“footloose and fancy-free”

2020/10/20 04:12:17 網誌分類: 生活

20 Oct

        　　Did you know Hong Kong is one of the most walkable cities in the world? An American non-government organization studied over 1,000 cities around the world. The study used three different measures to find out which cities are most walkable. The first measure studied the number of people living within 100 metres (328 feet) of a car-free place, such as parks or pedestrianised streets. Hong Kong came first in this category, followed by Moscow, Paris, Bogota, and London. But Hong Kong was not among the top five in the other two categories, which looked at living close to healthcare, schools, and being able to walk directly to a destination without detours. Only Bogota in Columbia is in the top five in all three categories.

        　　The word “walkable” used this way means an area that is safe and suitable for walking. The word “pedestrianised” means a street or area closed to traffic and only pedestrians are allowed. The word “detour” means a long and roundabout route instead of a direct route to a destination. Britain’s Guardian newspaper used an interesting headline for its news report of the study. The headline was “Footloose and car-free”. This is a play on words by twisting the expression “footloose and fancy-free”. The Guardian used the word “car-free” in its headline because one category of the study involved closeness to car-free or pedestrianised areas. It used the word “footloose” because the study involved walkable cities. People have to use their feet to walk.

        　　But the expression “footloose and fancy-free” has nothing to do with walkable areas. If you are “footloose and fancy-free” it means you are not married, do not have romantic commitments, do not have many responsibilities, and therefore can travel anytime or do whatever you want. Some people like to be footloose and fancy-free. Others prefer to have commitments. I am footloose and fancy-free because I am no longer married, have no romantic commitments, do not have to support anyone, and am a freelance journalist.

        ＊＊＊＊＊

        　　你可知道，香港是全世界最適合步行（walkable）的城市之一？一個美國非政府組織研究了全球逾千個城市，這項研究用了三個指標去找出哪些城市是最適合走路的（walkable）。第一個判斷的標準是在一個無車的地區，例如公園或行人專用（pedestrianised）街道的一百米（三百二十八呎）之內，住了幾多人。在這一項中香港居首位，其次是莫斯科、巴黎、波哥大和倫敦。然而，在其餘兩個項目中，香港則五甲不入，那兩個指標就是去看跟醫療保健、學校等設施住得有多近，以及是否能不需繞道（detours）便能直接步行到達目的地。只有哥倫比亞的波哥大在三個範疇裡都位列頭五位。

        　　Walkable在這裏是指一個地方是安全的、便利行人走路的、「好行」的。Pedestrianised是指禁止車輛駛入的行人專用區或街道。Detour是指迂迴而長的繞道，而非直接到達目的地的路線。英國的《衛報》報道這個研究時，用了一個有趣的標題。標題是：“Footloose and car-free”，這是一個食字的雙關語，將習語“footloose and fancy-free”扭了一下。《衛報》在標題中用了“car-free”一字，因為該研究的其中一個範疇就是涉及與無車（car-free）或行人專用（pedestrianised）區有多近。人們要用雙腳走路，它就用了“footloose”一字，因為研究牽涉到「好行」（walkable）的城市。

        　　然而，習語“footloose and fancy-free”其實跟「好行」的（walkable）地區毫無關係。若你是“footloose and fancy-free”，即是說你沒有結婚、沒有任何戀愛關係、沒有任何家庭或感情的責任，因此能隨時去旅行、無拘無束地做任何自己想做的事。一些人喜歡這樣毫無羈絆、逍遙自在的單身生活（footloose and fancy-free），另一些人則想要有戀愛的牽繫。我也是個無拘無束的單身漢（footloose and fancy-free），因為我不再是已婚人士，沒有拍拖，也不需要供養誰，還是個自由身新聞工作者。

        中譯：七刻

        mickchug@gmail.com

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

回應 (0)

我要發表

“footloose and fancy-free”

網誌分類

最新網誌

月曆