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Showing posts with label 每日一字. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 每日一字. Show all posts

Sunday, March 24, 2024

每日一字 42

Communiation - 溝通

Community - 社區

Communism - 共產主義

三個唔同嘅字但字根都係嚟至於拉丁文 communis. Communis 可以再拆成 com- 同埋 unus. Com- 解「一齊」而 unus 解 「一」。

Communication 就係一齊傾到一致嘅方向

Community 就係大家一齊分享開心 Share 嘅地方

Communism 就再更加係想資源公平分配嘅主義


但所謂理想很豐滿,現實很骨感。實行共產主義嘅政權大多數都係獨裁政權,好多嘢都係由上而下,同社區同人民溝通基本上都係天方夜譚。最起碼國安法甚或 23 條都無問過你同我。

Friday, June 22, 2018

每日一字 41

朋友遠行,中文可以祝福一路順風,英文就可以講 Godspeed.

God 當然係神,Speed 除咗加速,Old English (spedan) 嚟講重可以解 to succeed, prosper, grow rich, advance. 原句 "God spede thee" 响 14 世紀出現,就即係 "May God give you success".

唔想太神化,簡簡單單咁講 Have a safe trip 或者 Take care. 高雅少少用,用埋法文: Bon Voyage

Monday, February 5, 2018

每日一字 40

話說有一位朋友,話如果生仔嘅話,會叫佢做 Theo, 因為 Theo 响希臘文中解作神。用 Theo- 開頭嘅英文字唔多,响 Wiktionary 例出唔夠100個嘅生字。Theology 係神學;Theophile 係一個愛神嘅人;Theophobia 係害怕或憎恨神等等。

羅馬有 Pantheon, Pan- 解作所有,中譯為萬神殿,係古羅馬人驚拜漏一啲唔識嘅神而設立。

Pantheo 係女仔名嚟,即係所有神,比 Theo 更屈機。朋友雖然生咗個女,但並唔係改呢個名,老婆,擁有比神更大嘅權力。

Monday, December 4, 2017

每日一字 39

Me-tooism - the practice of imitating other people's work or ideas

簡單嚟講,人哋話鐘意睇戲你答 Me too, 人哋話鐘意打波你又答 Me too, 人哋話鐘意打機你一樣答 Me too. 總之乜都 Me too, 就只有落得令人煩厭嘅下場。

人公審你又公審,人 cap 圖你又 cap 圖,人批評你又批評。由批評受指控嘅人到批評題出控訴嘅人,Like and Share 唔使思考,好便宜地就話俾人知你嘅立場,無諗過當中代表啲乜,總之,欠腦袋、欠思考、欠常識。望住呢住呢條題目洗版,唯一效果就係煩厭。

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

每日一字 38

响美女與野獸入面,提到 Belle 係一個 Funny Girl.


响真人版中譯咗做「趣怪」。睇返字典,Funny 可以解「趣」,亦可以解「怪」:

  1. Causing laughter or amusement; humorous.
  2. Difficult to explain or understand; strange or curious.

以之前嘅歌詞嚟睇,村民都覺得佢同成條村都格格不入,一啲都唔有趣。所以,Belle 對村民嚟講,只係一個古怪嘅女仔。

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

雞,全部都係雞

就嚟雞年,話說廣東人做雞有好多方法,原來外國人亦有好多方法叫雞:
  • 雞 - Chicken
  • 公雞 - Cock/Rooster
  • 母雞 - Hen
  • 小雞 - Chick
  • 小雞仔 - Cockerel
  • 小雞女 - Pullet

Thursday, July 28, 2016

每日一字 36

話說 Pokemon Go! 入面有一隻 Eevee.

日稱 イーブイ Iibui, 大慨就係想用 Evolution 嘅簡寫 Evo, 但日文無 V 音,於是就用咗 B 嚟代替。個名其實幾貼切,因為呢隻 Pokemon 可以進化八種唔同嘅加強版。

至於港譯伊貝,就只係日文音譯。

英文都好特別,以4個 e 字去話俾人知好多唔同嘅進化。

話說有一集嘅 Pokemon 係講 Eevee brothers 三兄弟,分別係 Pyro, Sparky 同 Rainer, 如果將 Pokemon Go! 入面嘅 Eevee 改名做其中一個,咁進化出嚟嘅 Pokemon 分別就係 Flareon, Jolteon 同 Vaporeon. Spark 同 Rain 大家都知點解, 而Pyro 响拉丁文係解火。

有別於啲 hemi-, pre-, micro-, aqua-, 响英文就好少用 Pyro- 做 Prefix. 咁就要講返 Linguistics 入面有樣嘢叫 Grimm's Law, 講一啲英文字會由一個字母嘅讀音轉化成另一個字母,好似 Pyro 嘅 P, 响現代英語已經變成 F. 其他例子有:
- Pedestrian 嘅 Ped 係 Foot 嘅字根
- Patriot 嘅 Patr 係 Father 嘅字根

Saturday, January 16, 2016

每日一字 35

Landslide:
港譯 - 山泥傾瀉
粤譯 - 冧山泥
台譯 - 山崩
其他國家 - 滑坡、塌方

發生嘅時候,啲水石沙泥會將沿途嘅所有嘢帶走。Landslide Victory, 就引申到一場投票,勝出嘅一方贏到開晒巷,就好似山泥傾瀉咁帶走晒啲選票。Landslide Victory 重有另一個講法,係 Win by a landslide.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

每日一字 34

前京官一句「差強人意」,好似唔係太聽得慣,究意係「強差人意」定「差強人意」? 於是就去查,50幾萬 vs. 80幾萬嘅結果,好似係「差強人意」先啱,再深入去睇內容嘅討論,話「強差人意」係廣東人老作的說。

究竟以後重用唔用「強差人意」好呢? 答案係用。第一,「差強人意」個強字讀音係強壯個強音。第二,「差強人意」同「強差人意」個意思完全不同 (做得幾好 vs. 做得差)。即係如果要用「差強人意」,就要用得啱讀得準。第三,語言係會變,只要啱邏輯同溝通到就已經成立,係咪老作唔係重點,反正香港人都創造咗唔少潮語。

呢個態度,有名,叫 Descriptive Linguistics, 即係睇語文嘅用法,講返當中嘅規則出嚟,例如六書,就係歸納漢字嘅造字方法。

相反就係 Prescriptive Linguistics, 即係所有嘢都跟文法、讀法、寫法,或者做教育嘅,都係呢種人。但呢啲正字正音嘅權威我唔太 Buy, 例如將「啲」寫成「尐」,真係正字正音嘅話,會發現尐唔係讀 D, 而係讀「節」,你改得到部份人嘅寫法,你改唔到個讀音囉!

如果睇完重覺得「強差人意」唔用得,咁就請去宣傳吓「上下其手」、「每下愈況」、「每況愈下」嘅正確用法,同埋「千絲萬縷」嘅正確讀法。

當然,如果唔合邏輯、解唔通,例如「問非所答」同「黑紙白字」咁,糾正是應該的。

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

每日一字 33

Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch 係英國最長嘅村名。原本條村只係叫 Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, 因為呢個世界都幾多聖母堂 (Llanfair),因而要標明係邊個。而事實上,响登島前,就係有個叫 Llanfairfechan 嘅火車站。Llanfairpwllgwyngyll 個正式火車站名亦只係 Llanfairpwll.

名字來源亦有段故,話說當年新嘅火車線開通,作為 Anglesey 島嘅第一個站,想吸引遊客多啲人响呢個站度停一停,於是就作咗個咁嘅名。响 Linguistics 嚟講,威爾斯文係屬於 Synthetic 嘅語文,即係可以將好多嘢加入一隻字度,所以個車站名可以攪到咁長,嚴格嚟講,似一句句子多過一隻字。

維基英譯:
Parish [church] of [St.] Mary (Llanfair) [in] Hollow (pwll) of the White Hazel [township] (gwyn gyll) near (go ger) the rapid whirlpool (y chwyrn drobwll) [and] the parish [church] of [St.] Tysilio (Llantysilio) with a red cave ([a]g ogo[f] goch).

响 Google Map 度,搵到漩渦,搵到 St. Tysilio Church, 但紅色岩洞就唔知响邊了


個漩渦 (其實應該唔止一個) 係位於兩條橋中間嘅位置,有名㗎,叫 The Swellies. 因為潮汐漲退,啲水由利物浦涌落嚟,加上 The Swellies 嘅水底地形而形成漩渦,時間啱嘅話,係可以玩激流獨目舟。而响有吊橋之前,係有唔少人因為過唔到激流同漩渦而斃命。

講返而村,條村係會分上村同下村,即係 Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch-uchaf 同埋 Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch-isaf.

P.S.: 如果講正式嘅火車站名嚟講,最長嘅火車站名亦係响威爾斯,不過就係好正常嘅英文: Rhoose Cardiff International Airport

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

每日一字 32

早兩日有朋友介紹咗一隻字嚟形容香港嘅狀況: kakistocracy

kakistos 嚟字希臘字 kakos 嘅最高型態。kakos 解壞或者差,咁 kakistos 就即係最差
-cracy 又係希臘字解管治或者政府之類嘅事

成隻字就即係最差嘅人去執政。

再搵多少少資料,kakos 有機會同印歐語系入面嘅 caco- 有關,解排泄 (大嗰隻)。呢個狀態下嘅香港,日日都聽到啲官講廢話,真係見怪不怪了。

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

每日一字 31

有說土地應該係公共資源,令我諗起 Real Estate 嘅故仔。話說 Real 响西班牙文解 Royal (例如 Real Madrid CF 被譯做 皇家馬德里足球俱樂部), 即係話 Real Estate 其實係講緊皇室嘅產業。現今嚟講,係政府有最終擁有權,所以用呢個做解釋,土地作為公共資源亦不為過。限據呢個線索,搵到啲好得意嘅資料:
In fact people lived in a "kingdom." A serf, or anyone other than royalty, never actually owned the land upon which the built their home. They had what is known as a "life estate." this meant that for as long as you were alive, you got to live on the King's property. When you died, the land reverted back to the king. Now you had no right to say who would "inherit" your land, because it wasn't yours after you died, it was the king's.

So what you did was write a letter to the king expressing your "will," to have your wife, son, or daughter, inherit another life estate on the land you previously owned until you died. This is the origin of the term "will."

The king wasn't the only person who could own land. People with a "title," could also own land. A duke, owned all the land in a duchy, a prince owned all the land in a principality, a baron owned all the land in a barony, and a count owned all the land in a county.

The King, baron, duke prince, or count, charged all who lived on their land a "tax." This tradition survives down to our own time, in that real estate taxes are not collected by the state, or federal government, but are collected and assessed by the "county." We also continue the tradition of referring to ownership, as "title," as in "The husband and wife are both "on title."

其實以上解說都只係傳說 (條 Link 入面有人指出當中唔合理嘅地方),真正嘅解釋,其實係嚟自一個法律嘅 Term:
In law, the word real means relating to a thing (res/rei, thing, from O.Fr. reel, from L.L. realis "actual," from Latin. res, "matter, thing"), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. The oldest use of the term "Real Estate" that has been preserved in historical records was in 1666.

Friday, March 13, 2015

每日一字 30

今日俾人問咗條好得意嘅題目
如果昨天是明天的話就好了,這樣今天就週五了。

問題 : 句中今天是週幾?
有兩個答案,只要將昨天同明天重疊,再設定週五為假設嘅今天,就可以搵到今天係乜。簡單用 Excel 睇就知發生乜事:


當然,如果講呢條問題,就唔會構成每日一字嘅題材。要講嘅係英文版本:
Samuel said, "If yesterday was tomorrow, today would be Friday." When did Samuel speak?
或者會問,中文同英文有分別嗎? 答案係有,中文同英文都有時間嘅慨念,但中文字無英文字嘅時態。時態,造就咗關鍵嘅分別。

"If yesterday was tomorrow" 係過去式,咁即係 Yesterday 已經過咗去... 即係今日係星期日... 好似係... 錯囉...

因為英文係可以用過去式表達未來嘅嘢。用得 If, 基本上已經構成 Conditional Sentence. 用 Past Tense 表示不可能嘅假設 (昨天無可能係明天),之後嘅 would + infinitive 講緊件事未發生。未發生嘅就只可能係明天,所以今天係星期三。

有興趣去睇睇 Conditional Sentence 四式

P.S.: 搵到另一個句式,解法好似又唔同了...
A teacher says to her class "I wish yesterday was tomorrow, because today would be Friday" What day did she say this on?

Sunday, February 15, 2015

每日一字 29

英文有好多人名同地方名用 -ham 做 suffix, 廣東話就一律以「咸」為音譯,如果以中譯發音嚟同英文,會錯得好離譜。
例子1: 球星 David Beckham 音譯碧咸,英讀 Beckam
例子2: 球會 Fulham, 音譯富咸,英讀 Fulam
例子3: 前港督 Bonham, 音譯般咸,英讀 Bonam

個 H 响發音上就彷彿係永遠無角色咁。

Pop Quiz, 你又估吓球會熱刺所在嘅 Tottenham, 英文會點讀?
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唔係 Tottenam, 係 Tottnam.

所以,學英文都係查字典好,再唔係,搵 Google 大神都得。

Saturday, January 24, 2015

每日一字 28

聽劉老師大概講過啲咁嘅事:「語言講求思考邏輯,Grammar 錯,諗嘢嘅方法錯,即係胡思亂想。」

新加坡電信最近為品牌做 Rebranding, 用咗句 "Let’s make everyday better" 做 Tagline. 見到大概有兩個解法,「將日常嘅事變得更好」或者「將每一日變得更好」。

第一個解法,every 同 day 為一個字,係形容詞,英文好得意,要將一個形容詞變做名詞,只需要加個 the 响個形容詞前面就得,就好似 the rich 解作有錢人咁。呢句 Tagline 就偏偏無咗個 the.

第二個解法,every 同 day 要係兩個字,every 係形容詞,去形容個 day,解作每一日. 但句 Tagline 又只係用咗一個字喎...

無論邊個解法,個 Tagline 都係錯咗。OK, 錯 Grammar 係咪咁大件事呢? 唔太係,因為除咗文法 (Grammar),英文都講求用法 (Usage). 例如 "Think Different" 呢句 Slogan 咁,Different 係形容詞,而唔係副詞,係咪都係錯呢? 文法上的確係錯,但當你知道背後嘅故仔之後,似乎用法上係無錯:
There's a germ of a brilliant idea there," he said at the time. "Apple is about people who think outside the box, who want to use computers to help them change the world." They debated the grammatical issue: If "different" was supposed to modify the verb "think," it should be an adverb, as in "think differently." But Jobs insisted that he wanted "different" to be used as a noun, as in "think victory" or "think beauty." Also, it echoed colloquial use, as in "think big." Jobs later explained, "We discussed whether it was correct before we ran it. It's grammatical, if you think about what we're trying to say. It's not think the same, it's think different. Think a little different, think a lot different, think different. 'Think differently' wouldn't hit the meaning for me.
姑勿論係咪馬後炮,但邏輯上解得通。至於新加坡電信句 Tagline 嘛,已經無邏輯可言,係大錯。

Saturday, November 22, 2014

每日一字 27

今日突然想搵返一句名言嘅英文版本,一開始只係諗起「理想開始」同埋「??結束」,之後就搵到原句「所有偉大的歷史事件,都是作為烏托邦開始,作為現實結束。」出於庫登霍夫‧卡勒吉嘅《泛歐洲》。句子個 Utopia 嘅搜尋結果太多,泛我知道係 Pan-, 但 Pan-乜嘢呢? Pan-Europe? Pan-European? Pan-Europeanism? 都係由人名著手好啲,第一個見到嘅釋名係呢個 Richard·Kudenhoff-Kareski, 完全係掘頭路,搵唔到。

機緣巧合下,錯手將「庫登霍夫‧卡勒吉」變成「登霍夫‧卡勒吉嘅」,加上《泛歐洲》作為 Keyword, 又俾我搵到另一個釋名 Count Coudenhove Kalergi. 加上 Book 字做 Keyword. Google 出現 Amazon 嘅結果,Click 入去一睇,Pan-Europa 大大隻字出現。

有書有人名,將 Utopia 加上 Revolution (因為之前見過有革命嘅釋法), 最祈待嘅畫面出現了: Every great political happening began as a Utopia and ended as a Reality

跟住又有另一個寫法: All great historical ideas started as a utopian dream and ended with reality

邊句都好,分別不大。

再用人名去 Search, 搵到全名係 Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi, 入去 Wikipedia 一睇,係奧日混血兒。1922年創立泛歐聯盟 (Pan-European Union), 1923年就出版 Pan-Europa 作為文宣,呢句名言,就响呢份文宣嘅前言第一句。

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

每日一字 26

Police
late 15th century (in the sense 'public order'): from French, from medieval Latin politia 'citizenship, government' (see policy1). Current senses date from the early 19th century.

c.1530, at first essentially the same word as policy (n.1); from Middle French police (late 15c.), from Latin politia "civil administration," from Greek polis "city" (see polis).

Until mid-19c. used in England for "civil administration;" application to "administration of public order" (1716) is from French (late 17c.), and originally in English referred to France or other foreign nations. The first force so-named in England was the Marine Police, set up 1798 to protect merchandise at the Port of London. Police state "state regulated by means of national police" first recorded 1865, with reference to Austria. Police action in the international sense of "military intervention short of war, ostensibly 1to correct lawlessness" is from 1933. Police officer is attested from 1800. Police station is from 1817.
見到 Pol, 就知到同城市或者政治有關。眾人之事為政,管理眾人之事為政治。警察,說穿了,意義上就係政治工具。

警察,其實乜都要管,响《警隊條例》第10條指出警隊的責任:
香港警隊的職責是採取合法措施以─
  1. 維持公安;
  2. 防止刑事罪及犯法行為的發生和偵查刑事罪及犯法行為;
  3. 防止損害生命及損毀財產;
  4. 拘捕一切可合法拘捕而又有足夠理由予以拘捕的人;
  5. 規管在公眾地方或公眾休憩地方舉行的遊行及集會;
  6. 管制公共大道的交通,並移去公共大道上的障礙;
  7. 在公眾地方及公眾休憩地方,和公眾集會及公眾娛樂聚會舉行時維持治安;而為上述目的,任何當值警務人員在該等地方、聚會及集會對公眾開放時得免費入場;
  8. 協助死因裁判官履行他在《死因裁判官條例》(第504章)之下的責任和行使他在該條例之下的權力; (由1997年第27號第75條增補)
  9. 協助執行任何稅務、海關、衞生、保護天然資源、檢疫、入境及外國人士登記的法律;
  10. 協助維持香港水域治安,並於香港水域內協助強制執行海港及海事規例;
  11. 執行法院發出的傳票、傳召出庭令、手令、拘押令及其他法律程序文件;
  12. 提交告發書及進行檢控;
  13. 保護無人認領及遺失的財產,並尋找其擁有人;
  14. 管理及扣留流浪動物;
  15. 在火警中協助保護生命及財產;
  16. 保護公眾財產免受損失或損害;
  17. 在刑事法庭出席,並於有特別作出的命令時在民事法庭出席,以及維持法庭秩序;
  18. 押送及看守囚犯;
  19. 執行法律委予警務人員的其他職責。
留意到嗎? 第9, 第14同第15項,已經有專門負責嘅隊伍,但警察係可以加入協助。其實亦唔難理解,因為响香港嘅歷史入面,大部份紀律部隊都係由警隊分支出嚟。

第21 條:
為本條例的施行,任何警務人員在需要以警務人員身分行事時,須當作為一直在當值中,並須在他可能執行職責的香港任何及每處地方,執行及行使本條例或任何其他法律授予他的職責及權力。 
不論何時何地都可以執法,成日聽到休班警員捉賊,就係呢回事。

正因為警察作為一個隨時候命嘅超級大打雜,權力亦係非同小可,所以要加上監察同約束,否則遇上濫權嘅,就死得人多。

Sunday, October 5, 2014

每日一字 25

Compromise 中譯妥協,Promise 為主, Com- 為幅。無錯,Promise, 妥協係雖要承諾一啲嘢,Com- 嘅意思係 Together. 成個字就係要一齊承諾去做一啲嘢。

承諾,係需要信任,所以一個失信於人民嘅政府成日話要妥協,係一件好諷刺嘅事。但最諷刺嘅,係真係有人會去妥協。响香港,蠢人粗俗少少會叫做膠,呢啲成日因階段性勝利去妥協嘅人通常都係啲左翼嘅社運人士,故稱左膠。

Sunday, September 21, 2014

每日一字 24

英文有三個唔同嘅字去講國家

Country - 以地域分界
A nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory

Middle English: from Old French cuntree, from medieval Latin contrata (terra) '(land) lying opposite', from Latin contra 'against, opposite'.


Nation - 以人文分界, United Kingdom 入面有英格蘭、威爾斯、蘇格蘭、同北愛爾蘭三個唔同文化種族嘅 Nation 組成嘅國家
A large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state or territory

Middle English: via Old French from Latin natio(n-), from nat- 'born', from the verb nasci.


State - 以權力分界, United States 就係以唔同地方政府組成嘅國家
A nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government

c.1300, from special use of state (n.1); this sense grew out of the meaning "condition of a country" with regard to government, prosperity, etc. (late 13c.), from Latin phrases such as status rei publicæ "condition (or existence) of the republic."

Friday, August 22, 2014

每日一字 23

好多時,中文翻譯係短過英文,難得一見嘅例外: 肌萎縮性脊髓側索硬化症
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic comes from the Greek word amyotrophia: a- means "no", myo refers to "muscle", and trophia means "nourishment"; amyotrophia therefore means "no muscle nourishment," which describes the characteristic atrophy of the sufferer's disused muscle tissue. Lateral identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that are affected are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region.

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