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08/09/2014
落閘與袋住先
本地新聞中，常聽到一句：北京就政改「落閘」。落了閘，沒得出入，英文係”shut the gate”？
並無不可。但有一個小小的問題，母語係英文的人，多會講「門」不講「閘」，會開口就自然而然地說shut the door。主要也許因為本就有shut the door ON something 的習語，以關門動作比喻阻止了一些事發生，而這些事一般都係好事，諸如一項大計，或解決問題的方案等。
這一筆，老老實實，原也沒留意，直至好些外國記者來訪，幾都不約而同問一句：
Now that Beijing has shut the door on Hong Kong’s political reform, what do you think…?
聽得多了，就上了心。若要顯示並非在講翻譯過來的話， if you want to speak (proper) English，落閘係shut the door。
我重複答問的一句話，是北京豈止落閘閂窗，根本就連後門走火通道fire escape 都堵塞block 了：
“They are turning Hong Kong into a bunker, and they can do whatever they want.” 他們把香港變成一間密室，（在裏頭）可以為所欲為。
有說，即使北京的方案未如香港人意，不如都「袋住先」啦。用英文講，或就係”pocket it first”？文法沒錯，多數香港人都會一聽就明，但仍覺突兀，是因為英文的pocket 口袋，通常跟錢銀掛鈎，像說生意成功有賺， We happily pocketed the handsome profit。
而中文的「XX 先」，明顯有勉強之意，擺明係次貨，質量不保，但沒有更好的了，於是眼前姑且食住先、攞住先，等等，代表something is flawed 有瑕疵的，imperfect 不完美的， but let’s TAKE IT ON BOARD FIRST。
香港的民主進程， 卻也隨時「係咁先」，That’s it. That’s that. 再沒有啦，就是這樣了。
“We’re no longer willing to be docile subjects.” 「我們不再做順民。」——《紐約時報》引述「佔中」發起人戴耀廷說。
還有另一句：
“… Hong Kong has entered a new era, an era of civil disobedience, an era of resistance.” 譯回做中文，係「香港已進入一個新時代，一個公民抗命的時代，一個抗爭的時代。」
外國朋友來打氣道：Hong Kong people must prove their mettle!
Mettle？係勇氣、耐力！