 – facebook 上的錯英文

分享給朋友

05/10/2010

名人教英文 – facebook 上的錯英文 毛孟靜

今日,幾乎個個年輕人都有facebook 帳戶,在上面隨手打字與人溝通,用英文之際,會不時讓人看到一些錯處,最常見的,是worth(值得的)這字的用法。要說「我覺得這是值得的」,寫成I think it worths就錯了。

要記得,worth 就像cheap(廉價),都是形容詞, 你會說It is cheap, 不會說Itcheaps。這麼說來, 「這是值得的」,英文就是It is worth? 仍然不對, 要說: It is worth it,後面要加it。這it 是什麼呢?是之前講開的任何事物,可以是價錢好貴、付出許多辛勞、處理了許多麻煩,但到頭來總是值得,It’s all worth it。

We spent a lot of time on this. But it’s worth it.(我們為這個花了許多時間,但是(花得)值得。)

另一些例句:

這本書值得一看:It is worth a read.這個意念值得考慮:It is worth considering.或許有人會說,不過是在網上跟人閒談,不必字字斟酌正確, 但仍要小心習慣成自然-Habit becomes second nature-交功課或考試時同樣掉以輕心,容易鑄成大錯。

像:

re-sent,已再傳送。若因為懶,去掉當中的hyphen 變成resent,解憤怨、反感、受侮,那個分別可以好得人驚:

I re-sent your message.(我把你的信息再傳送了。)

I resent your message.(你對你的信息很反感。)

看,一小個標點符號,就可把句子的意思完全扭曲。像「行人等不得在此小便」,加個逗號: 「行人等不得,在此小便」,大家就哈哈笑了。類似的英文例子,是一句描述大熊貓習性的話:

It eats shoots and leaves.

(牠吃(竹)筍及葉。)

語言學家卻寫下這麼個故事:有隻大熊貓進入餐廳,吃過東西後,無故向天花板開一槍,然後施施然離開。去問這大熊貓你這是幹嘛?牠答:我的習性,是這麼一句:

It eats ( 吃), shoots ( 開槍) and leaves(離開)!

所以最好平日都培養一份對文字的敏感,不要只推搪我不過打錯個標點符號或按錯鍵。在英文鍵盤上,a 跟s 是隔籬鄰舍,明明想寫的是auspicious,解喜氣洋洋、吉慶呈祥,但錯手把a 打了s,變成suspicious,解閃閃縮縮、鬼鬼祟祟,把auspicious day 變成suspicious day,該有多糟就有多糟。

Glossary

worth 值得

It’s worth it 這是值得的

Habit becomes second nature 習慣成自然

auspicious 吉慶的

suspicious 閃縮、令人懷疑的

網上聲檔:english.mingpao.com/mp3_12.htm

 

分享給朋友

  • The Civic Party respects your personal privacy and is committed to maintaining your trust and confidence. We believe in ensuring the security of your personal information. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. The purpose of collecting the information in this form is to complete the purchase concerned and allow the Civic Party to contact you in the future. We are the sole owner of any information we collect. Your personal information is not lent or sold to anyone for any purpose.

  • The Civic Party respects your personal privacy and is committed to maintaining your trust and confidence. We believe in ensuring the security of your personal information. Please take the time to read this policy, and contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We strive to protect any personal information you may provide us but by law we must allow inspection of the volunteer register. Your personal data will be put into our volunteer database and will be used only for the purposes of arranging volunteer service and communicating with you. We are the sole owner of any information we collect. Your personal information is not lent or sold to anyone for any purpose. You may contact us for enquiry, updating or ceasing the use of your personal information.

  • 公民黨絕對尊重閣下的個人私隱,並會將資料保密。我們會妥善保存閣下提交予我們的任何個人資料。如有任何疑問,請聯絡我們。閣下在此表格提供的資料,只用於處理是次購買以及日後與本黨之聯繫。閣下的資料絕對保密,只供本黨保存和參考,絕不會外借或出售,或透露予任何第三者。

  • 公民黨絕對尊重閣下的個人私隱,並會將資料保密。我們會妥善保存閣下提交予我們的任何個人資料。請細閱此私隱政策,如有任何疑問,請聯絡我們。我們藉此表格收集 閣下資料的目的,是處理 閣下的義工申請,閣下所提交的個人資料將儲存於本黨的義工資料庫內,並只會用於本黨安排義工服務及與閣下通訊的用途上。閣下的資料只供本黨保存和參考,絕不會外借或出售。如欲查詢、更改或要求停止使用你的個人資料,請與本黨聯絡。