Death knell≠Nail in the coffin
2011/11/24 10:43:38
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| As I have pointed out before, even fluent English-speakers sometimes make mistakes. I sometimes make grammatical mistakes on my TV show. Such mistakes don't bother me. We shouldn't become slaves of grammar. But some mistakes, including the incorrect use of idioms or common expressions, should be avoided. Ronny Tong Ka-wah is a fluent English-speaker. But he made several serious mistakes on RTHK's English channel recently on the big losses by the democrats in the district council elections. I'll point out the three most serious mistakes. Tong said the turnout rate of voters on election morning was "climbing through the roof." He meant that the turnout rate was going higher and higher. But he didn't get the expression right. The correct expression is "shooting through the roof." For example, property prices in Hong Kong were "shooting through the roof" （rising very quickly） until the government took control measures. Tong said many democracy candidates were defeated, some by "handsome margins", including him. It is not right to say candidates were defeated by "handsome margins". The expression "handsome margin" means by a big margin or by a lot. But it is normally used for those who win in a big way, not for those who lose by a lot. For example, you can say: "My fat boyfriend wins by a handsome margin whenever we compete to see who can eat the most at a buffet." If you lose, you should say: "I lost by a wide margin." Tong said the Civic Party failed to properly explain its position on residency rights for foreign domestic helpers. He said these mistakes were the "death nails" for his party. He meant the mistakes destroyed, or caused the death of, the party in the elections. Again, the expression was incorrect. He may have confused two different expressions. One is death knell. The other is nail in the coffin. Death knell means something that announces death, such as the sad sounding of a bell. A nail in the coffin means another step towards certain failure or death. * * * 正如我之前指出，即使是最流利的英語人士，有時也會犯文法錯誤。我有時也會在電視節目上說不合文法的英語，但這些錯誤不會影響我。我們不應該成為文法的奴隸，但有些錯誤應該避免，例如不當地運用成語或常用習語。湯家驊說流利的英語，但他最近上港台的英語節目，談論民主派在區議會選舉大敗時，犯了多個嚴重的文法錯誤。我會指出其中三個最嚴重的錯失。 湯家驊說選舉日早上，選民的投票率急升（climbing through the roof）。他意指投票率愈來愈高，但他說錯習語，正確是shooting through the roof。例如，之前本港的樓價不斷攀升（shooting through the roof），直至政府採取打擊炒賣樓宇的措施才見改善。湯家驊說很多民主派候選人打敗仗，部份人包括他在內更是以大比數落敗（handsome margins）。以handsome margins形容候選人大敗是不正確的，handsome margin解大幅度或大比數，但通常指大比數勝出，而不是形容大的損失。 例如，你可說：「每次我和肥仔男友在自助餐競食，看誰吃得最多，他都以大比數（handsome margin）勝出。如果你輸了，你應該說I lost by a wide margin.（我被遠遠拋離）。湯家驊說，公民黨未能恰當地解釋，該黨在外傭居港權一案中所扮演的角色，這正是該黨的death nails。他的原意是說，公民黨犯的錯誤，令該黨在選舉中作出的努力付諸流水，甚或是慘敗的致命傷。湯再一次說錯習語。他大概混淆了兩個不同意思的習語，一個是death knell，另一個是nail in the coffin。Death knell解宣佈死訊的媒介，例如喪鐘，nail in the coffin意指必然導致失敗或死亡的事件或問題。 中譯: 利以嘉 Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 |
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