Over the moon

2021/07/22 04:13:29 網誌分類: 生活

22 Jul

        　　Last week, the world saw a momentous event. British billionaire Richard Branson became the first man to hurtle into space in his own rocket ship, bringing space tourism closer to reality. One news report described Branson as a swashbuckling billionaire. The adjective "momentous" means something of great importance that will influence or have an effect on future events. A similar word is epoch-making. The verb "hurtle" means to move very fast, especially in a dangerous way. The adjective "swashbuckling" is used to describe someone who behaves in a brave and exciting way. The noun "swashbuckler" means a person who enjoys and looks for dangerous and exciting experiences. In the old days, pirates were often called swashbucklers.

        　　Branson is a modern-day swashbuckler because it is dangerous but exciting to fly to space for someone who is not a trained astronaut. I am not a swashbuckler but wish I could afford to be a space tourist！One news report described Branson as over the moon after his successful space flight. The expression "over the moon" means to be very happy about something. If you score very high marks in an important exam, you can say you are over the moon. The same news report said Branson now has bragging rights in his space rivalry with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. As many of us know, Bezos wanted to be the first man in space with his own spaceship but Branson did it first.

        　　The word "brag" means to boast or speak proudly about what you own or have achieved. If you own a house on the Peak you can brag about it. The expression "bragging rights" means you have a right to boast or brag about your achievements. Branson has bragging rights because he got to space before Bezos. I wish I had bragging rights but I am just a journalist. Only journalists who have won a Pulitzer Prize have bragging rights.

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        　　上星期，世界見證了一場重大的（momentous）盛事。英國億萬富翁布蘭森成為首位用自己的火箭衝上（hurtle）太空的人，令太空旅遊更大可能實現。一個新聞報道形容布蘭森為傳奇歷險的（swashbuckling）億萬富翁。形容詞 "momentous" 是指某樣非常重要的事情，足以影響將來的發展；另一個類近的字是epoch-making，即劃時代的。動詞hurtle是指急速移動，尤其是危險地猛衝、飛馳。形容詞swashbuckling是用來形容某人表現勇猛、充滿冒險精神；名詞swashbuckler則指某人酷愛歷險，常探索危險及刺激的經歷。在舊時，海盜就常被稱為swashbucklers。

        　　布蘭森就是現代的冒險家（swashbuckler），因為對一個並非受訓太空員的人來說，要飛上太空實在既危險又刺激。我不是冒險家（swashbuckler），但也希望我付得起去成為一個太空遊客！在布蘭森成功完成他的太空旅程後，一個新聞報道形容他是over the moon——習語“over the moon”是指欣喜若狂、興奮極了。若你在一次重要的考試中取得很高的分數，你便可以說你是over the moon。同一則新聞報道更說，布蘭森現在於他跟亞馬遜老闆貝索斯的太空競賽中，已能耀武揚威（bragging rights）。正如我們許多人也知道，貝索斯很想成為第一個乘坐自己太空船上太空的人，卻給布蘭森先拔頭籌。

        　　Brag是指自吹自擂，大聲吹噓自己所擁有或達成了的事。若你在山頂有間屋，你便可以加以炫耀（brag）。習語 "bragging rights" 是指你有資格去自誇或吹噓（brag）自己的成就。布蘭森有權去耀武揚威（bragging rights），因為他比貝索斯先上太空。我希望我有炫耀的本錢（bragging rights），但我不過是個新聞工作者。只有得到過普立茲獎的新聞工作者，才有資格去自誇（bragging rights）。中譯：七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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