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Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - the cards are stacked against you|又中又英

2022/05/12 04:12:13 網誌分類: 生活
12 May
        
It was a no-brainer that John Lee Ka-chiu would win last Sunday's chief executive election. When former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah ran against Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in 2017 the cards were stacked against him. It was a no-brainer he would lose. The cards were not stacked against Lee Ka-chiu last Sunday because it was a one-horse race. He was Beijing's choice to become the next chief executive which meant he was guaranteed victory. The expression "no-brainer" means you don't even have to think about a particular thing because it is so obvious. Hong Kong people did not have to think about who would win the election because it was obvious that Lee Ka-chiu would win.
If the cards are stacked against you it means you are unlikely to succeed in something because of difficulties or unfairness. The cards were stacked against Tsang Chun-wah in the 2017 election because Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was Beijing's choice. But the cards were not stacked against Lee Ka-chiu because Beijing wanted a one-horse race. A one-horse race is a competition or election in which only one person has a real chance of winning or just one person competing in the competition. One of Lee Ka-chiu's campaign slogans was "We and Us". This is confusing because "We and Us" have the same meaning.

There is only a grammatical difference in when to use "we" and when to use "us". For example, it is correct to say "We were not allowed to vote." It is incorrect to say "Us were not allowed to vote." It is correct to say "The vote count did not include us." It is incorrect to say "The vote count did not include we." The examples show "us" and "we" are the same but used differently in terms of grammar. Perhaps Lee Ka-chiu should have used "We are together” or “Together makes us strong."

實在不用腦也想得到(no-brainer),李家超會在星期日的特首選舉中勝出。二○一七年,前財政司司長曾俊華要與林鄭月娥競逐特首之位,當時形勢對他很不利(the cards were stacked against him),想都不用想(no-brainer)他會落選。但在剛過去的星期日,李家超並非處於不利的情況(the cards were not stacked against Lee Ka-chiu),因為這場賽事在起跑前勝負已分(one-horse race)。他是北京欽點做下任特首的,意味着他必然勝出。習語"no-brainer"是指某一件事顯而易見,不用動腦筋也能想得到。誰會勝出選舉,香港人事前不必多想,因為很顯然李家超會當選。
  如果 the cards are stacked against you,意即因為困難或不公的情況,你成功的機會很少。在二○一七年的選舉中,曾俊華處於極為不利的情況(the cards were not stacked against Tsang Chun-wah),因為林鄭月娥就是北京的選擇。然而,李家超並非處於不利的情況(the cards were not stacked against Lee Ka-chiu),因為北京要一場「一馬賽事」(one-horse race)——a one-horse race就是在一場比賽或選舉中,一人獨佔優勢,唯獨他有機會勝出,又或那場比賽只有一人參與。李家超其中一句競選口號是"We and Us",它令人非常困惑,因為"We and Us"明明就有着相同的意思啊。

何時用"we",何時用"us",兩者只有文法上的差異。譬如,說「我們不得投票」:"We were not allowed to vote"是正確的,但說成"Us were not allowed to vote"就不正確了。說「投票結果並無包括我們在內」:"The vote count did not include us"是正確的,但說成"The vote count did not include we"就不正確了。這些例子說明,"us"和"we"都是指「我們」,只是在文法上有不同的用法。或許李家超應該說成"We are together”(「我們在一起」)又或“Together makes us strong"(凝聚一起,令我們更強大)。
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - the cards are stacked against you|又中又英
 Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - the cards are stacked against you|又中又英 
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